When Fright Night 3D was released in the theaters, I was mixed on the movie. I thought the poor 3D took a large bite out of an otherwise enjoyable movie and told everyone to wait for the 3D Blu-ray or to see the 2D version. Well the 3D Blu-ray set is now out. Is it better in a home environment than on a big screen?
Movie Review
Fright Night is a remake of the old horror film – by the same name. I’ll admit I never saw the original so I have no basis to say whether this remake is better or worse. As someone who has never seen the original this movie stands well on its own merits. I hate the new trend of treating all vampires as sexy, brooding, wimps. Fright Night gives it vampires some bite. It returns Vampires to being the scary creatures of the night that they are.
Generally, I don’t like Colin Farrell, but he brings a real sense of menace to Jerry the Vampire. Hi swagger belies the evil within and when the fangs come out, it’s time to cover our necks. Director Craig Gillespie does a great job of building tension, the pacing and the tone is spot on. Unfortunately the use of CGI for the Vampire effects took me out of the movie. It just looked really cheap, cheesy and the crummy 3D didn’t help matters either.
Beyond Farrell, the casting in this movie is darn good and refreshing. The movie’s reported $17 million budget means the producers had to get creative with the casting and it works. Anton Yelchin (who some may remember from J.J. Abrams Star Trek) does a commendable job of carrying this movie. He has really good chemistry with everyone in the cast including his feisty girlfriend – Amy (Imogen Poots).
It is always fun to see former Doctor Who star David Tennant. He takes a fun turn here as an over the top Vegas Entertainer who has an over the top, campy Vampire Hunter. I’m surprised there isn’t a real life show like this on the Vegas strip – Criss Angel doesn’t count!
Video/Audio Quality
I was wrong watching the 3D version at home was not much better than in the theater. The problem is the movie is shot with deep blacks and grey lighting, once you add 3D to that mix with the tinted glasses some of those scenes become so dark it’s almost unwatchable. The 3D affect on the daytime scenes, or when they are in well lit areas look good. So it becomes a wildly uneven viewing experience.
This is a case where a strong story is almost ruined by poorly done and pointless 3D. It simply does not add anything to the overall experience of this movie. About halfway through the movie I gave up on the 3D version and put the regular Blu-ray in and it looks excellent. Makes watching the movie a completely different experience.
The audio tracks are Dolby Digital and DTS HD Master 7.1. The audio mix on this is nothing fancy, but it is solid. The menu navigation is basic and serviceable as is the Disc packaging. This set comes with three discs – the 3D Blu-ray – that contains no extras, the Single Disc Blu-ray with all the bonus material, and a DVD/Digital Copy combo disc.
Extras
- Previews for The Help, Real Steel, War Horse
- Peter Vincent Come Swim in My Mind (2 Min., HD) – Funny Preview of Peter Vincent’s Las Vegas Show
- The Official How to Make a Funny Vampire Movie Guide (8 Mins, HD)
- Six Deleted Scenes
- Squid Man Extended Cut (3 Mins, HD)
- Bloopers
- Kid Cudi’s “No One Believes Me” Music Video
The extras here are pretty thin. I enjoyed them for what they were and appreciate that they took the time to make sure all the extras are in HD – even the Deleted scenes.
Comments
I love this movie, just don’t watch the 3D version. This is a disappointing Blu-ray set. The extras here are pretty thin. I enjoyed what little there are here (especially David Tennant’s Peter Vincent preview) and appreciate that they took the time to make sure all the extras are in HD – even the Deleted scenes, however, the 3D is just disappointing and watching it on Blu-ray didn’t make it better. At $40 retail (for the 3D Set), this is not worth a purchase. Stick with the single disc version.
Grades
- Movie – B
- 3D Video Quality – C-
- 2D Video Quality – B
- Extras – C
Final Overall Grade C+