It Came From the ‘80s is a series that pays homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
Poor Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale). Being a teen is awkward enough, but then there are the added struggles of appeasing a girlfriend while trying not to make your best friend feel like a third wheel. It’s even worse when a suave vampire moves in next door, practically flaunting the corpses of his victims because no one believes in vampires anymore. Charley does what any sensible horror fan might do in his situation; he turns to his local horror host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) for vampire-slaying aid. That’s what ultimately makes us feel for Charley the most; the plucky teen hero often finds himself upstaged by a reluctant horror host, a charming vamp for the modern world, and a memorably quirky best friend nicknamed Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys).
Fright Night marked the directorial debut of Tom Holland (Child’s Play), for which he also wrote the screenplay. Prior, Holland had already established himself as a talented screenwriter, penning the scripts for Cloak & Dagger, Psycho II, Class of 1984, and The Beast Within. It was while working on Cloak & Dagger that the idea behind Fright Night came to him. Holland’s film helped bring vampires into the modern world, leaving behind their Gothic setting. While the film does have self-awareness and a sense of humor, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) and his henchmen are deadly serious. Part of the horror stems from Charley and his enlisted hero being in way over their heads, but who are we kidding, much of it comes from Jerry being an imposing foe who transforms into bats and exposes his monstrous side. Having an undead servant helps, too.
In charge of the creature and effects was Richard Edlund’s (Ghostbusters, Poltergeist) effects company Boss Films. Edlund worked as visual effects producer on the film, while Randall William Cook (I, Madman, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Steve Johnson (Night of the Demons, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) co-headed the creature department. The pair split up the characters and effects they’d each supervise; Cook took on Jerry Dandridge’s bat attack and transformation while Johnson tackled Evil Ed’s werewolf sequence.
Randall William Cook with his bat
Peter Vincent faces off against Evil Ed in wolf form in the second half of the film, and after a staking through the heart with a table leg, Ed reverse transforms from a wolf back to a human as he dies. It’s a heartbreaking but cool scene. Johnson previously worked on the special makeup effects crew for An American Werewolf in London and Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf, and Fright Night allowed him to create a transformation sequence of his own.
For Cook’s part, he sculpted a bat the size of a fairly big dog, with a massive wingspan and a cable-controlled face. Crew members used poles to manipulate the wings while Cook handled the main body during the bat’s attack on Peter Vincent – Vincent bears the brunt of the monster attacks in this movie. Jerry’s transformation to bat marks a hasty exit from the rising sun and sets up the final showdown of the film.
Fright Night has it all; fun creature effects, a memorable monstrous villain, a lovable reluctant hero in the form of a horror host, and the perfect blend of heart, humor, and horror. It mixed up the vampire film in a refreshing way, helping usher in a wave of modern vampire films that would follow in the latter half of the decade. As Jerry put it, “Welcome to Fright Night! For real.”
