Fright Night 3D (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

88

Film Synopsis:

Meet the sexy new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell). He's dangerously charming -- and utterly lethal. That's because he just happens to be a vampire, and out for blood...buckets of it. After high school senior Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) makes the connection between Jerry's suspicious activity and a steadily rising body count, he vows to end the reign of terror next door. But he can't do it alone. His only hope is Las Vegas magician/vampire-slayer Peter Vincent (David Tennant). Together, this unlikely duo set out to end Jerry's evil rampage. But Jerry is a ruthless, relentless killer, and he's not going down without a fight.

My Take:

Charley (Anton Yelchin) is a high school senior who’s on top of the world—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating Amy (Imogen Poots), the most coveted girl in school. But trouble arrives when Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a nice guy––at first. But there’s something not quite right, and no one else, including Charley’s mom (Toni Collette) seems to notice. After his classmates start to mysteriously disappear without a trace, Charlie discovers that there is more to his new neighbor than meets the eye. Now he must do all he can to protect his mom and girlfriend Amy from the mysterious and dark horror living across his driveway.

It has been years since I have seen the original Fright Night but I remember it being lots of fun and worthy of the cult classic status it has achieved. This remake doesn’t make the same impression but the effects are decent and Marti Noxon’s script is workable. The characters here aren’t drawn as well, save for Charley and Jerry, but the contemporized story moves along adding enough satire and gore to qualify as a decent chiller. This isn’t Colin Farrell’s first go round in the bad guy role and he pulls it off quite nicely. Anton Yelchin’s boyish charm is perfectly suited for Charley and works well opposite Farrell. I like Toni Collette but her talents are simply wasted here. Chris Sarandon’s cameo was a nice touch though. David Tennant’s Peter Vincent provides the comic relief and pales in comparison to Roddy McDowall in the same role from the original film. Fright night is a fun, bloody, homage that clearly isn’t meant to supplant the original. It’s about what you would expect of a teen/horror movie today but with a pinch of this and a dash of that to add more flavor. I didn’t mind it at all.

Parental Guide:

The rating is for bloody horror violence, language and some sexual references.

Audio: 90

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3D Presentation: 86

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Fright night 3D comes to Blu-ray Disc from Disney featuring 1080p MVC encoded video and DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 5.5 Mbps.

Fright night in 3D makes definitive use of the 3D platform with a noticeable emphasis on effects that are designed to elicit audience reaction via objects coming out of the screen etc. I found that implementation to be successful in this regard. Looking at it in terms of realistic depth, dimension and virtual cohesiveness the results are good but fall shy of best overall high definition 3D experiences I have had in my theater. When there is no use of the “in your face” 3D effects the video offers appreciable separation of the elements onscreen although depth varies with the camera’s perspective. I saw a little ghosting/crosstalk but it was minimal at best. Comparing contrast, black levels, and color reproduction I saw little to no difference between the 3D and 2D presentations. The rendering of detail and clarity is also similar although I would give the slightest edge to the 3D version. The fact that this film was specifically made with 3D in mind probably made for a better experience than it would have with a different type of film. Like the 2D presentation, this isn’t a visually stimulating experience but it satisfies just the same.

The lossless DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio surround mix does a nice job rendering the film’s soundtrack. Dialogue has excellent intonation and clarity which allows even subtle changes in vocal pitch to be appreciable. This is a well balanced audio presentation that quite often engages the entire system. Dynamic range is excellent and the soundstage has an open expression that allows its elements to extend well into the room. The front channels are seamlessly integrated with the surrounds tightly infused to create an immersive and stable soundstage. This mix creates a two dimensional sound field that comes alive when the action kicks in. There is lots of rich atmospheric ambience, involving near field sound effects, and robust dynamics that energize the room. The LFE channel is frequently active and reproduces the film’s music and extended lower bass frequencies with impact that has excellent tactility. An overall great sounding audio presentation.

2D Video Quality:

Video: 86

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Fright night comes to Blu-ray Disc from Disney featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 31 Mbps.

The video has a stylized look that utilizes a de-saturated color scheme and slightly scaled back contrast which gives images a flatter less dynamic appearance. Blacks are fairly strong and detail in dark areas and shadowy backgrounds is excellent. Resolution is notable however due to the nature of the photography definitive sharpness and fine detail rendering fluctuates here and there. This doesn’t inhibit the ability to visually resolve the structure of objects/backgrounds within the frame but slightly diminishes it on occasion. Conversely there are times when images have excellent three dimensional depth and sparkling clarity. I thought that the look of the film mated quite well with the nature of the story.

Bonus Features:

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  Disc 1:

  
  
• 3D Blu-ray
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  Disc 2: - 2D Blu-ray plus the following bonus features:

  
  
• (HD) Peter Vincent: Come swim in my mind – 2 minute feature
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• (HD) Fright night: The official “How to make a funny vampire movie” guide – 8 minute production featurette
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• (HD) 5 deleted/extended scenes
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• (HD) Squid man: Extended and uncut – 3 minutes
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• (HD) Blooper reel – 3 minutes
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• (HD) Kid Cudi’s “No one believes me” music video – 5 minutes
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• Bonus DVD/Digital Copy

Final Thoughts:

Based on the 1985 cult classic film of the same name Fright Night is a fun, bloody, homage that doesn’t live up to the original but by today’s standards makes for a decent teen/horror flick. It comes to Blu-ray Disc from Disney in this three disc package that includes an entertaining high definition 3D presentation, excellent DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio surround and a limited, but amusing assortment of bonus material. I had a good time with it and would recommend it as a rental when you’re in the mood for a little light horror fun on movie night.