Director Craig Gillespie and star Colin Farrell were kind enough to sit down with me and discuss their new film “Fright Night.” It was a treat for me, as doing these interviews is a lot more fun when you’ve enjoyed the film you have to talk about.
Colin Farrell chews up the scenery in his darker, more aggressive version of Jerry the Vampire. The original incarnation, played by Chris Sarandon, played the piano and had a penchant for sweaters. Farrell’s version is a more dangerous and brooding type more befitting of a predator. The new Jerry trades in the sweaters for a dirty wife-beater tank top and keeps a super creepy secret rooms in his house to jail his victims and drink their blood over time, like a walk in fridge.
It is apparent that the actor is a vampire fan. When I asked him about his influences he rattled off a string of movies including “Near Dark” and Coppola’s “Dracula.” He had definitely been looking to play a bloodsucker at some point in his career, saying “I’m just a big kid, it was definitely one of those boxes I wanted to tick.”
Love it or hate it, 3D is a storytelling tool, and it was great to be able to ask director Craig Gillespie his approach to this new tool in the director’s toolbox. He gave most of the credit to the films look and 3D feel to his DP Javier Aguirresarobe.
Since 3D doesn’t work well with frenetic camerawork, the filmmakers were forced to slow down. They kept the 3D present by constantly moving the camera with dolly shots and crane shots that often involved an object in the foreground that would temporarily obscure things in the background, adding to the tension of many scenes. I can definitely say that the effect adds to the film which is something that far too many 3D films cannot claim.
Check out the complete interview embedded above, Fright Night opens everywhere today, Friday August 19th.