Fright Night Part II (1988)

FRIGHT NIGHT PART II (1988)

Dir: Tommy Lee Wallace

10/31 #31daysofhorror

You cannot talk about Fright Night II without discussing the film’s controversy. It is a controversy that continues today, this is why you’ve probably watched it on YouTube. The film has never seen a DVD or Blu-Ray release. But if you go back to 1989, you’ll see it had an awful theatrical run as well. This was not due to the film itself. The sequel suffered from a smaller budget then the original, but that wasn’t the reason no one saw it. The film was originally with Columbia Pictures, but after a shift in management, Columbia dumped the film on New Century Vista. This new company wanted to save money, so they opened Fright Night II in a small number of theaters. It was a horrible decision, so the film’s director, Tommy Lee Wallace, and star Roddy McDowall went to meet with the head of distribution at New Century Vista. They complained, but the distribution head didn’t budge. He stood behind his decision.

If Wallace and McDowall thought the distribution deal was bad before, the film virtually fell off the face of the Earth when the head of distribution, the man they met a few weeks before, was murdered along with his wife. Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot to death while watching TV one evening by their sons Lyle and Erik. Originally, the boys refuted any involvement in their parent’s death. But, after the murder, the boys spent close to a million dollars on toys and trips. It didn’t help that one of them confessed to their psychiatrist. They were arrested and the trial made them infamous celebrities. The boys described the years of sexual abuse that led to their crime. After multiple deadlocked juries they were later convicted and sentenced to life.

New Century Vista, in light of the events, immediately dropped any film circulating in theaters. This was the stake through the vampire’s heart for Fright Night II. And it’s a damn shame, because as horror sequels go, this is the cream-of-the-crop. From the director of Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) and It (1990), comes the continuing adventures of Peter Vincent and Charley Brewster. The film features wonderful effects for a fraction of the effects budget on Tom Holland’s original film. Julie Carmen as Regine Dandrige is seduction personified. As the sister of Jerry Dandrige from the first film, she has sought out Charley to make him pay for murdering her brother. She uses her powers of seduction to lure him and destroy his will power. It’s up to his skeptic girlfriend – not Amy – and Peter Vincent to save him from becoming an eternal slave.

The supporting cast is fantastic. Let’s begin with the vampire’s familiar Bozworth. Like the original vampire familiar Renfield, Bozworth loves to sustain himself on insects. Actor Brian Thompson came up with the idea of naming each species origin prior to ingesting the bugs. Russell Clark plays Belle who is an androgynous mute vampire that likes to wear roller skates. This character has been recently coded as a positive image of a transgender person in 1980’s horror. And my favorite from Regine’s crew, Louie. If he looks familiar, that’s because Jon Gries played the werewolf in Monster Squad (1987). Here, he technically plays a vampire, but prefers to shapeshift into a wolf. Put this motley crew together and you’ve got one hell of a supporting cast.

To the culture curators of Scream Factory, we the fans of Tommy Lee Wallace’s Fright Night Part II (1988), humbly request you pursue the acquisition of this film. Fans will whole-heartedly part with their money to own a Blu-ray of this almost long-lost gem. Yours truly, the fans of Regine Dandrige.