There are a number of seminal ‘80s vampire movies whose popularity is as eternal as both the bloodsucking undead that they feature and the decade’s notorious fashion crimes. One such film, Fright Night, is now set to receive a belated sequel titled Fright Night 2: Resurrection.
The original follows teenager Charley, who discovers that his new neighbor is a vampire, but soon realizes that nobody will believe him. In desperation, he turns to Peter Vincent, the washed-up star of a series of vampire hunter movies and now the host of a trashy horror cable show, and the pair face off against the mind games of the undead menace living next door.
Writer-director Tom Holland (not that one) was speaking to Syfy Wire to mark the 35th anniversary of the original’s release, and had this to say about following up his classic.
“I’m still trying, I’m writing a sequel to Fright Night now… I’m calling it Fright Night 2: Resurrection. Well, it’s the only way to protect myself: If you wanna see something done right, do it yourself. Of course, Charlie’s back, and so is Evil Ed. I’m bringing back everybody I can. I’m calling it Resurrection because we’ve got to resurrect Billy Cole and Jerry Dandridge. And now I’ll say no more.”
The only other thing Holland mentioned was that he’s 31,000 words into the sequel. It’s an odd metric, since a script’s progress is generally quantified by its current page tally, with 100 to 120 being the generally accepted standard since the usual rule of thumb is that one page, be it lines of dialogue, descriptions of action, or a mix of the two, is the equivalent to one minute of screen time. A word count is far more typical for a novel, with the noted total being about a third of the average paperback. Also, Holland has been working on a book with such a title for at least three years, so it may be that the sequel will debut in novel form before being adapted for film.
In any case, it’s worth noting that a Fright Night follow-up already exists, somewhat pedestrianly titled Fright Night Part 2, which sees Charley in college and becoming targeted by a glamorous vampire and her minions for reasons that soon become apparent. The original was also remade in 2009, although neither attempt is much to speak of. It’s becoming increasingly common to announce direct sequels to horror movies that ignore intervening installments, so Fright Night 2: Resurrection will certainly find itself in good company, and with Holland back at the helm, it could well be something to look forward to.
