15 Greatest Horror Movie Comedies

Fright Night is a horror comedy which treads a fine line between the two genres, being equally creepy in parts but also retaining its sense of fun. It is truly in the vein of b-movie horror, even down to Roddy McDowall’s portrayal of Peter Vincent, a late night TV horror segment host, introducing viewers to a slice of old-school b-movie fun.

The main plot involves Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) a young horror movie fan who is convinced his new neighbour, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon), is a Vampire. He is of course correct. Sarandon is cast brilliantly as the old style, suave vampire who has designs on Charley’s girlfriend. When Charley fails to get anyone to believe him he turns to McDowall’s jaded Vincent to help him.

The casting is great, particularly in the case of Charley’s friend ‘Evil’ Ed who is turned in to a vampire and his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse of Married With Children) who both add great support to the primary trio.

Fright Night was well ahead of its time as a horror parody, being impressively self-referential in the same way Scream would be years later. The effects work is fantastic and Holland (who went on to direct Child’s Play) impresses with his directorial debut.