The ‘Fright Night’ remake raises many important questions, like is my creepy neighbor a vampire?
Is my sexy girlfriend’s libido a hassle or a drag? Isn’t that McLovin?

Important queries all, but they pale in comparison to the most important question raised here. Namely, when did Colin Farell become John Stamos?

I’m including photos for comparison. Shocking, isn’t it?

But we can’t stop with “when”. We must ask “how”, and ultimately “why”. We could also ask “where”, but that makes no sense. So we will limit our attentions to “when”, “how”, and “why”.

Sometimes why.

There’s a glut of vampires in pop culture right now. One cannot swing a dead cat in any direction without bumping into a vampire, or a moody teenager in love with vampires. Or werewolves, even the elusive Teen Wolf.

Colin Farell is game, and he does a reasonably good job of conveying a sort of banal suburban malice throughout the film. I’m sure it says more about me than it does the movie, but Farell’s labors are undone for me when I have to keep reminding myself that he’s not Uncle Jesse from Full House. (Srsly. It’s eerie, right?)

If you liked the original, there’s no reason to believe you won’t like this one. It’s essentially the same chassis with an extra dollop of production value. The scenery is chewed artfully by David Tennant (of Dr. Who fame).

I would recommend seeing it in 2D for two reasons. First, it’s a movie that takes place mostly at night, and the 3D version of most modern movies is needlessly murky and dark. Second, the half-assed 3D we’re seeing lately is most often a gimmick that adds nothing to the experience except a few extra dollars.

I enjoyed myself plenty. The movies doesn’t aim especially high, but it delivers enough fright to deserve its name, and leaves no thinky aftertaste. Popcorn season is almost over, and ‘Fright Night’ is as good a reason to shut down that noisy frontal cortex as any.