Three years have passed since Charlie ran into his vampire neighbour Jerry, and now, after been seeing a shrink for some time, he's convinced that it was all in his imagination, and that vampires do not exist for real. Soon though, four strangers start showing up, lead by the beautiful actress Regina who has an interest in Charlie and his buddy Peter Vincent. They later find out that Regina is actually Jerry's sister, and now she's here to seek revenge for what they did to her brother by turning Charlie into a vampire.
Watching Fright Night 2 felt somewhat like watching the original Fright Night all over again, only this time it was so much worse. When being a kid, this movie might've been fun, campy and just frightening enough, but watching it now all over again, many years later, it was somewhat of a drag. I like the fact that they've kept the original Charlie and Peter, only Charlie's girlfriend's new this time around. Some sequels tend to fall flat just because they change too much stuff around compared to what was in the original, plus the change of actors as well, so at least Fright Night 2 has those things going for it.
Charlie's just the same as in the original flick, nervous and constantly worried. I would've been worried too if I would've had vampires chasing after me, but watching him on screen for too long is actually a bit irritating. Still, it's pretty funny at times, campy, and stays true to the original flick which is nice.
This time it's about revenge, and a vampire lady named Regina and her three henchmen seeks out Charlie and his friend, the fearless vampire killer that hosted Fright Night, Peter Vincent. Charlie's at first convinced that there are no vampires, but soon things start to happen that makes him change his mind. He seeks out his old buddy Peter, and tells him all about what he saw, and together they check things out. But it appeared as if Charlie saw things that were not there, but when he leaves, Peter gets to see what Regina really is. Now it's his turn to convince Charlie but it doesn't go too well. It seems like Regina's revenge is actually working and Charlie starts to turn more and more into a vampire.
When I watched Fright Night 2 now again, I was interested and in the mood for it till half-way through. Then it started to drag, become too predictable, and did not feature the same kind of campiness and humour that the original movie had. Maybe I was a bit tired and should've watched it another day instead, but it kinda felt like watching the first flick all over again, only that it was much worse this time around.
I don't wanna say it's a bad movie, because it's really not, it was just that it was hard to stay interested all the way through, while 15 years ago or so it wasn't. It has some cool enviroments, and some scenery is pretty nice and adds to the whole vampyric feel. The character Regina was slightly boring, and while one of her henchmen look like a transvestite on roller-blades, the other one kept eating bugs. It sounds funny but it was not. The third of the henchmen though is the guy that adds comedy to Fright Night 2. Even if he wasn't that fun, he still had some pretty funny things to say, and if it wouldn't have been for him, I'm not sure I would've smiled once.
I remember this movie as being somewhat better, but things change and it was a long time ago since I last saw it. Good thing is that it stays true to the first flick, but the bad thing is that it stays too true, and it somewhat felt like watching the original flick all over again. It's far from a great 80's movie but it works, and might be interesting for people who liked the first flick. Other than that, there are way better horror comedies from the good old 80's out there.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Fright Night Part II
MOVIE YEAR: 1988
DIRECTOR: Tommy Lee Wallace
WRITING CREDITS: Tom Holland, Tim Metcalfe
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
CAST: William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall, Traci Lind
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 104 min
RATING: 4/10
Fright Night 2 Website/IMDB Click here
Fright Night 2 Trailer Click here
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