Exclusive Fright Night Video Retrospective Coming August 22nd with Tom Holland and More!
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This writer has a very short list of films that I could watch endlessly over and over again. As an awkward horror-loving girl who taped Freddy Krueger posters to her wall instead of the New Kids on the Block, the horror genre was always my escape.
Growing up, there were three movies in particular that I frequently found solace in whenever I’d pop their VHS tapes into my machine: Terror in the Aisles, Clue and Tom Holland’s Fright Night.
Not only did I have the opportunity to experience Fright Night originally when it was released in theaters (can I just say that having a single horror-loving mom in the 80s completely rocked), but I spent so much of my meager allowances over the years on Fright Night rental fees from my local video store that one day my best friend’s dad paid a co-worker just to tape it off HBO for me so I could have my own copy for my birthday (I grew up in a trailer park so luxuries – including cable – were few and far between).
I kept that VHS copy up until 1995, when I finally traded in my badly-worn dub of Fright Night for a brand spanking new VHS copy. Two years later when I made the leap to the digital age, Fright Night was the second DVD disc I ever purchased, right behind The Matrix, and that’s still the copy I watch, travel with and fall asleep to on most nights.
Throughout the years this creature of habit has spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours with Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale), Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), Amy Peterson (Amanda Bearse), “Evil Ed” Thompson (Stephen Geoffreys), Billy Cole (Jonathon Stark), and the unforgettable Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). Fright Night was one of those brilliant genre movies that not only scared the hell out of me as a kid but also filled me with so much love and appreciation for the horror genre as a whole, and I know it’s part of the reason why I’m lucky enough to be writing this article today.
This Friday, August 19th, DreamWorks is releasing its updated take on Holland’s classic Fright Night in eye-popping 3D (if you think Colin Farrell looks good in 2D, seeing him in 3D will definitely tickle your proverbial fancy). During the coming week we here at Dread Central will be ushering in the arrival of the new Fright Night, which was directed by Craig Gillespie, penned by Marti Noxon and stars the aforementioned Farrell as well as Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Toni Collette, and give it the opportunity to stand on its own merits.
On August 22nd, though, we invite you to check in here with us as we are planning to present to you, our dear readers, a very special look back at the original Fright Night with none other than writer/director Tom Holland himself. We’ll be presenting a video retrospective spanning over several days that will take an in-depth look at the making of the beloved classic, and you’ll also hear some rare behind-the-scene stories from Holland as well as get an exclusive look at some never-before-seen Polaroid photos from the creature and make-up work created for Fright Night over 26 years ago.
Make sure to check out the new Fright Night 3D when it hits theaters on August 19th and come back here on the 22nd for a trip down memory lane with the original Fright Night.
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