FAQ

At one point there's a scene when Charley's mother wants him to greet Jerry because she has just invited him over. They refer to this invitation repeatedly as they talk.

An avid fan of horror movies, Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) discovers that new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire. Charley tries to convince the police, his mother (Dorothy Fielding), girlfriend Amy Peterson (Amanda Bearse), and best friend Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys) that Dandrige is a vampire, but no one will believe him. Fearing for his life, Charley enlists the help of Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), an actor who plays a vampire killer on a TV show called Fright Night.

Fright Night is based on a screenplay by American film director Tom Holland, who also directed this movie. The film was subsequently novelized in 1985 by John Skipp and Craig Spector. A sequel, Fright Night Part 2 (1988) was released in 1988. A remake of the first movie, also titled Fright Night (2011), was released in 2011.

It is not customary in vampire lore for the bite of a vampire to turn a person into a werewolf. However, vampires have the ability to transform into bats, rats, mist, and wolves, so it's most likely that Evil Ed simply transformed into wolf-form as opposed to becoming an actual werewolf.

Armed with a wooden stake, Peter Vincent sneaks into Dandrige's house. He releases Charley, but they are stopped by Dandrige's renfield, Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark). Peter shoots Billy right between the eyes, but Billy gets up a few minutes later, so Peter shoots him several times more. Billy keeps advancing until Charley drives a stake of wood through Billy's heart, whereupon Billy disintegrates into green goo and sand. Dandrige commands Amy to awaken and kill both Peter and Charley. Dandrige goes after Peter, but Peter pulls out a cross. Dandrige points out that one must have faith in order for the cross to work. Suddenly, the clocks begin to strike 6 AM, the stroke of dawn. "You're out of time," Peter tells Dandrige, who turns into a bat and attacks Peter. Charley tries to help but is bitten by the bat. When the morning sun starts to fry the bat, it escapes into the basement. Charley and Peter follow, looking for Dandrige's coffin. Suddenly, Amy enters the room, now fully turned into a vampire. As Charley fights off Amy, Peter opens Dandrige's coffin and drives a stake through his heart. Dandrige pulls out the stake and goes after Peter, but Charley breaks open the basement windows, letting in the sunlight. The sunlight causes Dandrige to explode in flames and disintegrate. With Dandrige gone, Amy returns to human. In the final scene, Amy and Charley are lying on Charley's bed, kissing and watching Peter Vincent on "Fright Night". Charley turns off the TV and goes back to kissing Amy. Outside the window, two red eyes can be seen, and Evil Ed's voice is heard saying, "Oh, you're so cool, Brewster."

At one point, Peter Vincent notes that Billy can walk about in the daylight and proclaims that he is human. Near the end of the movie, however, Billy disintegrates into sand and green goo, definitely not human. Most viewers conclude that Billy was some kind of ghoul or possibly a "half-vampire" who hasn't yet been fully turned. Another possibility is that he was a golem, made by Dandrige from sand and other matter in order to serve as his protector.