Tom Holland, author of PSYCHO II·, makes his directorial debut and revitalizes the vampire genre. by Charlotte Wolter character from a wolf to a boy. An elaborate, antique-filled If first-time director Tom Hol­ jumble of rooms which rambled land has his way, FRIGHT through two sound stages was pro­ NIGHT, which opened August2, duction designer John De Cuir's will bring new respectability to a set for Dandridge's sinister man­ tradition he genuinely reveres: the sion. The set was like visiting an vampire film. "The last gasp of the immense Halloween funhouse. genre was the parody, LOVE AT How does Holland think mod­ FIRST BITE," he noted with ern audiences will react to a now scorn. "THE HUNGER was so vampire film? "Hopefully it will be ashamed of its genre that it didn't scary enough for those who are even mention the word vampire. into vampires, but also with They were terrified of it. This film enough character, relationships is the first modern retelling that and just plain fun so that other stays faithful to the conventions of people will like it too," said Hol­ the myth. The vampire is very con­ land. "I think, if you want to do it temporary, but still subject to the successfully, you have to embrace laws of the genre." it with great caring. There is no Holland, who wrote PSYCHO Christopher Sarandon as vampire Jerry Dandridge, in makeup by Ken Diaz. sense that this film is a parody of II, is an intriguing character in an the genre. The vampire is dead industry of professionally interest­ Jerry Dandridge, the film's creature like this, as well as the real, a real threat. The danger is, if ing people. A former actor in vampire, is portrayed by Chris­ attraction of it. I needed someone you don't get a willing suspension soaps (LOVE OF LIFE, A TIME topher Sarandon, whose exten­ who was strongly sexual, but who of disbelief, the audience is going FOR US) and over 200 commer­ sive credits include the Stratford would also be willing to scare the to be laughing in the aisles." cials, he is a Phi Beta Kappa Connecticut Shakespeare Festival shit out of you. Sarandon had UCLA graduate and a member of and numerous on- and off-Broad­ both qualities." "I think also that all of us want the California Bar. way appearances. Sarandon's Newcomer William Ragsdale, to believe in the vampire legend," No stranger to the blue-collar preparation for the role included delighted to be making his feature added Holland. "There are certain world of genre films, Holland has inventing a detailed biography for debut as the film's teen hero after fantasy characters that have a sort also scripted such modest works as the character. "The scenario I cre­ solid stage experience, isappropri­ of timeless appeal. I don't know CLOAK AND DAGGER and ated for myself was that here is a ately ingenuous as the youth who what archetype it is, but it is one CLASS OF 1984. "I never start man who has not only lived stumbles onto a vampire in his that sure is appealing to the human out to do them, "claimed Holland. hundreds of years, but also lived home town. Casting Roddy Mc­ consciousness." 0 "It's just that they are the entry­ them unable to make any lasting Dowell as a former horror star McDowell with the film's teen leads, level jobs in the business. I con­ human bonds," he said. hoping to recapture some of his William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse. sider myself a writer of psycho log i­ Added Holland, "It's not a very past glory was sheer inspiration. cal suspense much more than I do pleasant way to live out eternity, "I had to have people who horror. In PSYCHO II there are being constantly chased and would deliver for me," said Hol­ some carefully chosen horrific hounded. I didn't want to re-write land about his cast, "because I was images, like the knife in the mouth, the story and make him a nice guy, asking so much more than is usu­ but generally it was a dialogue and but I did want the audience to have ally required within the genre. I character film." a sense of the curse of being a wrote strong acting scenes, and I did some scenes in masters so they Reluctant vampire killer Roddy McDowell watches a werewolf In its death throes. had to give a sustained perfor­ mance for 2 to 3 minutes." ·Holland called on Richard Edlund's Boss Film Corporation to produce the special effects which range from matte shots to a puppet bat. The most impressive works are the makeup creations of Ken Diaz. Both Sarandon and Amanda Bearse, who plays Ragsdale's girl­ friend , undergo startling makeup transformations. Even genre vete­ rans were visibly startled by the gruesome sight of the whole­ somely pretty Bearse arriving on set in a macabre full-face pros­ thetic for her vampire scene. In another scene, makeup effects cre­ ate the metamorphosis of one

