The original Fright Night films are camp horror classics and I happen to think the remake was freaking brilliant. It was one of the best films of 2010 and I thought it was nearly perfectly entertaining. Now that being said, I still went into Fright Night 2 with low expectations. I knew this was likely to be bad. It was straight to video and had none of the former actors in it. What I didn't realize was that this was not a sequel of any kind. This is, as many reviewers say, a remake of a remake. They take the Fright Night characters and throw them into a very loose retelling of the story. But that isn't what makes this film terrible...and it is terrible...it is the worst excuse of a low budget horror flick I have ever seen. What makes this a steaming pile of crap is the cast, the story, how incredibly boring and stupid it is and all elements of the classic dark humour that made both Fright Nights prior to this completely entertaining is gone in this. Every single character overacts and the main "heroes" are so completely unlikable that I honestly am not sure how I forced my way through this. I suppose the single redeeming quality of this is that somehow the production value appeared to be decent. The special effects for the most part (in particular the death and torture scenes) are surprisingly well done but the movie is so awful that it doesn't matter.
Will Payne takes over from the likes of Anton Yelchin who I thought was astounding as Charley Brewster. Payne is atrocious. He has no charisma on screen and is about as interested as a dead fish in every scene. His facial expressions are laughable and he even he seems bored much of the time. Jaime Murray is "Gerri" the mysterious vampire that Charley uncovers. She might not be the worst actor in the film but she sure does push the limits of camp. She overacts every scene and is really just ridiculous to watch. Chris Waller proves how awful this cast is. He is obnoxious, annoying and impossible to watch as "Evil" Ed. For no reason whatsoever they call him "Evil" before he even turns evil. His brand of sarcastic humour is not once funny and there is zero chemistry between him and Payne as "best friends." He is quite possibly the worst in this cast. Sacha Parkinson is actually fine as girlfriend Amy. She actually has virtually no role and very little scenes in the grand scheme (something she should be thankful for.) Her chemistry with Payne is also incredibly weak but she does make an okay scream queen for a very small role. Now in my review for the remake of Fright Night, as much as I adored it, I thought that it would have really made a bigger impact if someone other than David Tennant had played legendary vampire hunter Peter Vincent but Tennant made this guy look like a joke. Sean Power should not be acting. He is boring to watch and despite an almost promising first appearance as Vincent he is reduced to being one of the most useless characters in the whole film.
I can't explain to you just how awful this was. I mean, never mind the fact that they tarnish an amazing series thus far. Don't let this drudge deter you from seeing the 2010 version. The film blatantly tosses in gratuitous nudity and a horrifying torture scene that sticks out in this film as being awkward and pointless. I mean, if this were Hostel or the type of horror film where a scene like that made sense then I might say how disturbing and well shot it was but it was just awkwardly placed and just seemed really sexual which was so wrong. Director Eduardo Rodriguez seems to want to shoot certain scenes like a music video as though he's actually trying to create some sort of style in this sludge of a movie. Please skip this, this is the worst possible form of straight to video sequel, especially considering it isn't even a sequel. I mean even if they left Fright Night out of it I might have be able to review it on its own merit and give it a 5.
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