Lee Cushing's Blog - Posts Tagged "vanpire"
Fright Night Trivia
At the time this was being filmed, the studio was sinking all its efforts into making a hit out of Perfect (1985), and they also gave high priority to The Slugger's Wife (1985). "Nobody paid any attention to Fright Night," commented writer/director Tom Holland. "It was wonderful!"
Although the part of Peter Vincent was based upon and originally written for Vincent Price to play, Roddy McDowall decided Peter Vincent was not in the same league as Price. "My part is that of an old ham actor, I mean a dreadful actor," McDowall commented in a 1985 interview with Monster Land magazine. "He had a moderate success in an isolated film here and there, but all very bad product. Basically, he played one character for 8 or 10 films, for which he probably got paid next to nothing. Unlike stars of horror films who are very good actors and played lots of different roles, such as Peter Lorre and Vincent Price or Boris Karloff, this poor sonofabitch just played the same character all the time, which was awful."
The film's genesis came in Tom Holland wanting to do a vampire story crossbred with The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Avoiding using special effects at the expense of good acting, Holland included plenty of humor, warmth, and relationships. He also wanted to make it valid to a modern audience by rooting it in reality, hence the suburbia setting.
Director Tom Holland sought out Brad Fiedel to score the movie because he had been impressed by the music in The Terminator (1984).
The crew spent a lot of time and money composing the scene where Jerry walks through Mrs. Brewster's bedroom and casts no reflection in the mirror. "It doesn't work," director Tom Holland has frequently commented. "The audience never notices it because I framed it badly."
Cast and crew members have recalled that Roddy McDowall videotaped extensive on-set behind-the-scenes footage. None of them saw the tapes, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
During the scene where Amy and Evil Ed arrive at Charley's house and find his room adorned with crosses and candles, Stephen Geoffreys was suffering from a bad case of food poisoning.
One of the life-masks of Roddy McDowall taken for the Planet of the Apes franchise is visible in Peter Vincent's apartment.
Much of the film's $9.5 million budget was spent on special effects (it was the first vampire film to spend $1 million on special effects).
William Ragsdale injured his foot running down a staircase during the last shot filmed on 24 December 1984, just three weeks into principal photography. Ragsdale's action scenes were postponed until he was healed sufficiently to perform them and the director filmed other scenes to stay on schedule.
The fact that Amy resembles a lost love of Dandrige's was Chris Sarandon's idea. He wanted Dandrige to have added dimension and not just be some evil bad guy.
A puppet that was created for the ghost librarian's monstrous visage in Ghostbusters (1984) was rejected as being too terrifying for a PG-movie. When the FX crew subsequently went to work on this film, they realized the rejected model resembled the vampire bat that they'd created, so they repurposed and utilized it for the vampire's fiery destruction.
Charlie Sheen auditioned for the role of Charlie Brewster, but the director decided his looks weren't right for the character, so William Ragsdale was ultimately cast. "Charlie Sheen was a hero," Tom Holland commented in an interview with The Projection Booth. "Bill Ragsdale in playing Charlie Brewster was the guy next door."
Because of the horrible experience he'd had making The Sentinel (1977), Chris Sarandon was apprehensive about taking a role in another horror movie. Meanwhile, writer Tom Holland decided to direct 'Fright Night' himself because he was so disgusted by the film that had been made from his last screenplay, Scream for Help (1984). Both movies were directed by Michael Winner.
While blocking a scare scene, director Tom Holland asked visual effects man Randall William Cook if he could devise a "shark mouth" for one of the vampires. There was neither time nor money left in the budget to create an elaborate prosthetic, but Cook agreed to concoct a rig over a weekend with the proviso that it would only be seen on-screen for a few seconds. Ultimately the crudely made mouthpiece was not only featured extensively in the film, it was also utilized in the movie's famous poster art.
Amanda Bearse was required to remove her top for a scene in the film in which her back and shoulders are viewed, but she was uncomfortable being topless in front of the crew so she covered her breasts with duct tape.
Roddy McDowall was interested in playing Peter Vincent because the character was featured from ages 30 (in the old film clips) to 60 (when the events of the movie take place). "I'd never played anything that old," the then-57-year-old actor commented in a 1985 interview.
Writer/director Tom Holland conceived the role of Peter Vincent with Vincent Price in mind, but Price's health was declining and he was trying to shy away from accepting horror roles by that point in his career.
Writer/director Tom Holland encouraged each of the actors to pen one- to two-page biographies so they would fully understand their characters and motivations and be able to draw upon that information for subtext.
Heidi Sorenson, who plays the hooker that Charlie sees going into Jerry's house, was Playboy Playmate of the Month in July 1981. Prior to shooting her topless bedroom scene that follows, Holland asked wardrobe to rub some ice on her nipples to make her extra perky!
