Fright Night (2011)

"You Can't Run From Evil When It Lives Next Door."

Synopsis: In this remake of the 1985 classic, teenager Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) guesses that his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell) is a vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths in the neighborhood. When no one he knows believes him, he enlists Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a self proclaimed vampire killer and Las Vegas magician, to help him take down Jerry.


My Thoughts: I can go on and on about what was wrong with this movie, but just so I don't have to waste any more time on this 120 minute dud, I'll narrow it down to my 3 main complaints:

1: WHO CARES? - The 'new' Charley Brewster was one of the most uninteresting and unlikable main characters that I've seen in some time. It's nearly impossible to give a shit if anything happens to the guy, or his Mom, or his girlfriend, or any of his friends.

2: WE'VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE - The CGI effects were mediocre at best and the kills were very unoriginal. Overall, pretty weak.

3: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? - They completely butchered the 'Evil' character. When I heard that Christopher Mintz-Plasse (aka 'McLovin') was cast in this role, I thought he was the perfect choice for a 2011 version of 'Evil' Ed. He's got the geek thing down, he's a little weird and we know he could bring the comic relief. The problem is they didn't let him do what he does best. Instead, they had him deliver a few bad jokes, then made his character irrelevant to the story leaving the rest of the comedy to David Tennant (who was horrible in the Peter Vincent role). I'm sorry, but Peter Vincent and his wife giving each other the finger over and over isn't really that funny. 

My Rating: 4.5 / 10




Believe or not, a pretty good performance by Colin Farrell is wasted here. My advice would be to spend your $11 or $12 on a dvd copy of the 1985 version, because the best thing about this one is that it's forgettable. Wait for redbox and if you're a big fan of the original ...wait even longer.

...and how could they not have played 'Come To Me' (the 'Fright Night' theme song) in this movie, shame on them. It's pretty obvious that the director (Craig Gillespie) wasn't too big of a fan of the original film and believe me 

it shows on the screen.

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Mother's Day (2010)

"Don't Misbehave..."

Synopsis: After a bank robbery gone wrong, three brothers head for home, hoping their Mother (Rebecca De Mornay) can provide them with a getaway. The youngest brother, Johnny (Matt O'Leary), has been shot, and their back-stabbing former partner has gotten away with all the cash. But when the brothers get home, they find that all their stuff is gone and Mother is nowhere to be found: She lost the house months ago in a foreclosure. The new owners, Beth and Daniel Sohapi (Jaime King and Frank Grillo), and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers' unwitting hostages. Not long after, Mother arrives, along with the boys' sister Lydia (Deborah Ann Woll), and it soon becomes clear that Mother will do absolutely anything to protect her children. In one terrifying evening she brilliantly takes control of the situation and masterminds her sons' escape from the law. Sides will be taken, secrets revealed, and sins punished as the hostages struggle to make it through the night alive.

My Thoughts: Anyone who has been lucky enough to have discovered the b-movie masterpiece that is "Mother's Day" will tell you that they love it as much for it's absurdity than they do for it's violence and gore. So how does Darren Bousman's ("Saw 2-4", "Repo! The Genetic Opera") updated version compare to it's predecessor, even without nearly as much of the original's silliness and WTF moments? Well, pretty damn good actually.

The cast is incredible, especially Rebecca DeMornay as Mother. I gotta be honest, when I heard that she was chosen for this role all I could do was shake my head. I'll be the first one to say, she fuckin' nailed it. She's definitely a lot more demented than I gave her credit for, but I'm sorry I still can't get those "Risky Business" thoughts outta my head. Also, there's nothin' wrong with seeing Jaime King or Briana Evigan in another horror flick. But seriously, all of the acting was way better than I would have expected.

Darren Bousman did an amazing job telling the story with a good pace and never lost my attention (which is pretty easy to do). The kills and even some of the non-kills were pretty creative and really brutal. I mean, who doesn't wanna see a shotgun blast to the head ...so thumbs up on the gore. I think making this movie on an 11 million dollar budget is remarkable, especially with this cast. If they had to cut corners during production it certainly didn't show up on screen.

My Rating: 9 / 10




The 2010 version replaces all of the original's Troma weirdness with a more involved script, an experienced horror director and a great cast. You would think that taking out 90% of what made the original "Mother's Day" what it is would squash any chances of making this movie a worthy remake. I guess most of the time that would be true, but believe me this is an exception. They don't make'em much better, so when you get the chance, See it, Buy it!

BTW ...is it me or does anyone else wonder why everybody cheats on Jaime King in horror flicks. I just don't get it???

"click here to see the trailer"