rec.arts.movies.past-films

On Sep 21, 3:05 pm, Derek Janssen wrote:
> moviePig wrote:
> >>>> /news07/
> >>>>...
> >>>>Producer Scott Strauss ("Breach"), who was previously attached,
> >>>>apparently wants to take the story in a different direction - one
> >>>>involving an amusement park.
>
> >>>Vampires and rollercoasters. Brilliant and vivid. I can see it all
> >>>now... (either that, or I've seen it all before...)
>
> >>LOL. An obvious reference to "Lost Boys."
>
> >>Amusement parks, circuses, and museums have
> >>been used quite effectively in the horror film genre.
>
> > Next thing you know, they'll be setting horror amidst other venues of
> > public amusement, like... oh, I don't know... say, movies...
>
> Actually, I can see the reason for the change (albeit dopey):
> The "Fright Night" of the first film referred to a late-nite TV movie...
> Oh, try telling the younger generation that there was once a time, long
> long ago, when you could turn on a local TV station and watch old
> Universal horror movies at midnight. They'll never believe you.
> ("Like, what, you mean between the infomercials?--Why didn't they just
> watch Skinemax?") :(
>
> Here, twenty years later, the titular "Fright Night" is probably going
> to refer to some strategically disguised plug for Universal Studio's
> Halloween scare-nights, which has now apparently been infested with a
> *real* scare...
> Which would be a nice concept on its own, but we're still slipping
> farther and farther away from Tom Holland and Peter Vincent with every step.
>
> (and Tom Holland WAS the Most Underrated Horror Director
> of the 80's. Bar none.)

I don't know who Peter Vincent is... but Holland wasn't underrated by
me, anyway. FRIGHT NIGHT succeeded because of 1) his homage to Hammer
finales, 2) Chris Sarandon, and 3) maybe the best impromptu prosthetic
in horror movies. (The f/x guy was perturbed that they promo'ed the
effect even unto the movie poster, after telling him just to knock off
something quick.) And, fwiw, I think only #2 may update well. Imo,
even the original titular concept wasn't that valuable to the movie,
and I doubt that a Tilt-A-Whirl will add much.

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