Movies
Fright Night 3D (remake)
“A visually slick product that boasts a bigger-name cast but lacks the soul and charm of its predecessor…What also feels stilted are the special effects, which rely so heavily on CGI that the grand finale looks like something copped from a video game. This will likely be the final straw for hardcore fans of the original…”
“Oh, you’re so cool, Brewster!”
If you were above a certain age in the mid-’80s, you’ve likely either uttered that phrase or recall its ubiquity following the release of the original Fright Night, one of the sleeper successes of 1985. The line was so memorable not because of the words themselves, but the unique way in which actor Stephen Geoffreys (as “Evil” Ed Thompson) delivered them. The actor’s performance may not have been good, per se, but it was passionate and inspired and full of odd little quirks that stuck in the brain. The same could be said for the movie itself – no great work of cinema, but made with real dedication and heart.
Now we’ve got the inevitable remake, a visually slick product that boasts a bigger-name cast but lacks the soul and charm of its predecessor. I’m not one of these people who believes all remakes are automatically bad – hell, a precious few are actually better than the films that inspired them – but Fright Night 2011 is the sort of lackluster effort that helped create that perception in the first place. The original movie, which feels rather dated and clunky now, at least serves as a pleasant enough “turn-your-brain-off” diversion. The remake isn’t even able to manage that small feat.
While the premise remains the same, the setting has been moved to the desert suburbs of Las Vegas. In this version high school student Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a douchey status seeker, using his recently-developed romantic relationship with popular girl Amy (Imogen Poots) as a means to acquire newfound standing with the “cool kids”. Achieving this position unfortunately requires him to dump former best friend Ed Thompson (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a geeky eccentric obviously hurt by Charley’s rejection but clearly at pains not to show it.
These early scenes make a grave misstep in establishing Charley as a cruel teenage social-climber, arrogantly discarding a longtime friend so as to gain pull with a group of alpha-male bullies led by future frat boy degenerate Mark (Dave Franco). While this would be fine if Charley were given some sort of redeeming quality for the audience to latch onto, screenwriter Marti Noxon doesn’t provide us with one. As a result, once Charley realizes the fallacy of his ways later in the film it’s far too little, far too late, and performance-wise Yelchin isn’t able to overcome the fact that he’s been saddled with a whiny, unlikable character.
The real action begins, of course, once Charley’s vampiric next-door neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell) enters the picture. Initially found out by Ed, who tries to convince his disbelieving former friend that he’s sharing a fence with a monster, “Jerry 2.0” is a sleek, relentless being, shorn of the tragic romantic backstory that ultimately dimensionalized Chris Sarandon’s version of the character in the original. It’s only when Ed disappears that Charley realizes the truth for himself and enlists the services of obnoxious, Midori-swilling Vegas magician Peter Vincent (played by former “Doctor Who” David Tennant), who possesses an impressive collection of occult artifacts in a gaudy top-floor penthouse he shares with curvaceous, no-nonsense lover/assistant/co-star Ginger (Sandra Vergara, Sofia’s younger sister).
Sadly, like the rest of the cast Tennant hasn’t been given much to work with here. Though there is an infinite amount of comedy to be mined from the idea of a flamboyant, pseudo-gothic Vegas illusionist in the Criss Angel mold, Noxon astoundingly never capitalizes on that opportunity. I can remember laughing just once at the character’s antics, and unsurprisingly it came not from Noxon’s script but thanks to Tennant’s improvisational abilities (as pointed out by director Craig Gillespie during my interview with him).
Make no mistake: every performer here is hobbled by both a useless script and limp direction by Gillespie, whose last film was the unbearably far-fetched (and unaccountably well-reviewed) Lars and the Real Girl from 2007. Farrell, a very good actor whose career thankfully seems to be getting back on track, doesn’t have much else to do but furrow his brow and pose seductively in doorways. As Charley’s mom, Toni Collette – an Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning actress who is superlative in essentially everything she does – has been handed an embarrassingly underwritten “stock mom” character that is a complete waste of her formidable talents. Meanwhile, Poots – who was quite good in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s excellent 28 Weeks Later – is oddly miscast, seeming to struggle at times with the American accent required for the part. As a result, her performance as the sexually-aggressive Amy (a reversal from the original movie) feels uncomfortably stilted.
What also feels stilted are the special effects, which rely so heavily on CGI that the grand finale looks like something copped from a video game. This will likely be the final straw for hardcore fans of the original, which boasted memorably top-notch makeup effects that were alternately frightening and just over-the-top enough to fit in nicely with the film’s campy tone. Sure, there is some of the practical stuff here, and it’s undeniably effective (you can thank the always-reliable KNB for that), but it ultimately takes a backseat to the phony-looking digital effects work in the movie’s final half. Gore-wise, the movie certainly justifies its R-rating, but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, believe me (ok, there is one exploding girl, but the moment is ruined due to its being rendered in shitty CGI).
So what’s good about it? Well, it looks nice – the cinematography is by Javier Aguirresarobe, who shot The Road and The Others, among other distinguished efforts – and there’s a reasonably stimulating car chase sequence about 2/3 of the way through. Also, if Modern Family‘s Sofia Vergara gives you a boner, just wait’ll you get a load of her sister tramping around in high heels and lingerie.
Of course, I can’t possibly wrap up this review without mentioning the 3D cinematography, an artistically irrelevant gimmick that adds absolutely nothing to the scope of the film. Dreamworks and the creative team can go on spinning the decision any way they want – and believe me they’ve tried – but there’s no hiding the fact that Spielberg (who allegedly came up with the idea) & Co. simply desire an extra slice of your pocketbook. My advice? Don’t give them the satisfaction. If you have to see it, see it in 2D – unless, of course, you’re dying to have a freaking pebble come at you in three dimensions – and for god’s sake go to a matinee. Trust me: there are far better things you could be spending that extra couple of dollars on.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
You must be logged in to post a comment.