Marti Noxon

Remaking Fright Night, Todd Holland‘s still-entertaining 1985 teen vampire horror/comedy, seemed like a dire prospect. But then Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) came on to direct a script by Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) with Colin Farrell starring as the vampire who moves in next door to Charley Brewster, a high school student played by Anton Yelchin. OK, so far so good. The script is pretty solid, and adds enough things to differentiate it from the original that this isn’t at all a 100% straight remake.

Now the first trailer is out, and you’ll see how different some aspects of this version really are. While Chris Sarandon was perfect for the vampire role in the original, I’m happy to see that Colin Farrell’s version might be just as intense as intended in the script. I’ve moved past all the reservations I had about remaking Fright Night (because there’s nothing I can do about it) and while I’m not feeling mad excitement at the prospect of this version, I like the cast enough that I’m willing to give it a chance.

The biggest concern I have with the trailer is that, for a 3D film, this one looks really dark to begin with. It has to be dark — it’s a horror film, and takes place largely at night. But with the dimness of images being a big problem with 3D projection, I’m afraid for the outcome here.

The trailer shows a good bit of Toni Collette as Charley’s mom, and of Imogen Poots as his new girlfriend. You’ll see a little bit here of Christipher Mintz-Plasse as Evil Ed, Charley’s best friend (or slightly estranged best friend in this version) but sadly almost nothing at all of David Tennant as a Criss Angel-like stage magician whose true nature is slightly different than it first appears to be. And before you worry that too much is given away here, keep in mind that the trailer is largely cut from first-act material, so it isn’t nearly as revealing as it might seem.

Senior Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) finally has it all—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the hottest girl in high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But trouble arrives when an intriguing stranger Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right—and everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Toni Collette), doesn’t notice. After witnessing some very unusual activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on his neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone that he’s telling the truth, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself in this Craig Gillespie-helmed revamp of the comedy-horror classic.