The Fright Night panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 included director Craig Gillespie, writer Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and actors Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and last (but not least) as moderator, Chris Sarandon (from the original Fright Night).

Craig Gillespie was drawn to direct the remake because of how well the original was written. Writer Noxon was also drawn to updating the vampire genre for a modern audience.

Then they played a clip in which Mintz-Plasse’s character, Evil Ed, compares villain Jerry Dandridge (Farrell) to “the shark from Jaws,” a non-stop eating machine.

Farrell was reluctant to play Dandridge because he felt intimidated by Sarandon’s incredible performance in the original film. He was pleased by the fact that Noxon had updated the characters enough to make them their own.

The next clip was easily the most exciting as Dandridge forces Charlie Brewster (Yelchin), his mom, and girlfriend Amy out of his house by setting fire to their gas line. When they take off in the family minivan, Dandridge chases them down, gets ahead of them, and roadblocks them in a non-stop sequence reminiscent of the car chase in Children of Men. Charlie gets his mom to run over Jerry, who manages to survive and hide under the minivan and punch his way up through the floorboards and push the brake down with his vampirey fist, causing a car behind them to collide into them.

A final clip featured Charlie asking David Tennant’s character Peter Vincent about how to kill a vampire, if one were to really exist. Tennant couldn’t make the panel, as he’s doing work in England now, but he filmed a video message for the audience.

During the audience Q&A, Mintz-Plasse mentioned there are no immediate plans to film a sequel to Kick-Ass, although he’d very much like there to be. Ferrell said he’s been enjoying the work he’s been doing in the last 5-6 years compared to his earlier career, reconnecting with the magic of acting. Noxon emphasized that she built special attention to Dandridge’s background, and hopes to flesh it out more in a sequel (if given the opportunity). Mintz-Plasse says he still gets randomly called McLovin on the street. Yelchin was thrilled to work with Tennant, who brought something new to each take. Ferrell was asked what superhero he’d like to play and he sheepishly admitted he never really grew up with superheroes as a culture.

At one point, Colin Ferrell came around to the front of the stage and bent over to sign his name placard for a fan, which exposed his bare asscrack to the camera, a fitting finish to this panel.

Photos

[Photos by Dave3]