As you may have guessed from my digs at "Twilight," I don't care anything about mopey, whiny, emo vampires. Vampires are monsters. I get the whole psycho-sexual elements; the blood, the penetration and so on. And there have been really good films that explored those themes while still letting the vamps be the monsters they are. My point being, I guess, I don't want my monsters neutered.
That's definitely not the case with "30 Days of Night." Based on the graphic novel by Steve Niles, this is a brutal piece of vampire cinema. I wouldn't call it a perfect film, but it's a damn good one with a unique setting. Once a year the small town of Barrow, Alaska experiences a month long period where the sun never shines. As the sun sets for last time before the titular 30 days of night, a boat load of vampires arrive in town for a month long feast. Once the townspeople figure out exactly what they are up against, their task is simple; survive until sun up.
And here is my only real gripe with the film; it never really feels like they've been hiding and surviving for 30 days. Everything else pretty much works, but somehow the filmmakers missed out on conveying a sense of how long a month would actually seem if you are fighting for your life 24 hours a day.
But that's a nitpick to be sure. This film had great tension, creepy as hell vampires, and a strong cast of human survivors. Well worth a Halloween viewing.
Surely you know this one already, right? Right? I don't think there's much that I can add to what you already know about "Fright Night." I mean, if you dig watching a bunch of horror movies every Halloween, you've seen this at least a couple of times already.
But just in case ...
"Fright Night" is a great 80's horror film that gives you the best of both worlds, in terms of vampires, offering us both the seducer and the vicious beast in one character.
Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) has a new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon). Dandrige is a smooth pimp with the ladies. He's also a nasty, killing machine. He is, to my mind, one of the great cinema vampires. He starts off all cool, suave and seductive, but when he vamps out it's full-on ruthless monster time with some really nasty looking makeup to boot. Sarandon is great here, playing both sides of his vampire with equal ferocity.
Also, there's no way to discuss "Fright Night" without mentioning the wonderful Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer. Here he plays a wash-up actor who once started in a string of -- you guessed it -- vampire films and now must overcome his fears and help defeat a real one.
I've often heard "Fright Night" referred to as a horror/comedy and I suppose that's accurate, but don't get the idea that it's wall to wall yuks and sight gags and such. The whole reason this film actually works on both levels is because the comedy isn't forced, rather it comes naturally out of certain character personalities and situations. So, yes, there's a good bit of humor here, but at it's core "Fright Night" is a horror film.
Now here's one that's played more for laughs than horror, though, to be sure it has it's share of nastiness. Being a horror/comedy from the 80's starring Grace Jones, that kid from "Meatballs" and Michelle Pfeiffer's little sister, "Vamp" isn't going to be for everyone. And to be honest, it's not one of my favorite, must-watch-every-Halloween films. That said, when I do pop this in the DVD player it's a plenty entertaining enough diversion.
To sum up the story, two cooler than cool college guys rent a car from Long Duk Dong so they can drive into the city, go to a strip club and hire a stripper for a frat party. Unfortunately for them, the strip club they stumble into happens to be run by a gang of stripper vampires who feed on their low-life patrons. It's really not all as sleazy as that description makes it sound, and there are some nice touches that set this film apart from the dozens of other low-budget, vampire romps the 80's offered up, although things are still slathered in a healthy layer of 80's cheese.
"Vamp" is streaming on Netflix right now, so if you have a subscription it's easy enough to give it a shot. If it turns out it's not for you, switch it off and go find "Fright Night."
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