Fright Night 2 - Just.... why?

Okay, there are very few horror fans that really approve of their favourite slasher movies of the seventies/eighties being ‘remade, re-envisioned’ or ‘rebooted’ (or whatever the producers want to call it when they basically want to cash in on a popular film franchise’s name with the next generation of cinema-goers).  However, occasionally you get a remake that sort of works.  When they made the original ‘Fright Night’ a couple of years ago, it was reasonably successful and just about tolerated by fans of the eighties original (‘tolerated’ being ‘high praise’ for a remake!).

Now we get ‘Fright Night 2.’ And I can’t really work out where it sits in the franchise’s chronology.  For a start we have the two surviving characters from the first film returning.  Only they’re not played by the same (good) actors – a sure sign that ‘part II’ is heading straight to DVD.  So, having them in it (in character name only) may make you think that this is a direct sequel.  Only it’s not.  Despite being the same characters, it’s a new film which ignores the first (remake).  They don’t know anything about vampires again and are therefore surprised when they discover that vampires exist in Romania this time (how original).

Fright Night 2 is basically a remake of the first remake, because nothing before has happened.  If you can get over that, you’ll realise that it’s just a poor retelling of the first story.  This time we have Jamie Murray as the vampire who’s preying on teenage virgins on school trips.  Yes, she’s sexy, but she’s a much better actress that this role allows.  Her lines are stilted and she has been known to do so much better you end up feeling sorry for her because she’s about the biggest name in the film.

If you like Fright Night and vampires in general, you should probably stick with the original eighties film.  However, if you want something a little more modern, the Colin Farrel remake is actually quite acceptable.  As for Part II... in places it got so bad I was longing for Twilight.

Jamie Murray... have a word with your agent.

4/10 You can watch this film while you're doing the ironing (you'll still get the general gist of it)