What I think sets the late Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight apart is this: in an otherwise straight-faced cast, he's having an absolute blast. The same can be said of Colin Farrell and the new Fright Night remake. It's not a great film, but it's hard to deny the appeal of a guy who's having so much fun on screen.
Fright Night is a vampire movie, a sort of horror/comedy film in a genre that's grown popular with the success of films like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. Yelchin plays Charley, a high school kid whose next door neighbor, Jerry, is an ancient bloodsucking monster. When one of his friends disappears and his loved ones are jeopardized, the whole "I vant to suck your blood" thing becomes personal and Charley takes it upon himself to slay the beast.
The story moves quickly enough and features some pretty outstanding vampire transformation sequences. Regrettably, it throws in a couple lame 3D gimmicks as well but I guess you can't have it all. It's a decent ride, very linear and predictable, but Farrell takes the whole thing up a notch. His performance seems to be one big wink at the camera. With his eyes weaving back and forth between victims and his otherworldly stares, he completely nails the B-movie feel underneath this whole thing. He goes from creepy to hysterical in the blink of an eye and puts the rest of the cast, including the underused Toni Collette, to total shame. Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Doctor Who's David Tennant are the only others who really get to let loose, and they account for a couple moments of both inspiration and mediocrity.
Fright Night is a pretty enjoyable little horror romp but Farrell runs the show here and the rest of the cast is just trying to keep up. I say check it out: this may be the last of the decent summer popcorn flicks.