When playing Peter Vincent, Roddy McDowall based his character's movie persona on some bad actors from the films he used to watch as a child. To depict how his character reacted to the situation he was thrust into, McDowall found inspiration in The Lion from The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Roddy McDowall's idea for the 'Fright Night' TV show within the movie was that Peter Vincent had had minor success playing a vampire killer in a series of films in the 1960s, but his career puttered out 15 years before the movie takes place. Trying to make a living, Vincent conceived the 'Fright Night' TV show and traveled with it to various syndicated markets in the United States. "He'd go six months in Iowa, six months In Podunk," McDowall stated in a 1985 interview with Monster Land magazine.
Coincidentally, Stephen Geoffreys and Amanda Bearse had played a couple in Fraternity Vacation (1985) and went straight from filming that movie to working on 'Fright Night.' Both films were also scored by composer Brad Fiedel.
The character of Peter Vincent claims he has been fired from hosting Fright Night because "all they want are demented madmen running around in ski masks hacking up young virgins," an obvious reference to the Friday the 13th franchise. The bouncer (Nick Savage) at the club, who first confronts Jerry, plays one of the three motorcycle gang members killed by Jason Vorhees in Friday the 13th Part III (1982).
When Charley Brewster first meets Peter Vincent outside the TV studio, that was the filming location for the start of the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
While writing the script for Cloak & Dagger (1984), Tom Holland amused himself when he conceived the idea of a horror-movie fan becoming convinced that his next-door neighbor was a vampire, but he didn't initially think this premise was enough to sustain a story. "What's he gonna do," Holland asked, "because everybody's gonna think he's mad!" The story percolated in his mind for a year and finally one day while discussing it with John Byers, then the head of the story department at Columbia Pictures, he finally figured out what the boy would do. "Of course, he's gonna go to Vincent Price!'" In that era, many local TV affiliates in the United States had horror hosts (such as Zacherle (John Zacherle), Svengoolie (Jerry G. Bishop), and the nationally syndicated Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)), so Holland decided it would be natural for the boy to seek aid from his local host. "The minute I had Peter Vincent, I had the story. Charley Brewster was the engine, but Peter Vincent was the heart." Once he'd conceived that character, Holland knocked out the first draft of the script in three weeks. "And I was laughing the entire time, literally on the floor, kicking my feet in the air in hysterics." Holland wrote the film for himself to direct, in part because he was so disheartened by the film that was ultimately made from his previous screenplay, Scream for Help (1984), and he'd developed enough of clout from the successes of his screenplays for Class of 1984 (1982), Psycho II (1983), and Cloak & Dagger, that the head of Columbia Pictures said, "Let's take a chance on the hot screenwriter kid," not figuring that Fright Night would be as successful as it ultimately became.
(Features a Fright Night style story with a unique twist)
Although the part of Peter Vincent was based upon and originally written for Vincent Price to play, Roddy McDowall decided Peter Vincent was not in the same league as Price. "My part is that of an old ham actor, I mean a dreadful actor," McDowall commented in a 1985 interview with Monster Land magazine. "He had a moderate success in an isolated film here and there, but all very bad product. Basically, he played one character for 8 or 10 films, for which he probably got paid next to nothing. Unlike stars of horror films who are very good actors and played lots of different roles, such as Peter Lorre and Vincent Price or Boris Karloff, this poor sonofabitch just played the same character all the time, which was awful."
The film's genesis came in Tom Holland wanting to do a vampire story crossbred with The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Avoiding using special effects at the expense of good acting, Holland included plenty of humor, warmth, and relationships. He also wanted to make it valid to a modern audience by rooting it in reality, hence the suburbia setting.
Director Tom Holland sought out Brad Fiedel to score the movie because he had been impressed by the music in The Terminator (1984).
The crew spent a lot of time and money composing the scene where Jerry walks through Mrs. Brewster's bedroom and casts no reflection in the mirror. "It doesn't work," director Tom Holland has frequently commented. "The audience never notices it because I framed it badly."
Cast and crew members have recalled that Roddy McDowall videotaped extensive on-set behind-the-scenes footage. None of them saw the tapes, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
During the scene where Amy and Evil Ed arrive at Charley's house and find his room adorned with crosses and candles, Stephen Geoffreys was suffering from a bad case of food poisoning.
One of the life-masks of Roddy McDowall taken for the Planet of the Apes franchise is visible in Peter Vincent's apartment.
Much of the film's $9.5 million budget was spent on special effects (it was the first vampire film to spend $1 million on special effects).
William Ragsdale injured his foot running down a staircase during the last shot filmed on 24 December 1984, just three weeks into principal photography. Ragsdale's action scenes were postponed until he was healed sufficiently to perform them and the director filmed other scenes to stay on schedule.
The fact that Amy resembles a lost love of Dandrige's was Chris Sarandon's idea. He wanted Dandrige to have added dimension and not just be some evil bad guy.
A puppet that was created for the ghost librarian's monstrous visage in Ghostbusters (1984) was rejected as being too terrifying for a PG-movie. When the FX crew subsequently went to work on this film, they realized the rejected model resembled the vampire bat that they'd created, so they repurposed and utilized it for the vampire's fiery destruction.
