Here’s What Made ‘Fright Night’ Unforgettable

Tom Holland’s “Fright Night” (1985) has held a steady presence with horror fans and vampire movie aficionados alike.

William Ragsdale stars as Charley Brewster, a high school kid who is too shy to initiate third base with his girlfriend (Amanda Bearse) and especially on edge when he discovers that his new neighbor is a bloodsucker. The man next door, Jerry Dandridge, played with humor and great presence by Chris Sarandon, warns Charlie to keep quiet about his discovery.

The undead charmer toys with Charley, threatening to kill him and his mother if he can’t keep his mouth shut.

Charlie’s last resort, after the police and his friends don’t believe him, is hiring movie star Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) to get rid of the bloodsucker.

Vincent is the host of a horror movie TV series that showcases many of his old movies, boasts cheap production values and is bookended by the host talking directly into the camera. I grew up with shows like this. I used to watch “Creature Feature,” which showcased movies like “Godzilla 1985,” and I was (and remain) a huge fan of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

These inexpensive shows, which relied heavily on cheesy effects (particularly a busy fog machine), cornball one-liners and (most importantly) a lively “undead” host, still exist but barely. Like drive-in movie theaters, they’re out there.

On occasion, I still watch “Svengoolie” in MeTV and old episodes of “Movie Macabre with Elvira.” There’s something delicious about the airing of a B-movie, hosted by someone who is either a “monster” or a “monster hunter” (Sybil Danning’s “Adventure Video” intros fit into the latter).

The concept of Holland’s “Fright Night” suggests that the horror host hamming it up on TV is the most astute protection you’d need from the vampire living next door to your home, because they’ve seen all the same movies you have and know how to protect themselves and you.

The horror film “Fright Night” was released in theatres today in 1985. #80s pic.twitter.com/Hi9x87I2m6

— LandOfThe80s (@landofthe80s) August 2, 2025

Ragsdale and Bearse are too old to pull off high schoolers, though the film’s comic relief, Stephen Geoffreys (as “Evil Ed”), is believably youthful and appropriately annoying. Far better are Sarandon and McDowell, both terrific.

Holland does a fine job of building the tension by allowing the stillness of the atmosphere to creep in.

The quiet suburbia where Brewster lives, as well as the small town around it, seems more sinister than All-American. While not the full-bodied mix of horror and humor that “The Lost Boys” would prove to be two years later, “Fright Night” is a sly throwback to classic horror films (making it an anomaly in the age of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger) and as scary and funny as it needs to be.

One sequence, set in an improbable nightclub (seemingly out of place in a small town), showcases the MTV-ready soundtrack and feels like teen audience bait. However, since the scene in question allows Sarandon to be so sexy and play up the seductive nature of the vampire, the movie gets away with it.

“Fright Night” is vampire-lite, compared to the likes of the subsequent Kathryn Bigelow’s “Near Dark” (1986) and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992). Nevertheless, while those movies are heavier with their violence and intensity, it’d be wrong to overlook how “Fright Night” and even “The Monster Squad” (1987) were distinctly old school in their depiction of vampirism poisoning the American bloodstream.

Richard Edlund’s visual effects, created a year after his milestone work for “Ghostbusters,” are no less impressive. Holland’s “Child’s Play” (1988) and “Psycho II” (released in 1983, which Holland wrote but didn’t direct) are much scarier, but he should be proud of “Fright Night.”

It pays loving homage to the creaky spookfests that came before it, provides genuine jolts and, unlike most horror films released in 1985, it’s such a treasure chest and spooky, cob-webbed coffin of fun.

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