My Review Of “Fright Night 2: New Blood”

“Fright Night 2: New Blood” is a sequel that isn’t really a sequel at all. The film is directed by Eduardo Rodriguez and brings to life the characters first brought to life in 1985 by Tom Holland. The story as some hinted acknowledgement of the 1988 sequel in the “Fright Night” franchise but truly is an independent film not anchored to the mythos of Charley Brewester and the evil he must battle in vampire Jerry, or in 2013 “New Blood”, Gerri Dandrige. In “New Blood” Charley Brewester and his friends travel to Eastern Europe on a senior class trip to study for a semester in Romania. “Fright Night 2: New Blood” stars Will Payne, Jaime Murray, Sean Power, Sacha Parkinson and Chris Waller.

The story of “Fright Night 2: New Blood” has some good points and some bad points. On the good, this film creates the elaborate melodramatic nightmare that manages to capture the gothic romance vampires in horror held in the 80’s, very much like the original “Fright Night” and “Fright Night 2” managed to create. For the bad point to this “sequel”, “New Blood” totally ignores everything about the “Fright Night” franchise except the characters names and that they are vampires. It really creates a weird frustration about watching the film. I found myself having to fight back the need to be pissed that “Fright Night 2: New Blood” had characters that where killed off in 2011’s “Fright Night” and yet called itself “Fright Night 2”. That is a big fail when tapping into an established franchise’s mythos. Yet I found this story more entertaining and far more viable than 2011’s “Fright Night” starring Colin Farrell. As a vampire film “New Blood” really does work and actually brings in a new vampire aspect that offers vampire and gothic-styled horror fan’s some thrills. It really is a much better film than it should have been and would have really topped my list had it just been “Fright Night: New Blood” instead of the “Fright Night 2” moniker. The 2 forces a set unwritten rule that the film should have respected and if they would have left it off then I would have had nothing but positive remarks for the film.

As for the effects and sound of “New Blood”, it is all really standard stuff expected in this genre and even gives a bit of a creative edge much like “30 Days Of Night” pulled off in the world of vampires. There is no real hokey, or lame effects in this movie, save the dreaded use of CGI that one just has to tolerate in cinema these days. However the practical effects and visual aspects used in “New Blood” allow the film to flow smoothly enough to entertain. The sound effects and over all quality of suspense and “chills” work on a mediocre but acceptable level that doesn’t really disappoint but isn’t overly impressive either. For the most part “Fright Night 2: New Blood” is just a really good spin on a classic tale that manages to both shit on a franchise while simultaneously paying tribute to it as well. For a good gothic vampire horror “New Blood” rocks, but it does walk all over the established story of Charley Brewester and Jerry Dandrige so be ready for it.