Charlie Sheen auditioned for the role of Charlie Brewster, but the director decided his looks weren't right for the character, so William Ragsdale was ultimately cast. "Charlie Sheen was a hero," Tom Holland commented in an interview with The Projection Booth. "Bill Ragsdale in playing Charlie Brewster was the guy next door."
Because of the horrible experience he'd had making The Sentinel (1977), Chris Sarandon was apprehensive about taking a role in another horror movie. Meanwhile, writer Tom Holland decided to direct 'Fright Night' himself because he was so disgusted by the film that had been made from his last screenplay, Scream for Help (1984). Both movies were directed by Michael Winner.
While blocking a scare scene, director Tom Holland asked visual effects man Randall William Cook if he could devise a "shark mouth" for one of the vampires. There was neither time nor money left in the budget to create an elaborate prosthetic, but Cook agreed to concoct a rig over a weekend with the proviso that it would only be seen on-screen for a few seconds. Ultimately the crudely made mouthpiece was not only featured extensively in the film, it was also utilized in the movie's famous poster art.
Amanda Bearse was required to remove her top for a scene in the film in which her back and shoulders are viewed, but she was uncomfortable being topless in front of the crew so she covered her breasts with duct tape.
Roddy McDowall was interested in playing Peter Vincent because the character was featured from ages 30 (in the old film clips) to 60 (when the events of the movie take place). "I'd never played anything that old," the then-57-year-old actor commented in a 1985 interview.
Writer/director Tom Holland conceived the role of Peter Vincent with Vincent Price in mind, but Price's health was declining and he was trying to shy away from accepting horror roles by that point in his career.
Writer/director Tom Holland encouraged each of the actors to pen one- to two-page biographies so they would fully understand their characters and motivations and be able to draw upon that information for subtext.
Heidi Sorenson, who plays the hooker that Charlie sees going into Jerry's house, was Playboy Playmate of the Month in July 1981. Prior to shooting her topless bedroom scene that follows, Holland asked wardrobe to rub some ice on her nipples to make her extra perky!
When playing Peter Vincent, Roddy McDowall based his character's movie persona on some bad actors from the films he used to watch as a child. To depict how his character reacted to the situation he was thrust into, McDowall found inspiration in The Lion from The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Roddy McDowall's idea for the 'Fright Night' TV show within the movie was that Peter Vincent had had minor success playing a vampire killer in a series of films in the 1960s, but his career puttered out 15 years before the movie takes place. Trying to make a living, Vincent conceived the 'Fright Night' TV show and traveled with it to various syndicated markets in the United States. "He'd go six months in Iowa, six months In Podunk," McDowall stated in a 1985 interview with Monster Land magazine.
Coincidentally, Stephen Geoffreys and Amanda Bearse had played a couple in Fraternity Vacation (1985) and went straight from filming that movie to working on 'Fright Night.' Both films were also scored by composer Brad Fiedel.
The character of Peter Vincent claims he has been fired from hosting Fright Night because "all they want are demented madmen running around in ski masks hacking up young virgins," an obvious reference to the Friday the 13th franchise. The bouncer (Nick Savage) at the club, who first confronts Jerry, plays one of the three motorcycle gang members killed by Jason Vorhees in Friday the 13th Part III (1982).
When Charley Brewster first meets Peter Vincent outside the TV studio, that was the filming location for the start of the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
While writing the script for Cloak & Dagger (1984), Tom Holland amused himself when he conceived the idea of a horror-movie fan becoming convinced that his next-door neighbor was a vampire, but he didn't initially think this premise was enough to sustain a story. "What's he gonna do," Holland asked, "because everybody's gonna think he's mad!" The story percolated in his mind for a year and finally one day while discussing it with John Byers, then the head of the story department at Columbia Pictures, he finally figured out what the boy would do. "Of course, he's gonna go to Vincent Price!'" In that era, many local TV affiliates in the United States had horror hosts (such as Zacherle (John Zacherle), Svengoolie (Jerry G. Bishop), and the nationally syndicated Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)), so Holland decided it would be natural for the boy to seek aid from his local host. "The minute I had Peter Vincent, I had the story. Charley Brewster was the engine, but Peter Vincent was the heart." Once he'd conceived that character, Holland knocked out the first draft of the script in three weeks. "And I was laughing the entire time, literally on the floor, kicking my feet in the air in hysterics." Holland wrote the film for himself to direct, in part because he was so disheartened by the film that was ultimately made from his previous screenplay, Scream for Help (1984), and he'd developed enough of clout from the successes of his screenplays for Class of 1984 (1982), Psycho II (1983), and Cloak & Dagger, that the head of Columbia Pictures said, "Let's take a chance on the hot screenwriter kid," not figuring that Fright Night would be as successful as it ultimately became.
(Features a Fright Night style story with a unique twist)
