Reviews

This 2011 version of the latter-day classic _Fright Night_ is as good a time you will have watching a vampire movie these days. The cast is great, the direction fast paced and the script witty and reverent at the same time. And, while it is a remake of my favorite vampire movie of the 1980s, it is also pays homage to the best American vampire movie ever, _The Night Stalker_.

While Charlie Brewster is getting the week-willed Peter Vincent to help him save Amy from Jerry Dandridge ("Jerry the vampire!?!"), the movie is also quoting pretty liberally from that classic 1972 Darren McGavin/Richard Matheson masterpiece. The new Fright Night shares a setting (Las Vegas) with the McGavin movie. But more importantly, the first half of the long sequence when Charlie searches Jerry's house and becomes a believer is an almost shot-for-shot quote of McGavin's suspenseful search of the vampire's house at the climax of _The Night Stalker_.

Of course, the new movie has its own payoff to that scene, one that elicits a shudder and a laugh. The laugh comes from the fact that we should certainly have seen that payoff coming, but the suspense of the action just prior has thrown us off guard. This scene, like most of the effects shots, works even better in the original 3D.

There are many other pleasures to this movie, including solid performances by Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and Toni Colette as the frightened but sophisticated protagonists. Colin Farrell is able to pull off a modern version of the Dandridge character, sexy in a rougher, sweatier way. He may not have the gravitas of Chris Sarandon, but Charlie is right to be wary of this guy, vampire or not.

David Tennant and Christopher Mintz-Plasse steal the show. Tennant updates Peter Vincent by turning McDowell's kindly but cowardly gentleman into a drunken primadonna, Simon Cowell as vampire slayer. And Mintz-Plasse's Evil Ed is hilarious in nerd mode and vampire/nerd mode. His longing for a lost friend is very real and makes his fate all the more touching.

If you have not seen this, check it out. For some reason it did not do well at the box office, but it is the perfect antidote to the sparkling vampires and cuddly werewolves of recent years.

Roy Del Ruth directed this charming bit of Americana, based on stories by Booth Tarkington. Doris Day plays a tomboy named Marjorie Winfield whose family moves to a new neighborhood in their small town. Hilarity and romance ensue as she meets the boy across the street and he wins her heart after many light-hearted complications. The great Gordon McRae plays Bill Sherman and gets to show off his voice and some comic acting chops. Day and McRae have real chemistry here.

Much of the hilarity comes from Marjorie's family, with Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, Billy Gray and Mary Wickes taking turns making the audience laugh. Gray steals every scene he is in and has some great scenes with Ellen Corby as the stuffy (and gossipy) school teacher. His cough alone is worth a dozen laughs.

This film is often considered a weak cousin to "Meet Me in St. Louis," one of the truly great Hollywood musicals. That film also centers around a young woman finding love with a neighbor boy ("The Boy Next Door") and features a beleaguered father also played by Ames. Certainly, "On Moonlight Bay" does not have the great score, the perfect art direction, or the magic of Judy Garland. But it does have a true spirit of fun, some great music, and a lot of great comic scenes.

This film was an instant hit and inspired a quick sequel ("By the Light of the Silvery Moon") that was not quite as good but is certainly worth a look.