Comic-Con 2011: Fright Night Coverage and Panel

Fight Night isn't a straight remake of the '80s original, but rather a way to bring its essential concept forward into the 21st century.

The panel boasted director Craig Gillespie, who told us that the clips they were showing had been edited to tone down the language - "they gave us two F--- s," apparently. He was joined by Colin Farrell, writer Marti Noxon, Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots (funniest actress name in Hollywood), Christopher Mintz-Plasse and star of the original, Chris Sarandon, pressed into service as the moderator.

Noxon talked about writing the script, saying she wanted to write "a vampire who didn't play the piano," and then a clip was shown. Set near the beginning for the film, the scene captured the humor of the original. Mintz-Plasse takes a new tack on Evil Ed, playing him as sort of a bummed-out Vegas kid obsessed with the undead.

The second clip sends vampire Jerry over to borrow a sixer of beer, and Farrell - who is on a sleazebag roll with this and Horrible Bosses - is charming and creepy. There's an obvious sexuality to Farrell's performance, and we're looking forward to seeing more of his interaction with the female cast.

The third clip comes from later on in the film, when Jerry Dandridge finally makes his move on the family, ripping out the gas pipe and burning down the house. He says, "I don't need an invitation if there's no house." The good guys flee into the desert by car, only to discover that he's not giving up easily. The combination of action, humor and horror received a good response from the crowd. Sarandon also mentioned that he has a cameo in the film later on in this scene.

The last clip, which featured David Tennant as Midori-swilling TV occultist Peter Vincent, had some solid laughs as the obviously Criss Angel-influenced character stripped off his wig and sideburns before telling Charlie how to slay a vampire.

The panel answered some questions from the audience. Colin Farrell was remarkably frank about his career, saying that he's enjoyed the last five years significantly more, that he had "lost track" of what he wanted to do as an actor. Gillespie had some things to say about one of the shots in the car, which was impressively long and required the 90-pound camera to be manipulated in some difficult ways. And Farrell brought the house down when he rewarded an admiring fan with his name tag and ended up mooning the entire audience in Hall H.

Dreamworks is pushing Fright Night hard, and it seems like the filmmakers have a good idea of what made the original so much fun.

The movie will be in theatres August 19^th, 2011.