Fright Night Part 2

Year: 1988
Director: Tommy Lee Wallace
Writer: Tom Holland, Tim Metcalfe
Genre: Horror: Comedy, Vampire

Fright Night is an excellent movie. It may be supremely 80s but it's a ton of fun and a great take on vampires that I'd love to see again these days. Fright Night Part 2 attempts to continue the story of the first but mostly just falls apart.

In Part 2 we hear Charley Brewster recounting the events of the first film (in case you forgot?). After he finishes his tale we see that he's in an office and that his therapist has helped convince him none of that stuff ever occurred. There's no such thing as vampires!

Soon after we see that Charley also has a new flame. Why? Wasn't the huge climax of the first film not only defeating the vampires that moved in next door, but also saving his girlfriend from vampirism? What was the point of that if he was just going to toss her aside for some new girl? After I managed to get over that though a new thought crossed my mind. Did they rush to make this movie right after the first one? I asked this question because it feels like a big pile of nonsensical parts stuck into one somewhat cohesive whole.

There are multiple parts of the film where scenes change with no real explanation between them as to what occurred. There is a part where you see some characters in one scene, and then the next they are in jail. What, how did that even happen? There are a few points like that and it makes it feel like the director was in a hurry to pump this out after the success of the original. This isn't the case though as Part 2 was made a few years after the original, not immediately. You've got to wonder what was going on in production where they had to cut out scenes that explained what on earth was going on. Not only that, but this movie is supremely 80s. This is a plus or minus depending on who you are - to me it was a plus.

This is not to say the movie wasn't enjoyable. It still was pretty fun and I liked the new vampire crew a lot. My favorite in particular was Regina. The movie quickly escalates to the climactic showdown. While it's not as drawn out or cool as the first film it still is alright. Check it out if you got a kick out of the original Fright Night.