After recently watching the pointless ‘sequel’ to the remake, I once again went on the hunt to own a copy of the rare and out of print “Fright Night Part II.” Luckily I was able to find one and although it was a bit expensive, I am totally convinced it was a good purchase and am happy to have it in my collection.
The pacing of this 1988 Tommy Lee Wallace film was a bit slow for me at points, but there were two strengths that made up for it — the acting and the make-up effects. William Ragsdale and Roddy McDowall reprise their roles as Charley Brewster and the vampire killer, Peter Vincent. In my opinion, they are major players in this franchise and I’m glad they returned for this sequel. Traci Lind also did rather good as Charley’s new girlfriend, Alex, and the cast was nicely rounded out by our new antagonist, Regine Dandridge, played by Julie Carmen.
The make-up effects and creature designs for “Fright Night Part II” were amazing. From what I could tell, there were very few CG effects, if any, and the practical effects all looked outstanding. This was most evident in the transformation scenes of werewolf/vampire character, Louie. A fun little side note about the actor who played Louie, John Gries, is he also played a werewolf in the another 80’s monster flick, “The Monster Squad.”
Even with a somewhat slow pace and a mediocre story, this official sequel to the original “Fright Night” was still better than the 2013 entry. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy of this, you should definitely do so. I give it 3.5 entire bulbs of garlic out of 5.