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only be seen a& one quick cut for a Randy Cook on the fraction of a second," said Cook. "So I threw a kind of built-up toothpaste makeup effects of ad mouth together in a couple of days, That mouth ended up being FRIGHT NIGHT used in five different shots, "I was a little embarassed by it," By Marc Shapiro Cook continued. "It doesn't really Vampires and bats have been play the way it was intended. I would horror film staples since NOSFE­ have taken more than a couple of RATU (1922) and, consequently, days with it if I had known it was have become familiar assignments going to be visible for more than a for special effects people, It has long fraction of a second." since passed the stage when bats on Easily the most arresting effects a string and snap-in fangs cut the sequence in FRIGHT NIGHT is the mustard for discriminating audi­ death of Evil Ed and his transforma­ ences, so Randall William Cook tion from werewolf back to boy. faced it bit of a challenge when he Handling this sequence was Steve was picked to do the prosthetic Johnson who, through work on THE ,design, sculpture and bat effects on HOWLING and AN AMERICAN FRIGHT NIGHT. WEREWOLF IN LONDON, has become a veteran of beast makeup Cook, who created the makeup and hidden moving bladders, effects for The Boss Film Corpora­ As Evil Ed, dying, changes from a tion, is holding court this day in a noisy parki ng lot at the special wolf back into actor Stephen Geof­ freys, the sequence begins with a effects shop in Santa Monica, Cali­ fornia. The reason for the outdoor full-sized wolf puppet. The puppet setting is that some of the special was wired to move across the stage effects for the upcoming POLTER­ floor, and appliances on Geoffreys Simulated the various stages of the ­ GEIST" are being completed inside Cook's design for Amanda Bearse-turned-vampire was intended to be used as a transformation effect. Johnson and to say that people are security quick shock cut, but director Tom Holland ended-up featuring II extensively. pushed the now all too familiar conscious at this stage is an transformation scenes a step further, understatement. films are these bouncing marionette makeup that was a striking cross according to Cook, who was present Cook has done stop-motion between Sarandon's features and the effects on a number of films includ­ bats on strings that look and perform when these scenes were shot. previously sculpted giant bat. "Stylistically it was a definite step ing LASERBLAST, GHOSTBUS­ exactly like what they are and are not TERS, a, and THE CRATER LAKE very convincing," he continued. "The Molds of vampire actor Chris forward, In previous films, that sort of MONSTER and was more than challenge was to come up with a Sarandon's hands were made so that scene was shot as a show-stopping capable of adding that kind of marionette bat that would flap its makeup artists could create the 'okay we're going to transform some­ animation to FRIGHT NIGHT's small wings convincingly and with a sense dozens of finger extensions that the body' kind of thing. On FRIGHT " flying bat and the monsterous off­ of power without doing something vampire wears throughout the film, NIGHT the approach was different in spring that appears near the film's like dropping the bat and yanking on Full and partial masks were created that the scene was done almost end. Stop-motion wasn't used strings to create movement." for Sarandon's transition into an completely with cuts rather than one because the filmmakers ruled it out. Cook said the flight of the giant bat increasingly bat-like appearance, continuous scene, It flowed real well was accomplished by filming the "At the time I was creating the "The film company said before and didn't distract from the progress marionette at super slow speed, one shooting began 'that they did not makeup, no actor had yet been cast," of the story," frame per second, which looked just said Cook, "I had to reverse the want stop-motion effects used," said Cook concluded by laughingly right when projected normally at 24 normal process and create the bat Cook. "They wanted us to use recalling some of the jobs he'd done frames per second, with an eye toward the direction the marionettes because it was felt it over the years to break into the field. makeup