Customer Reviews

Fright Night Part II

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

WHY WHY WHY don't companies like Artisan recognize that horror movie fans, being basically nerds (like me), are more fanatical about video and sound than anyone else? Anchor Bay - bless 'em -gets it, and so can mainstream studios ("The Fog" release is brilliant).

But not Artisan. Instead of admitting that we're very intelligent film-goers who don't live in our parents' basements (well, most of us), they throw us the lowest common denominator garbage like this worthless DVD of a very good film. (Which for me very nearly equals the original; Roddy trapped atop the elevator while the bat-Regine claws her way up remains very effective.) All quibbles about wide-screen aside (I don't know which is true, but I did see it in the theatre and it sure seemed wide-screen), the picture quality is amazing for its sheer awfulness. I'm so sick of throw-away presentations like this. They put out the least possible amount of effort to get by, and assume that fans will be happy to have the film in any form.

Well, no more.

Boycott this DVD! Power to ignored and maligned horror fans everywhere!

I have bought a few cheapie $3.99 DVD movies. Though the picture was far from great, thery were no worse than VHS picture quality. I recently bought Fight Night Part II on DVD for $10.99 and the picture quality is atually worse than the VHS that I have! What the hell happened! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that Artisan Entertainment is digging and releasing some old classics from their vaults, but if your going to release them like this then don't bother! This is by for the worst from Artisan. Bride of Re-Animator, Waxwork, and Lair of the White Worm were disappointents because of the poor picture quality, no widescreen formats, and lack of supplemental material, but Fright Night Part II takes the cake as their worst release! MGM may be getting lazy too and only releasing their titles only in Full Screen format, but at least their movies have good picture quality! Artisan needs to shape up or get out! Artisan should sell the rights of their older movies to Anchor Bay Entertainment so they could be properly released!

If I rated the movie alone, I'd give it five stars. Unfortunately, I have to warn anyone who wants to buy this DVD format from Artisan. I own over 150 DVD's and I've never come across such a sad excuse for a DVD. The picture quality is HORRIBLE! If you look closely, you can see that it was taken from a tape source, and not the original. Plus, Artisan claims on the back of the box that it is formatted from its "original" aspect ratio, and that it was shot in full screen. That is a blatant lie. It was shot in letterbox widescreen, just as the first film was. You can even tell when you watch it that it has been cropped to death, and at certain moments the screen moves from right to left to catch what's missing. The audio is 2.0 Dolby surround, which is fine. However, when you turn the volume up to hear the more quiet parts of the film, you hear tape hiss. Beware of Artisan releases on DVD. Their transfers are usually like this. I have a few other older films released by them, and they're pretty poor in the quality department. It is a great film however, and is worth having no matter what. I guess this DVD is better than not having it...Almost.

I loved FRIGHT NIGHT PART II upon its original release in '89. Having picked it up again in its first DVD incarnation, I can't help but feel disappointed.

The film itself suffers from sequelitis in general. The story is nowhere near as compelling nor well-told as the first, but it is still a lot of fun with the same core protagonists from the original and features well-done effects and direction. While the original FRIGHT NIGHT still carries a strong 80s flavor, this film feels even more dated, however, and suffers accordingly. Still, those who enjoyed it back then should pick it up now - still a great late night viewing.

The DVD, on the other hand, is unfortunately typical lower-grade Artisan fare. A bare-bones DVD, the picture looks terrible - grainy, foggy and full of defects. Of course, who but perhaps Anchor bay would invest the time and money to restore a film as this (and perhaps they will some day)? Fans will doubtless be happy to own this film in any form and it looks no worse than it would on any late night cable station.

All in all, a really fun film and not a bad buy at all for fans of the series.

It's true ratio is 2:35. It is being shown on Cinemax and looks fantastic
Artisan wanted pan and scan to sell more. Wait till next year
The remake of Fright Night will be released and Columbia will put both these
out in Blue.

