Nothing more than a cheapo regurgitation of its predecessor, Fright Night Part II once again finds teenager Charley (William Ragsdale) enlisting the help of TV horror-movie host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) to combat the forces of vampiric evil. This time, that bloodsucker is a woman, Regine (Julie Carmen), and she temporarily gets her fangs into Charley. In most every other respect, however, Tommy Lee Wallace’s follow-up does little to muck with formula, wasting countless time – and trying its audience’s patience – on scenes in which Charley tries to convince Peter and/or his girlfriend Alex (Traci Lin) that a vampire is in their presence, or vice versa. As before, the monsters are revealed through the use of Peter’s cigarette-case mirror and Charley’s true quest is getting his paramour to agree to sex. All the while, Wallace stages laughable neck-biting killings involving a roller-skating, crazy-haired mute and a “hey dude” lothario vampire (Jon Gries) who, perplexingly, looks more like a werewolf. Terror and humor are non-existent, but more frustrating is the general lack of the very meta gestures that made the first Fright Night a clever riff on genre cinema. Consequently, the only unique feature of this dud is its success at dousing virtually every single momentous incident in smoke-machine haziness.
Sorry, can't agree with you. Saying that Fright Night 2 is "nothing more than a cheapo regurgitation of its predecessor" is like saying that Aliens is nothing more than a cheapo regurgitation of Alien, or that Terminator 2 is nothing more than a cheapo regurgitation of The Terminator. Fright Night 2 is a new, original story, that works on all levels. I wouldn't be surprised if you are letting the films low IMDb rating and the other lukewarm(and wrong) reviews the film received play into your own review and didn't judge the movie on its own merits. I suggest you watch it again, this time with an open mind. It is a very good sequel.
Posted by: Jimmie "King Evil" Payton | August 27, 2011 at 08:38 PM
Now vampires are in vogue!
Posted by: ruletti | November 23, 2011 at 08:23 AM