Caffeinated Clint
Will William Ragsdale be invited to the party?
Do you realize how much trouble you’ve caused me Charlie? Spying on me. Almost disturbing my sleep this afternoon. Telling policemen about me! You deserve to die boy. Of course, I can give you something I don’t have. It’s a choice. Forget about me, Charlie. Forget about me, and I’ll forget about you. Well, what do you say Charlie?
So they’re remaking “Fright Night” now, says ShockTilYouDrop.com.
You know, I don’t actually hate the idea – and you know how shitsticked I can get about unnecessary do-overs – if only because they’re going to follow the lead of “The Departed” and do something different with it.
“Fright Night”, starring William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowell, is definitely a little dated now… but it’s still worth revisiting. There are some spiffy moments in there (I can hardly remember anything from the lame 1989 sequel besides John Gries on rollerskates).
The horror/comedy, released in 1985, tells of a teenager who believes his next door neighbour is a vampire and with the assistance of a TV star (who doesn’t relay believe they exist, but will help him for the money) makes moves to destroy him.
Though I’m sure it’s much more about coinage than creativity, it’s not a bad idea to redo this one. I think. You see, though people who saw it (and remember all the ads for it around the time of its release) on first release, love it, and probably still do, “Fright Night” isn’t a “Hallwoeen” or “Friday the 13th” – something people remember vividly and to this day, still quote lines from or cherish (Though personally, I love some of the scenes in the film – – makes me want to watch it again). I bet teenagers have never even heard of it. At the same time, I’m not a fan of straight-up remakes… especially when a good DVD print of “Fright Night” is still readily available… so I’d picket anything that just wants to play the lazy fuck game and crank the Xerox machine up.
Screen Gems, who recently remade “When a Stranger Calls” and are currently in deep with the “Prom Night” redo, are the brains behind the flick. Scott Strauss (“Breach”, “Mindhunters”) is involved in some capacity.
The new “Fright Night” apparently isn’t going to follow the same storyline as the original film… it’ll be ‘in-name only’… and according to ShockTilYouDrop.com, may even feature an amusement park (?).
I did a quick Google to see if I could find anything else on it, but besides some year-old bullshit rumours (Shia LaBeouf playing Charlie Brewster in a remake, George Clooney up for lead vampire role), there’s nothing on it. Hopefully something (or someone) turns up to shed more light on the redo… even if it’s a steamed William Ragsdale.
If it must be remade…. Do something ‘different’. And for Christ’s sake, make it good.
