FRIGHT NIGHT (1985)

"Oh, you're so cool, Brewster!"

High school student Charley Brewster has some problems.  He's failing Trig, his best friend is an annoying dork and his girlfriend is unattractive, but worst of all: his new next door neighbor is a goddamn shit-sucking vampire.  (Wait til mom finds out!)

I'm tempted to describe more of the story, but honestly, if you love vampire movies (or just great 80's movies in general), you should just quit reading my shitty review and go watch the movie.  It's fantastic!  FRIGHT NIGHT is honestly one of the best vampires movies of all time.  I'm totally serious.  I love this movie and can easily sit down and watch it anytime.

Roddy McDowall should've been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of local TV horror host Peter Vincent.  He's amazing.  That moment when he looks in the mirror gives me chills every time I watch it.  Perfect pace, great cinematography, strong cast, awesome as fuck special effects, good music, badass lighting, tons of great quotes...fuck, I love this movie!

Highly recommended. Double feature with THE LOST BOYS.

Part 2 - Fright Night Part 2 (1988)
Remake - Fright Night (2011)
Sequel to remake - Fight Night 2 (2013)

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978)

As far as the revenge-for-rape subgenre goes, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is one the best known (mainly thanks to that legendary poster above), but what most people who haven't seen the movie don't realize is it's actually a pretty decent movie.

A woman, who lives in NYC, travels to the country for the summer to relax and write a novel. Things go good for a few days, then suddenly four local assholes (including one mentally handicap dude) decide to gang rape, savagely beat and humiliate the shit out of her. That's the first hour of the movie.  The remaining time is her brutal revenge on the four rapists.

The budget looks to be pretty low, but director Meir Zarchi does a great job of keeping things minimal and it works. To me, the best thing the movie does is holding off on the violence long enough to give the victim a likeable character. Once that happens, the sudden explosion of gut wrenching violence really hits you hard. Also, the length of the rape scene (nearly 30 minutes!!!) just beats the shit out of the audience senses.

If you haven't seen it, then you definitely should. It's not as hardcore as you probably expect, but it's still a well-made movie and much better than the ridiculous THRILLER: A CRUEL PICTURE.  Would make a interesting triple feature with MS. 45 and NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS.

Bizarre fact: according to IMDb the main actress is the real life granddaughter of Buster Keaton!

Part 2 - I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2019)
Reboot - I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
Reboot part 2 - I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)
Reboot part 3 - I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance Is Mine (2015)