Fright Night

A man moves in next door to Charley and the boy is certain he is a vampire. Unable to convince anyone, he goes to Peter Vincent, a washed-up actor who hosts horror films on late-night television. Vincent's only problem is that he does not actually believe in vampires. Tom Holland came up with the idea while writing Cloak & Dagger and saw the solution immediately: of course he is going to go to Vincent Price. Peter Vincent came out of that, and the part was written for Price. Roddy McDowall ended up playing him, and made a conscious decision to pattern the performance on the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. Chris Sarandon suggested a way to humanise the vampire: let Amy be the reincarnation of the woman he lost. That idea gave the film its emotional layer. Richard Edlund supervised the effects, and the team applied what they had learned on Ghostbusters, knowing how to do this as cheaply and efficiently as the era allowed. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 83 percent, and it became a franchise. Who it is for: fans of eighties horror comedy built on practical effects. Who it is not for: viewers used to modern pacing. The first half takes its time.