A few years ago while still in High School, Charlie Brewster killed the vampire Jerry Dandridge with the help of his long time idol, film hero Peter Vincent, The Great Vampire Killer. Charlie's therapist has since convinced him that he did not kill a vampire and there are no such things as vampires. The therapist is wrong and Jerry Dandridge's sister is in town to even the score. William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall reprise their roles as Charlie Brewster and Peter Vincent in "Fright Night Part 2". Julie Carmen plays Regine Dandridge, the sister of the late Jerry Dandridge. Regine is posing as a performance artist and takes over Peter's show "Fright Night". She then proceeds to take steps to make Charlie a vampire, which she feels will be the ultimate revenge for what he did to her brother. Charlie finds himself fighting the vampire nature that is rising within him while he and Peter race to save Charlie's girlfriend from the vampires and to keep Charlie from joining them. It's a worthy follow-up to the original movie.

Great Film, I also think it's much more exciting then the first one, though the first isn't bad either. Julie Carmen is great, the music, too.

But I'm really missing the DVD, my video copy is getting worser und worser.... Is a DVD-Version planned yet ?

Robert.

FRIGHT NIGHT II picks up a few years after the first film and finds Brewster (William Ragsdale) in college and in therapy where his therapist has convinced him that vampires don't exist. Brewster ends up believing again soon enough though when Jerry Dandridge's sister (Julie Carmen) comes after him seeking blood. So, Brewster enlists the help of fearless vampire killer Peter Vincent (the late-great Roddy McDowal) land they're off to do battle once gain.

While not nearly as good as the original, FRIGHT NIGHT II is a lot of fun. As a matter of fact this maybe the only horror sequel not totally trashed by director Tommy Lee Wallace who trashed HALLOWEEN III years earlier and VAMPIRES: LOS MUERTOS years later. This sequel is full of effective humor and horror none of which however live up to anything in the first movie. That's understandable though. The first FRIGHT NIGHT is a classic as far as vampire genre pictures go and it's always hard to follow in the footsteps of that. So if you're a fan of the first movie or just a fan of the good old fashioned horror comedy then give FRIGHT NIGHT II a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

C

Fright Night Part II is, IMO, very nearly the equal of the first movie, which itself is my favorite horror film of all time. That said, I have been waiting for a few years (ever since the release of the first FN film by Columbia TriStar in '99) for Part II to become available on DVD.

I'm not disappointed that the presentation is full-frame, 1.33:1, as from what I understand, the film was originally shot in this aspect ratio. I'm not even disappointed that there aren't any extras to speak of (extras being rare for any sequel DVD, really).

No, the problem lies with the ABOMINABLE transfer. The movie seems to have been mastered directly from whatever print Vista had lying around--it's very grainy and looks about the same, or perhaps slightly worse than, an SP speed VHS copy. For DVD, it's absolutely hideous. Artisan should know better than to release such product without at least attempting a remastering which would have tightened up the picture and made it worth the DVD release (look at the 2 films' DVD releases side-by-side...nothing to compare!).

If you're a Fright Night completist or just really really like the movie, buy this DVD. It'll keep your VHS copy (you know you have one!) from withering away. Don't buy the disc looking to be wowed by the digital format, you'll disappoint yourself (I did).

The movie: 4 stars (out of 5)
The DVD: 1 star
Average rating: 2.5 stars

This movie is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. The reason being, my dad showed me this movie when i was a kid and its one of those movies that you remember and you get a sense of nostalgia(sp?).

The movie is nothing new in the vampire movies, but i still love it. The reason being is Regine. She is probably one of the hottest vampires ive seen next to Kate Beckinsale in "Underworld". Regine is basically a dream woman of mine. I know I sound like a babbaling teen, but I just think she is beautiful.

I love the music in the movie too. Im basically a Metal and hard rock fan, but when i hear 80's music like this, I have a soft spot for it.

The only thing I dont like about the movie is that transvestite vampire. Belle or whatever. i dont know if its a boy or a girl and it kinda erks me. Ha


So basically i love this movie because its a nestolgic journey for me. The Vampire is sexy, and the whole thing of charley becoming a vampire is a good turn from the first movie. Sure the DVD quality sucks, and it looks like it got taped off HBO the year it was released on video, but hell its still a great movie



Enough talking from me