I know a lot of people love the original Fright Night, I’m just not one of them. I don’t hate the movie and know I’ve seen it a time or two, but the last time I tried watching it on Netflix Instant however long ago, I turned it off because I was bored. I can’t remember now why I was bored, but I just wasn’t interested and dipped out. So, when I heard the news that it was getting remake, I didn’t really care and not just because I think people who get all bent out of shape about remakes need something real in their lives to worry about instead of movies.

Anyway, I was curious. I heard good things and the cast  is pretty stacked with Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Toni Collette, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and David Tennant. So, I bumped it to the top of my Netflix DVD queue when October hit. And, man, did I have a good time watching this movie.

The story is kind of a sped up combination of Lost Boys and Rear Window as Yelchin’s character comes to terms with the very real truth that his neighbor Jerry is actually a vampire. His buddy Mintz-Plasse tries to tell him and the he tries to convince his mom (Collette) and girlfriend (the wonderful Imogen Poots) to varying degrees of success until the truth can no longer be denied. You’ve also got Tennant playing an occult loving Vegas magician in the vein of Criss Angel.

Like I said, I don’t remember much about the original flick, but I seem to remember the structure of this film being pretty similar. But, this time around things move FAST. I wasn’t watching the clock, but I want to say by the 30 minute mark we knew Farrell was a vampire, a few people had been killed/turned and Yelchin has learned about Farrell by sneaking into his house. I don’t know if this flick would work as well for a novice horror fan, but for one who’s seen a lot of these movies, it moves along at a great clip. For that alone I’d dig this flick, but you add in a stellar cast, some mostly good effects (friggin’ CGI blood splatter needs to go away forever) and a solid budget and I’m all in for this movie.