Apparently Jerry Dandridge from “Fright Night” had a sister. And she’s pissed that Charlie Brewster killed him. She plans to get revenge on him by tracking him down, taking residence in the same building he resides in, and staging one of the most convoluted revenge plans ever written. She wants to turn Charlie in to a vampire, but then she also wants him to believe that he’s going crazy. She shows him that she’s a vampire quite often, but also wants him to think that she’s merely just a stage performer and Charlie is going nuts because–well–going crazy makes the blood sweeter?
As Regine, Julie Carmen is a pompous obnoxious performer who is a known celebrity in the art world. She plans to murder pretty much everyone involved with the death of Jerry Dandridge. Except there’s no mention made of Charlie’s girlfriend from the first film. She also plans to murder Peter Vincent. But then she also wants him to believe he’s going crazy. But then she also wants him to know she’s a vampire and that she’ll murder him any time. Also, Regine is planning on getting to Charlie’s uptight college girlfriend by basically causing a rift in their relationship and interfering by giving her a new love interest who also happens to be a werewolf. But he’s also a vampire, too. His meddling is supposed to cause some complication in their lives, but it’s mostly padding.
So Charlie, three years later, has been somehow convinced that his confrontation with Dandridge was all psychotic delusions he created to cope with Dandridge who was a serial killer. Why? We’re never quite explained. His therapist has convinced Charlie that Dandridge was all hysteria and this happens around the time Charlie begins to notice new tenants are moving in to his apartment complex in a series of scenarios similar to Dandridge’s appearance. Though Regine is discreet about her entrance, she also flaunts herself around Charlie, thus making her intents confusing. Soon enough, implanting herself in to his dreams and fantasies (and staging a unintentionally funny seduction dance in the middle of a Halloween soiree), Charlie forms an obsession that leads him to discover she’s actually a somewhat sentient vampire leading a clan of upscale bloodsuckers in to town.
I presume they’re either intent on dominating the world, or dominating the art world by transforming insufferable performers in to bloodsuckers. One can only suspect. Where Jerry hid in the suburbs to prey on his victims, Regine hides in the big city in dapper halls, and walks in fashionable clothing, with an entourage. One of her crew is an androgynous roller skating vampire. So all of those years in the public, she’s never managed to have her reflection cast upon by anyone? In either case, Regine is much less threatening than Jerry, even when she’s presenting her demonic form. Though Julie Carmen is vivacious, the character of Regine is bland and one dimensional, and it doesn’t help that there’s a short list of supporting characters. Charlie is once again a gawkish Hardy Boy falling prey to Regine’s allure, he hangs out with a horribly pretentious and obnoxious girlfriend who spends most of her time teasing Charlie and moans when he tries to display intimacy.
And Roddy McDowall is back as the thankless Peter Vincent who is once again an aide in defeating a vampiric menace in a very contrived method. Why would a vampire have a host of mirrors around her? Why would a vampire only have flimsy curtains to hide the sunlight? Why would a vampire take an apartment facing direct sunlight? What was Regine’s plans for Vincent by taking over his late night horror show? Why couldn’t crosses affect her? And why did her image show up on television? Could she control her image willingly? Was she older or younger than Jerry? “Fright Night 2” aims for horror comedy, but comes off as bafflingly stupid at times. There’s a pointless scene where Charlie’s girlfriend faces off against Charlie’s vampiric therapist who kills himself for some reason, and there’s also an unusual insane asylum breakout mid-way.
My favorite part of the movie is the all too convenient ability of Charlie’s girlfriend to be able to speed read. This allows her to read “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” in a matter of hours, which comes to use when confronted with a vampire in the college library. Good thing those speed readers are on our side. Basically Regine’s plot for Charlie is to turn him in to a vampire, thus allowing her to be able to torture him for killing her brother, for as long as she wants, without actually murdering him. So why not the cut the middle man and kidnap Charlie and turn him? Why all the endless cross roads of planning that may or may not work, in the end? My idea for “Fright Night 2”? Charlie is kidnapped by a vengeful vampire clan and now his girlfriend and Peter Vincent must rescue him. <b><i>That</i></b> I would have seen. You’re being a bad guy wrong, Regine. “Fright Night” was a derivative take off on “Rear Window,” but succeeded thanks to a clever script, and excellent performances. Without the “Rear Window” frame, “Fright Night 2,” is just another forgettable buffoonish vampire movie.