of the actor would take. would be more time and cost "By doing it that way, we were able He cringed at the memory of the effective, But, considering all the to get a lot of solidity of arm Fortunately actor Chris Sarandon storyboard work he did for Disney on man hours that went into making the movement and good wing follow has the type of pronounced features HERBIE GOES TO MONTE CARLO that made the whole process easier," marionette bat, I don't agree. through," he said. "Had I been able to and claims that his experience on a "What you've seen in most vampire use stop-motion, the bat's flight Not so easy and, by Cook's is a long sad story not worth could have been better than what it estimation, not completely success­ rehashing, turned out to be. We could have had ful was a last minute effects curve "And then there was the time I Makeup co-supervlsor Randy Cook it crashing into walls and all kinds of Holland threw Cook just prior ot the painted rubber gorilla butts on the inspi!cts the finger extensions of action, But, all things considered, I major effects blitz at the conclusion film KING KONG," laughed Cook, Chris Sarandon's bat-like makeup. think what we came up with turned of the film. "Holland wanted this "For a long time that was the high out all right." terrifying fanged mouth for actress point of my career, FRIGHT NIGHT proved a depar­ Amanda Bearse that he said would "Fortunately now it isn't." o ture of sorts for Cook as it allowed him, for the first time, to do some Makeup co-supervisor Steve Johnson (right) with mechanized werewolf head. ' major prosthetiC makeup work; most The controls are demonstrated by Billy Bryan (teft), who played the Marshmallow notably the vampire makeup on actor Man In GHOSTBUSTERS, and chief makeup technician Mark B, Wilson (center), Chris Sarandon. Cook admits that the ideas behind this particular effect were not totally original. "Basically Istole the idea from John Barrymore's DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE," said Cook, "Everything done makeup-wise in that film, including finger extensions, was so subtle and effective that it seemed to me that was the right way to go. Tom Holland was very much affected by NOSFERATU so'we were pretty much in agreement on how the vampire should look." The rasult of these ideas and skull sessions with fellow monster maker Steve Johnson and visual effects art director John Bruno arrived at a

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Resurrects Gothic chills of the bygone days of Hammer/AlP

FRIGHT NIGHT .\ Columbia Pictures release. 7/85, 105 mins. In color. l)Uector, Tom Holland. Producer, Herb Jaffe. Editor, Kent Heyda. Director of photography. Jan K ie~ser. FToduction designer, John De Coir Jr. Associate producer, Jerry A. Baerwitz. Sound, Don Rush. Visual rifects, Richard Edlund.

O:tarley Brewster .. . .. William Rl;lgsdale Jerry Dandrige ...... Chris Sarandon Peter Vincent ...... • .. .. Roddy McDowall Amy Peterson ..... A manda Bearse [,,-i1 Ed ...... Stephen GeofTreys 8Wy Cole ...... Jonathan Stark Judy Brewster ...... Dorothy Fielding Det. Lennox .. Art J. Evans

by Kyle Counts

FRIGHT NIGHT did modest business at the box office this summer and proved to be entertain­ ing romp in the Saturday matinee tradition. Its success on even this modest level marks it as one of the better genre films of the season. Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys) changes from vampire (left) to werewolf. Steve Johnson built the mechanized werewolf body (right). Making the leap from writer to director, Tom Holland playfully meet the new neighbor, Jerry Dan­ Charley and Vincent thenjoinforces are largely first rate. The makeup by res urrects the Gothic chills of the drige (Chris Sarandon, doing a sur­ for a showdown with M r. Fangs and Randy Cook and Steve Johnson is old Hammer/ American I ntcrna­ prisingly authoritative turn as the his "live-in carpenter roommate," appropriately gruesome and dis­ ti onal Pictures in an updated, boy­ lusty creature of the 'night), a suave Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark, doing turbing, even outlandishly funny at who-cried-wolf format, and does so and fashionably dressed (lots of wonders with a bit part). points (the she-beast's Joker-sized with humor and a genuine feel for grays and blood-reds), er, lady-killer While Holland shows a certain mouth) and the bat creature, second those Sturm-und-Fang minorworks. who makes it clear to Charley that he flair behind the camera(his point-of­ cousin to the Terror Dogs of Even though