Original Fright Night director Tom Holland (no, not that one) is working on a sequel, titled Fright Night 2: Resurrection, and he recently joined Syfy Wire to talk about the progress, the process, and why he wants to be the one in charge of it (spoiler alert: it’s because he doesn’t want somebody to mess it up, like they did with the previous Fright Night 2, or the 2011 remake). The franchise is not a guaranteed blockbuster by any stretch, but certainly fans are excited to see what Holland has in mind for them — which apparently involves a little bit of resurrection.
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At this point, it sounds pretty tentative. While he has some very definite ideas, Holland sounds like he’s still very much in a first draft mode.
“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,” Holland said in the interview. “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.”
Part of the issue with the attempts at sequels and remakes, Holland said, is that the movie itself was kind of a singular idea, and a follow-up needed to be more than just set in the same world — it needed to draw from the same set of inspirations and follow a similar thematic thread.
“The story of Fright Night was very specific,” Holland said. “It’s about a teenage horror movie fan who becomes convinced the neighbor next door is a vampire. OK? That was me. And I was writing about the movies that I loved when I was 15, 16, 17, and they were the AIP and Hammer Horror films, which starred Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and Vincent Price… that’s how you get Peter Vincent, the horror movie host. And so I was writing about myself and my growing up. And I thought the story was so strong and had such human values, especially in the person of Peter Vincent, the Roddy McDowall character… the story was strong, and the vampires were right for that.”
Are you excited by the prospect of a new Fright Night that brings back the original filmmaker and characters? Chime in below and let us know.
