FRIGHT NIGHT PART II (1989) What happened to all the gay? A review by request! Man, it feels like the other side of time when this was requested, and it was only a couple of weeks ago. As we've seen, a lot can happen in a couple of weeks. Fright Night Part II has a lot going for it, but it withers and pales next to its mighty predecessor, and I guess I can't get behind it very enthusiastically if, after ten years, all I can remember about it is how hot I found its heroine. Viewing it again, I find it less of a spoof than the original; this is more of a "straight" (heh heh heh) horror-comedy, which sounds like a good change, but not as many of the gags work, and in terms of excitement, it only gets more than moderately fun with the climactic grasping of hands. It's a few years after the events of Fright Night, and Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale, who looks an awful lot like Reed St. Mark) is in college and dating a new girl, Alex, played by Traci Lin (there's a porn star name if I've ever heard one). His psychiatrist (Ernie Sabella) has convinced him of a rational explanation for all the vampire action of the first film, including horror star Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) sticking a stake in his best friend. Peter never stopped believing, but knows better than to try to convince Charlie. When Charlie and Peter get together at his apartment (which looks like Castle Dracula) again to reminisce, Charlie gets a sense of déjà vu when he looks out the window to see some people hauling their coffins in on moving day...uh, night. As we soon find out, the group moving in is a group (coven? Flock?) of vampires, their leader (Julie Carmen) having designs on Charlie for some reason. Other vampires include a goofy werewolf-type vampire (Jon Gries), a too-80's rollerskating vampire (choreographer Russell Clark, NICE FUCKING HAIR), and a hulking but dapper gent (Brian Thompson, woohoo!) who takes care to rattle off the taxonomic nomenclature of every bug he sees - just before he snacks it down with his huge tongue. Pretty disgusting exit for this guy at the end. Maybe the most glaring gap between this and the original Fright Night is all of the gay overtones of the original film is gone; even the original's own setup for a big, gay, Evil-Ed-filled sequel is disregarded in favor of Julie Carmen's sexy vampire. That Fright Night was gay everywhere you looked, I thought was actually one of its more charming aspects; Interview With The Vampire was gay, but wanted to have it both ways, and tried making it sexy for women too. (it occurs to me that the overwhelming majority of vampire movies and stories are aimed at women and gay men) Fright Night made no such pretense. I've long lamented the "sexy vampire" take on the vampire legends; Fright Night went for that in its own way, but managed to not annoy me by being so gay that it almost felt like it wasn't trying to be sexy at all anymore. Fright Night Part II, on the other hand, is one of the few movies in which the "sexy vampire" thing actually works. You want to know when the "sexy vampire" thing works for me? WHEN THE VAMPIRE'S A CHICK. Now, in contrast to Carmen's aloof and kinda threatening sexuality, Lin is, certainly, cute. I'm at a bit of a loss as to explain just why, after seeing this movie as a teenager, she singlehandedly swept away all my notions of hottieness. That having been said, she is extremely appealing throughout, up to a point. Most girlfriends in the movies are there merely to be the requisite love interest, but the relationship between Alex and Charlie is interesting in that it actually seems like she's GOOD for Charlie. She's smart, motivated, treats him like an adult and knows where to draw the line at Charlie's goofy behavior...she's not here just to show her tits and pout for her man to come home like in some stupid Bruckheimer movie. I found myself thinking "Dammit, I wish I was dating a girl like that at that age!" Then I remembered, I was...she just happened to live really far away. Hmph. (though I doubt she would've been capable of Alex's awe-inspiring bullshitting at the hospital) Damn shame that her career never really went uphill from here. But, I did say "up to a point". The script by Tim Metcalfe, Miguel Tejada-Flores (both of whom were responsible for three out of four Revenge Of The Nerds movies), and director (and John Carpenter protégé) Tommy Lee Wallace goes a little overboard, twice; first, with her "conversion" to Charley's way of thinking about horror books and movies. This starts out with an amusing ring of truth; she makes an offhand remark disparaging Bloodsuckers From Beyond, and Charlie comes back with the inevitable fanboy response, "Have you ever SEEN Bloodsuckers From Beyond?" A fair question, which is why we fanboys keep coming back to that one, but it's with some naivete that the person asking it would think that a viewing would actually change most people's minds. He convinces her to read Dracula (holy SHIT, she reads fast), and she's completely won over. The second trip overboard would, of course, be her inevitable capitulation to his sexual advances. This plays out like a variation of the cheesy adolescent sex fantasy I'm sure all of us fanboys had at one time or another as young 'uns - first we make her "one of us"...THEN, we finally lose our virginity. McDowall and Ragsdale both have enough fun in their reprised roles that one almost doesn't notice the big, gaping void left by the absence of Stephen Geoffreys. (uh...never mind.) The relationship between the two of them, and the place that belief in vampires holds in it, is always interesting to watch. The ladies always manage to own every scene they're in, even stealing scenes away from McDowall (no big confrontation between the two, alas), and Carmen's stable of vampires is an entertaining bunch, even if sometimes they're a little TOO entertaining (like the wacky werewolf-vampire). As for the plot, it's mostly silly, but passable; notable more for the little touches than for its overall momentum and structure. For example, I like how it's revealed in a party at her apartment (biggest apartment ever) that Regine (Carmen's vampire) is revealed to be a performance artist - the perfect cover for a real-life bloodsucker. (she blows that cover with Charlie with a really cool exit in a stairwell) In a hysterically funny twist, she later ends up taking over Vincent's show (giving it a total cheese "hip performance artist" intro and everything), and Vincent ends up giving her possibly the best bit of unintended publicity I've ever seen in my life. Also a lot of fun is Alex's resolution of the fallout of this situation, the above-mentioned bullshittery. I dunno, I feel mostly positive about this movie, but I can't recommend it. Why did this movie need any bowling scenes at all, let alone two? And why is the big, tough vampire so horrified to come across a severed head? You'd think that in his line of work, severed human heads would be strewn about like office supply memos. Fright Night Part II actually has a little bit of Nightmare On Elm Street homage when the rollerskating vampire takes down an unlucky lass in a locker-lined corridor, and while I guess I have to give it points for homage before homage was that hip, homage can turn to fromage awfully quickly. And the scene with Alex and the psychiatrist is drawn out, tedious, and pretty much fails on every level. Too many missed opportunities (Alex vs. Regine, I'd pay good fucking money to see a fight between Alex and Regine!) and missed marks make this just a slight notch below a recommendation. If you're a big fan of the original, yeah, by all means, go see it. Just watch your footing, 'cuz for some fans, that first step down's a doozy. Watch for Merrit Butrick, Captain Kirk's annoying kid, as Charlie's roommate. BACK TO THE F's BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE