# Fright Night (2011 film)
**Fright Night** is a 2011 American horror-comedy film directed by [Craig Gillespie](https://www.edgepedia.org/craig-gillespie) and written by Marti Noxon, a remake of [Tom Holland](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-holland)'s 1985 film of the same name. It follows high-school senior Charley Brewster, who concludes that his charismatic new neighbor Jerry is a vampire preying on the neighborhood, and turns to Peter Vincent, a Las Vegas stage magician with a sideline in vampirology, for help.[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/8ae2f122-0875-5773-9af8-8b3f18894c7c/fright-night) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fright_night_2011/cast-and-crew) The film was released on August 19, 2011 by Touchstone and DreamWorks, also in 3D.[3](https://d23.com/a-to-z/fright-night-film/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Craig Gillespie; screenplay by Marti Noxon[1](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/8ae2f122-0875-5773-9af8-8b3f18894c7c/fright-night) |
| Principal cast | Anton Yelchin (Charley Brewster), Colin Farrell (Jerry Dandridge), David Tennant (Peter Vincent), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Ed), Toni Collette (Jane Brewster), Imogen Poots (Amy Peterson)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fright_night_2011/cast-and-crew) |
| Release | August 19, 2011, wide, by Walt Disney (Touchstone/DreamWorks); also in 3D[3](https://d23.com/a-to-z/fright-night-film/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29) |
| Box office | $18,298,649 domestic; $40,520,649 worldwide, against a $30,000,000 production budget[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29) |
| Critical reception | 72% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, against 91% for the 1985 original[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gallery/24-best-and-worst-80s-movie-remakes/frightnight/) |
| Setting | The Las Vegas suburbs, replacing the original's suburban Los Angeles[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/04/fright-night-3d-review) |
| Rating / length | MPAA R for bloody horror violence and language including some sexual references; 101 minutes by The Numbers, 106 minutes per D23 and the Australian Classification Board[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29) • [3](https://d23.com/a-to-z/fright-night-film/) • [7](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/fright-night-0) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Charley Brewster is a former horror-film enthusiast who has joined the popular crowd at his high school and is dating Amy, even distancing himself from his best friend Ed. When a stranger named Jerry moves in next door, Ed suspects he is a vampire and then disappears. After witnessing unusual activity, Charley concludes that Jerry is a vampire preying on the neighborhood, but no one, including his mother Jane, believes him. He seeks advice from Peter Vincent, an illusionist, and sets out to destroy Jerry himself.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fright_night_2011/cast-and-crew)
The remake keeps the original's central premise, a teenager realizing that the neighbor is a vampire, while changing the character around it. Charley is written as a more aggressive, cocksure youth than the 1985 character, and Peter Vincent is no longer a late-night television horror host, a format the remake's developers judged obsolete; instead he became a hard-drinking Las Vegas stage magician who has dabbled in the occult.[8](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/fright-night-review/) • [9](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/722773-set-visit-welcome-to-fright-nightagain)
## Setting and changes from the original
The story moves from suburban Los Angeles to Las Vegas, a change that reviewers noted gives the vampire premise practical cover: Jerry's blacked-out windows raise no suspicion because so many locals work the night shift and sleep during the day.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/04/fright-night-3d-review) • [10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/fright-night-15-2347631.html) The Guardian's Philip French observed that the original's homoerotic aspect was dropped, the special effects are more elaborate, and the action is more violent than in 1985.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/04/fright-night-3d-review) [David Tennant](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-tennant) plays Vincent as a broad impersonation of [Russell Brand](https://www.edgepedia.org/russell-brand), a choice French called embarrassing and [Anthony Quinn](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-quinn) of *The Independent* called a sly parody.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/04/fright-night-3d-review) • [10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/fright-night-15-2347631.html)
[Chris Sarandon](https://www.edgepedia.org/chris-sarandon), who played Jerry Dandridge in the 1985 film, appears in the remake in a small role as an ill-fated traveler.[11](https://readthespirit.com/visual-parables/fright-night-2011/?print=pdf)
## Production and release
DreamWorks announced the remake in 2009, with Michael Gaeta and Alison Rosenzweig producing alongside [Michael De Luca](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-de-luca).[12](https://www.awn.com/news/dreamworks-wants-another-fright-night) Noxon, a writer on *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, was hired to retell the story, and Gillespie, coming off *Lars and the Real Girl*, was attached as director.[9](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/722773-set-visit-welcome-to-fright-nightagain) • [13](https://www.thewrap.com/craig-gillespie-direct-fright-night-remake-15401/) The film was financed by [DreamWorks Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/dreamworks-pictures) with Reliance BIG Entertainment and released domestically by [Walt Disney](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney) on August 19, 2011 in 3,114 theaters, with a home-video release on December 13, 2011.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29)
## Box office
The film opened fifth for the weekend of August 19, 2011 with $8,114,388, 44.3% of its eventual domestic gross, and fell 62% in its second weekend. It finished with $18,298,649 domestically and $22,222,000 internationally, a worldwide total of $40,520,649, about 1.4 times its $30,000,000 production budget. Estimated domestic disc sales added $11,048,260.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29) Bomb Report, which tracks unprofitable releases, counted [Fright Night](https://www.edgepedia.org/fright-night) among the DreamWorks projects that hemorrhaged cash in 2011, alongside *Cowboys & Aliens*.[14](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2011-2/fright-night/)
## Reception
Reviews at release were generally favorable. Sean O'Connell, writing in *The Washington Post*, called it a modernized version superior to its predecessor in virtually every aspect, and Peter Travers in *Rolling Stone* praised Gillespie for turning [Colin Farrell](https://www.edgepedia.org/colin-farrell) and David Tennant loose.[15](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fright-night-reviews-are-in-and-theyre-good/) Anthony Quinn in *The Independent* called it a droll, well-made entertainment whose success owed much to Noxon's smart, irreverent screenplay, singling out a running joke in which Jerry, shot with a [silver bullet](https://www.edgepedia.org/silver-bullet), extracts it and says, "Werewolf only."[10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/fright-night-15-2347631.html) Negative assessments came from Den of Geek, which rated the film 2 out of 5, found the 3D murky and purposeless, and judged it well short of the 1985 original, and from *Time Out*, which called it a lifeless remake that never matches the original's camp charm.[8](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/fright-night-review/) • [16](https://www.timeout.com/movies/fright-night) Roger Ebert's review noted that the 3D process diminishes a film's light level by at least 20 percent, a cost for a film that depends on night scenes and dimly lit interiors.[17](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fright-night-2011)
On Rotten Tomatoes the remake holds a 72% Tomatometer, compared with 91% for the 1985 film; the site's editorial summary credits the remake with giving the suburban vampiric material the same deft touch, starring Colin Farrell and the late [Anton Yelchin](https://www.edgepedia.org/anton-yelchin).[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gallery/24-best-and-worst-80s-movie-remakes/frightnight/)
## Comparison with the 1985 film
Retrospective comparisons treat the two films as different in emphasis. The 1985 original is campier and rooted in 1980s suburbia, with [Roddy McDowall](https://www.edgepedia.org/roddy-mcdowall)'s Peter Vincent a washed-up television horror host, while the 2011 film is darker in tone and reimagines Vincent as a Vegas performer, a change made possible by the decline of the horror-host format.[18](https://wickedhorror.com/features/remake-comparison-fright-night-1985-vs-fright-night-2011/) • [9](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/722773-set-visit-welcome-to-fright-nightagain) The villain also differs: the 1985 Jerry Dandridge targets victims seductively and disposes of them quickly, while the 2011 Jerry keeps victims for a time, feeding on them and slowly turning them into vampires.[19](https://www.globeslcc.com/2013/10/17/monster-clash-2013-one-tale-of-horror-twice-retold-fright-night-1985-vs-2011/) Farrell's performance has been a recurring point of praise, with GamesRadar ranking the remake among the best vampire movies and calling his edgy, menacing turn more threatening than Sarandon's in the original.[20](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-vampire-movies/)
## References
1. [Fright Night (2011), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/8ae2f122-0875-5773-9af8-8b3f18894c7c/fright-night)
2. [Fright Night (2011) Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fright_night_2011/cast-and-crew)
3. [Fright Night (film), D23](https://d23.com/a-to-z/fright-night-film/)
4. [Fright Night (2011), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Fright-Night-%282011%29)
5. [24 Best and Worst 80s Movie Remakes: Fright Night, Rotten Tomatoes editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gallery/24-best-and-worst-80s-movie-remakes/frightnight/)
6. [Fright Night, review by Philip French, The Guardian, 3 September 2011](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/sep/04/fright-night-3d-review)
7. [Fright Night, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/fright-night-0)
8. [Fright Night review, Den of Geek, 26 August 2011](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/fright-night-review/)
9. [Set Visit: Welcome to Fright Night...Again, ComingSoon.net](https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/722773-set-visit-welcome-to-fright-nightagain)
10. [Fright Night (15), review by Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 2 September 2011](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/fright-night-15-2347631.html)
11. [Fright Night (2011), Visual Parables](https://readthespirit.com/visual-parables/fright-night-2011/?print=pdf)
12. [DreamWorks Wants Another Fright Night, Animation World Network, 14 May 2009](https://www.awn.com/news/dreamworks-wants-another-fright-night)
13. [Craig Gillespie to Direct 'Fright Night' Remake, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/craig-gillespie-direct-fright-night-remake-15401/)
14. [Fright Night (2011), Bomb Report](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2011-2/fright-night/)
15. ["Fright Night" reviews are in and they're good, CBS News, 19 August 2011](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fright-night-reviews-are-in-and-theyre-good/)
16. [Fright Night 2011 review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/fright-night)
17. [Fright Night (2011) movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fright-night-2011)
18. [Remake Comparison: Fright Night 1985 Vs Fright Night 2011, Wicked Horror](https://wickedhorror.com/features/remake-comparison-fright-night-1985-vs-fright-night-2011/)
19. [Monster Clash 2013: Fright Night 1985 vs. 2011, The Globe](https://www.globeslcc.com/2013/10/17/monster-clash-2013-one-tale-of-horror-twice-retold-fright-night-1985-vs-2011/)
20. [The 25 best vampire movies, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-vampire-movies/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Vampire and werewolf films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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