One Minute Movie Review: Fright Night (2011)

In 1985,  Tom Hollins brought us a unique spin on the mythical bloodsucking tale with a campy, tongue-in-cheek flick featuring over the top performances of such talents as Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowall.  In 2011, Craig Gillespie attempts to update that camp classic with this inferior reboot.  Replacing all the humor and originality of its predecessor, Gillespie creates a more ominous environment lessened by a goofy and cliched retelling.  Unlike the 80s original,  there's nothing new here; the characters are boring, the acting is subpar, and even the gore is passé.  Colin Farrell provides us one of the most uninteresting vampires since Edmund, a little more adult and aggressive yet somehow the same pedestrian screen presence.  Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots have about as much chemistry as stagnant water and their performances are as inspiring.  McDowall's replacement, David Tennant, concocts a decidedly peculiar character somewhere between Criss Angel and Jack Sparrow that fails miserably.  A far cry from McDowall's endearing, cartoonish,  reluctant hero.  There's no connection with the audience this is just yet another retelling of a done the death tale, no pun intended.  Add in cinematography that is so dark that half the action is barely noticeable, and you get a film that is lifeless and unentertaining.  0 out of 5 Kernels: for a vampire film this movie sucked in all the wrong ways.