AUGUST 25, 2011 5:32PM
Look Good in Puce! (Remake Redux: Fright Night)
We interrupt the True Blood coverage for a short note on...more vampires!
Well, really only one vampire, Jerry Dandrige or just "Jerry." Jerry (the 2011 version) is portrayed by Colin Farrell, whom I consider to be in the grand tradition of destructive egomaniacal supermacho madness trailblazed by actors like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando, Christian Bale, etc. I'm filtering this conclusion through celebrity gossip, but there you go.
Colin Farrell, after all, was reputed to have tried to bed 70 year old Dame Eileen Atkins. That's the mark of an artist overdriven by libido and madness.
Farrell’s Jerry is dry, creepy, alluring, blue collar, aristocratic and deadpan at the same time. He’s very practical and handy with yardwork, and comes up with awe-inspiring ballsy solutions for his inability to enter homes uninvited. Needless to say he don’t sparkle and Sookie would be drained dry in five seconds and tossed right into his dirt basement.
In other words, fear vampires again, no matter how good looking they are. This one ain't got any romance, empathy, compassion or guilt in his undead heart.
I'm late to the party, and none of what I'm typing now is breaking news, but this Fright Night remake is probably the most fun you could have with vampires in popular entertainment at the moment.
This is because it hits the exact same notes as its source material. Adolescent alienation, burgeoning adulthood, suburban mystery, tense chases and finales, lighthearted teen comedic tones, and of course, some of the subtext that marked Fright Night '85 as a classic of gay-themed horror.
No need to belabor the last point. It
was important for Fright Night ’85, but it’s 2011 now and if a horror
story with gay characters needs to be told, they can damn well have
explicitly gay characters. Although, it was skillfully ambiguous to show
Jerry watching an episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey,
chuckling as Teresa Giudice adjusts her breasts. Maybe he likes Giudice’s breasts, or maybe he enjoys fabulous reality TV catfights.
But Jerry doesn’t need to be outed. He needs to be listed in Clark County’s sex offender registry, as poor McLovin’ discovers to his regret…
It’s more that Fright Night 2011 is the type of creepily inappropriate homoerotic dance between antagonistic male leads exemplified by "The Hitcher" (another iconic 80’s horror film starring Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell). There are beautiful women involved, but they’re window dressing, fast food and “status quo return vehicles.” The movie is held really together by the current of fascination and obsession running between aggressor and victim.
Kudos for an inventive reimagination of the Peter Vincent role. In 1985 that was Roddy McDowell playing a has-been Vincent Price/Peter Cushing horror host hybrid. Here, as played by David Tennant, it’s a Criss Angel-meets-Russell Brand Las Vegas magician with a drinking problem and a sizeable collection of occult doodads. A trope with which little’s been done – stage magicians meet the supernatural (Lord of Illusions, or DC’s Comics’ Zatara and Zatanna characters) – but I always enjoy it.
Well, really only one vampire, Jerry Dandrige or just "Jerry." Jerry (the 2011 version) is portrayed by Colin Farrell, whom I consider to be in the grand tradition of destructive egomaniacal supermacho madness trailblazed by actors like Mickey Rourke, Marlon Brando, Christian Bale, etc. I'm filtering this conclusion through celebrity gossip, but there you go.
Colin Farrell, after all, was reputed to have tried to bed 70 year old Dame Eileen Atkins. That's the mark of an artist overdriven by libido and madness.
Farrell’s Jerry is dry, creepy, alluring, blue collar, aristocratic and deadpan at the same time. He’s very practical and handy with yardwork, and comes up with awe-inspiring ballsy solutions for his inability to enter homes uninvited. Needless to say he don’t sparkle and Sookie would be drained dry in five seconds and tossed right into his dirt basement.
In other words, fear vampires again, no matter how good looking they are. This one ain't got any romance, empathy, compassion or guilt in his undead heart.
I'm late to the party, and none of what I'm typing now is breaking news, but this Fright Night remake is probably the most fun you could have with vampires in popular entertainment at the moment.
This is because it hits the exact same notes as its source material. Adolescent alienation, burgeoning adulthood, suburban mystery, tense chases and finales, lighthearted teen comedic tones, and of course, some of the subtext that marked Fright Night '85 as a classic of gay-themed horror.
No need to belabor the last point. It
was important for Fright Night ’85, but it’s 2011 now and if a horror
story with gay characters needs to be told, they can damn well have
explicitly gay characters. Although, it was skillfully ambiguous to show
Jerry watching an episode of The Real Housewives of New Jersey,
chuckling as Teresa Giudice adjusts her breasts. Maybe he likes Giudice’s breasts, or maybe he enjoys fabulous reality TV catfights. But Jerry doesn’t need to be outed. He needs to be listed in Clark County’s sex offender registry, as poor McLovin’ discovers to his regret…
It’s more that Fright Night 2011 is the type of creepily inappropriate homoerotic dance between antagonistic male leads exemplified by "The Hitcher" (another iconic 80’s horror film starring Rutger Hauer and C. Thomas Howell). There are beautiful women involved, but they’re window dressing, fast food and “status quo return vehicles.” The movie is held really together by the current of fascination and obsession running between aggressor and victim.
Kudos for an inventive reimagination of the Peter Vincent role. In 1985 that was Roddy McDowell playing a has-been Vincent Price/Peter Cushing horror host hybrid. Here, as played by David Tennant, it’s a Criss Angel-meets-Russell Brand Las Vegas magician with a drinking problem and a sizeable collection of occult doodads. A trope with which little’s been done – stage magicians meet the supernatural (Lord of Illusions, or DC’s Comics’ Zatara and Zatanna characters) – but I always enjoy it.
Heh heh! Thanks VA.
Very Cool Chiller. I've
been looking forward to this one, although I prefer my vampires a
little less bloodthirsty and more human-like. You know with constraint
and compassion...all that gooey stuff. Colin Farrel is a favorite. I'd
like to see what he does with the vamp role.
If nothing else, bbabe,
it will be a fun rental for a chill evening. Farrell won't be a nice,
human-ish vamp but I think you'll have fun with his performance. And
that begs a question for me: are there any vampire romances I do like?
To be explored...
Yeah, this one looks like a surpris
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