riddled with plot holes will see him again . . . real soon. view, vampire-to-bat shots, aided by GHOSTBUSTERS, works well, and slow-going at times, the film And visit again he does-that the Louma crane camera, are especially in the shot where it flies delivers in the big moments, and same night, in a scene that kicks the imaginative, and expertly handled down the hallway of the house wins you over with its anxious-to­ movie into high gear, however by cinematographer Jan Kiesser), knocking over a vase. Don Rush's please, grand finale. briefly. Whistling a casual refrain of and the film is witty on a visual level, . sound work also deserves praise~ his dialogue is surprisingly flat and I've still got the willies from the Charley is just your average hor­ "Strangers in the Night," Dandrige enters Charley's room and grabs,him thick with exposition. All thingscon­ whimpering death rattle made by ny-and-failing"trigonometry teen­ sidered, if it wasn't for thepull-out­ Evil Ed's wolf incarnation. ager (so why does he walk around in by· the thrQat (note the inserts of Charley's feet kicking helplessly; the-stops last half-hour-Evil Ed In the (happy) end, Vincent suit jackets?), with a ·curiosity not transforms .into a wolf. ·and back returns to "Fright Night Theatre". unlike that of James Stewart in Holland continues to emulate the Hitchcock touch), tossing him like a. again, Billy Cole decomposes into a (though it's never explained what REAR WINDOW (he even owns a zombie, Dandrige metamorphoses. the connection is between his dime­ pair of binoculars). And like Ste­ rag doll through the doors of his closet. into a bat, and Amy into a sort of store heroics and the show's sudden wart's character in the Hitchcock she-beast-the film would be a dud. renewal) and we find Charley and Charley turns for help ,to Peter classic, his spying gets him knee-. But the climax is where FRIGHT Amy back to their backseat shenani­ Vincent (Roddy McDowall), a has­ deep in trouble. He sees to much­ . NIGHT .shines: the effects ·by the gans. (But wait: what's that set of been · actor-turned-late-night TV like his neighbors carrying a filled­ Boss Film Corporation, supervised glowing eyes in . the window next host (of "Fright Night Theatre") to-capacity body .bag out of. the by John Bruno, may occasionally be door?) "Is something wrong?" Amy who professes-on his show, at house one. night~and instinctively asks her main squeeze. Charley,wise least-to be a "great vampire killer." a bit too POL TERGEISTish (and knows that the fangs ·and elongated some, like Ed's transformation/ to this type of thing by now, insists Vincent has just been kicked off the fingers his neighbor sports are not of death from wolf to human form, are that it's nothing. Or is it the dreaded air due to declining ratings (young this Earth. But the price he pays for lingered on for far too long), but they sequel, waiting in the wings? 0 being a 17 year-old kid with an active people today prefer movies· about "demented ·mad men in ski masks imagination means that no one­ Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) and vampire Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon). not mom, not girlfriend and cer­ hacking up young virgins," he tainly not the local police-takes his hisses). This brokencdown Cowardly tales of .the "sleeping. undead" Lion role would seem tailor-made seriously. (As Charley, Ragsdale for McDowall, but there isn't manages to pull off the difficult task enough cleverness in the concept of of playing the role straight-faced the character to make it more than quite impressively.) just another wimp-who- rises-to-the Oh well, Charley reasons, as' long occasion tr.ansformation. Still, as he's protected by a gold cross­ McDowall has fun . with the part's provided by his skeptical nerd of a theatrical hamminess. pal, Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys; in a When. Dandrige takes a liking to performance so hysterical and unfo­ Amy, who reminds. him of a girl he cused that it seems to belong to used to know "a long time ago," he another movie)- and keeps garlic kidnaps her at a crowded disco handy, he's got nothing to worry where she and Charley ·have taken about. Unless, of course,. the vam­ refuge. Their dance and seduction pire gains access.to him by- so the . borders on a parody 'of SATU R - ' legend says-being invited into his DA Y NIGHT FEVER, but it illus­ house by the "rightful owner. "Cutto trates Holland's idea'that the. vam­ . mom, calling Charley downstairs to pire is a. metaphor for seduction. 39