"You're so cool Brewster"

Following on from my last post I thought id share my thoughts on

 Fright night (1985).

Directed and written by Tom Holland. 

 * Note to readers; spoilers are evident through the whole of my article*

The film takes place in a suburban neighborhood, where teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is starting to suspect that his new neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire. He attempts to explain this to his parents, girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse), and his best friend Ed known as Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys) but to no avail.

 He then seeks help from a washed up horror actor known as Peter Vincent (played by Roddy Mc Dowell) who only showcases his skills on a late night TV show entitled Fright Night. Charley also tried to convince the authorities of Jerry's real identity and is convinced that he is the culprit of the string of murders that have occurred recently. but again to no avail

Concerns for Charley increasingly grow as Charley's girlfriend Amy, has acquired the attention of Jerry. This is where it seems to portray parts of the classic tale Dracula by Bram Stoker, Jerry has seemingly lost a love and holds a portrait in his house that has uncanny similarities to Amy, which seems to mirror that of Mina and Dracula.

Charley realizes that if no one else is listening to him, he has to take matters into his own hands, Jerry becomes aware of Charley's motives and attacks Evil Ed in an alley way. Amy is the next victim to succumb to Jerry's charms and he subdues her in a night club, which is one of the most iconic scenes in this movie in my opinion. The music and the chemistry that Jerry and Amy have in this moment is hypnotic.

Moving on to the sidekick of the film, Evil Ed. he is so underrated in my opinion, he has to be one of the greatest sidekicks to grace a horror movie. He is witty, funny and slightly geeky, who could forget his phrase "you're so cool Brewster".

After being bitten by Jerry, poor Evil Ed goes through his transformation into a vampire/werewolf  hybrid and attacks Peter Vincent in the process, I always found that slightly weird that he didn't turn into just a vampire, but it does work and its a very impressive transformation scene.


This movie is close to my heart for several reasons, it was the first vampire movie that I ever watched so it will always hold nostalgia for me and I was completely absorbed by the story. Even more so as an adult, i can appreciate it so much more now.


Tom Holland really respected the Vampire tale in all its glory,  I will never forget the moment i saw Jerry take over Amy and all you saw was the blood dripping down her back. That scene still gives me chills to this day.

Chris Sarandon just oozes charm and seductiveness you can't help but fall in love with his character, even though he is the main antagonist of the movie, I can't imagine anyone else portraying this version of Dracula.


Have you watched this Vampire flick? what are your views?

Sources used are;

• YouTube
• IMDB