GRADE: D+

Fright Night is a remake of the same titled 1985 cult classic. There is a reason that a film is classified as a cult classic, and that’s usually because it isn’t widely accepted but has a small dedicated following. Cult classics rarely have commercial or critical success, but the original Fright Night was different receiving positive reviews and earning plenty at the box office. Is this a legitimate reason for a remake? I would argue not. This cheesy horror crap has no spot in my heart, and I think trying to sell this to today’s movie goers is foolish. Anyone with a movie taste akin to my own will probably feel the same.

I won’t delve too far into plot details, but essentially Fright Night stars Anton Yelchin as the typical high school kid pitted against his vampire next door neighbor trying to stage a vampire uprising in a Las Vegas Suburb. You don’t need to know much more than that, because the set up is terrible. I was bored the first three quarters of the film — every character is run-of-the-mill and there is little to be explored minus discovering more about the suburb’s mysterious disappearances. Apart from the genuine laughs popping up here and there, the film lacked anything else I really wanted to see. I was rolling my eyes in disgust during the onslaught of expected and uncreative events — booooring.

As Fright Night began to wrap up, I felt the film did redeem itself in some regard. The action was constant and humor laced, the main character overcame a lot of obstacles, and the film made sure to wrap up every possible storyline. It was also relieving to know it was coming to an end. Fright Night would work best as a short film. It definitely would have benefited from large portions hitting the cutting room floor — playing the story out over 106 minutes was exhausting.

Yelchin was decent, and Farrell was fun to watch. I can’t say I was ever convinced he was a menacing vampire, but the seasoned actor had moments. The problem lay with these two leads having no on-screen chemistry to make their conflict shine. Bad career move for both in my opinion, but everyone needs a paycheck.

Fright Night failed to establish a tone throughout — this really rubbed me the wrong way. It was annoying going through each scene waiting to discover the meaning hidden within. Is this supposed to be funny, or scary? Trying to blend the two is always difficult — trying to layer the contrasting feelings on top of one another is usually impossible.

I saw the film in 3D. What an utter failure that was. The screen was so dark at times I could barely make out what was going on. The dimming effect of the glasses did not help the film set almost entirely at night and in darkness. Fright Night turned out to be a 3D film that throws a few specks of blood at the screen and pretends to be a solid 3D effort. The backgrounds, the characters, and everything within the frame was unimpressive. Audiences have wised up to the gimmick of 3D, and Fright Night is an example of Hollywood needing to take notice.

Overall, Fright Night has some great laughs scattered throughout, but really fails to tell a worthwhile story. The concept has potential, but the film’s lack of focus leaves the audience on the outside watching mildly interesting characters try to stand out in a very crowded vampire genre. Fright Night had a bad opening at the box office, don’t help improve the returns by paying money to see this film in 3D — or even 2D for that matter.

What Should You Do? Unless you were dying to see this remake, don’t waste a penny to see this film in theaters.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery