The Beaver
UK Edition DVD
DVD | Blu-ray (U.S.)
Directed by Jodie Foster
Starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Lawrence, Anton Yelchin
Rating 12
Release date: October 10, 2011 (UK)

Let’s be honest; The Beaver is an incredibly hard sell. It’s about a man (Mel Gibson directed by Jodie Foster) who is so incredibly depressed that everything in his life – wife, kids, job – falls away and the only way he can cope is by communicating through a hand puppet in the shape of a wild animal. There is a worry that Jodie Foster‘s Beaver is unlikely to appeal to many. Add in a leading man whose most popular release in the last couple of years was courtesy of an answering machine and, well, it’s likely to go down like a fart in the bath. But here goes.

If you’ve expected a movie to be terrible for the longest time, and then you watch it and it turns out not to be complete garbage, does that necessarily make it good? I have no idea. I do know it’s never a good idea to start a review off with a question.

I will admit to not thinking much of the Fright Night remake (except for the casting) as it seemed to be yet another remake in an litter box full of them and the best one could hope for is that it’s better than _________ [insert your own shitty remake here as you could probably name a dozen off the top of your head].

But 2 hours later as you exit the theater singing along to the end credits (“99 problems and a bitch ain’t one…”) you realize that you had a pretty decent time, and that last week’s The Help would have been a lot more entertaining and a lot less preachy had vampires been involved.

Besides, it’s always nice to see a real vampire movie for a change instead of the brooding Beiber-vag’s that contaminate the megaplexes nowadays.

It’s time for SPOILERS…

Fright Night
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Release Date: August 19, 2011

Horror fans are well aware of the gloom associated with many remakes of well-known films, but despite this, I was pleasantly surprised with Craig Gillespie‘s take on Fright Night. The new film certainly pays tribute to the original film, but definitely brings it into the contemporary age, with a faster pace and some solid performances from the lead cast members.

Fright Night follows a great deal of the same plot elements as its original namesake. Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) begins to have a sneaking suspicion that his new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. Brewster seeks the assistance of famous “vampire hunter” Peter Vincent (David Tennant) in the fight against Dandrige, to protect his mother, Jane Brewster (Toni Collette), and his girlfriend, Amy Peterson (Imogen Poots).

The principal strength of the remake is in the substantial performances from both David Tennant and Colin Farrell, and even Anton Yelchin puts in a very convincing role that truly makes you want to cheer on his character as the film heads to its climax. However, having said that, it is Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin!) who truly steals the show in his rendition of the character of “Evil” Ed Lee. In the original film, Ed was a lovable highlight who was depicted as a hilarious weirdo. Yet in the new movie, Mintz-Plasse brings the character into the 21st century, providing that “weirdo” element but adapted to his demeanor.

DreamWorks has released three brief new clips from their much-touted 3D remake of Fright Night, directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) and written by Marti Noxon (I Am Number Four), at the film’s YouTube channel. EW has an exclusive clip, while IGN has an exclusive red band clip.

You can check them out below this article.

There’s not much in the way of action or juicy gore on display in the YouTube videos, but in two of the clips we do get to see more of former Doctor Who star David Tennant as Peter Vincent, the reluctant vampire killer played by the late Roddy McDowall in the 1985 original. The IGN clip on the other hand features some intense action, flying dirt bikes, and a cool unbroken 360 degree interior tracking shot, while the EW clip shows what happens when a vampire comes up against a cross.

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.