Once pace of 'Fright Night' picks up, it's a fun ride

It's become clich� to say that what happens in Vegas stays there.

Teen Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) would like to tell someone what's happening in his hometown of Vegas, but they wouldn't believe him.

He didn't believe it either when his nerdy childhood friend, Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), tried to tell him there's a vampire living next door.

Now Ed's missing, and neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is flirting with Charley's mom (Toni Collette) and messing up Charley's love life with the lovely Amy (Imogen Poots).

And Charley is sidling up to Peter Vincent (David Tennant), the boozy, vain star of a sexed-up Vegas nightclub act about vampires who claims to be an expert on them. He's got a museum full of vampire artifacts.

"Fright Night," a remake of a 1985 horror flick that had a sense of humor about vampire lore, stays true to the spirit of the original by tripping laughs and dishing special effects as it tries to creep you out.

True, Tennant probably doesn't match the performance of Roddy McDowall, who played the vampire expert in the original. And Chris Sarandon, who has a cameo as a victim this time out, made a pretty spectacular vampire.

But Farrell, looking buff, has a real knack for combining sexy come-on and sinister menace.

Meanwhile, Yelchin ("Terminator Salvation") is perfectly cast in the role of appealing young innocent, trying to shed his nerdy past and claim the hot girlfriend while keeping the bloodsucker at bay. You can't help rooting for the kid.

And Mintz-Plasse ("Superbad") is surprisingly effective with fangs, both creepy and funny in a showdown amid Peter's museum pieces.

Director Craig Gillespie has been hit ("Lars and the Real Girl") and miss ("Mr. Woodcock") with offbeat comedies in the past but mostly clicks this time. Meanwhile, screenwriter Marti Noxon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Mad Men") knows a thing or two about selling vampire camp and sex.

The movie got off to an incredibly slow start, with the pacing of a soap opera at times — you know, all those pregnant pauses with overwrought soundtrack and lingering close-ups right before a commercial.

But once the blood starts to flow and Charley is a believer, it gets better.

The climactic battle in the basement of Jerry's house is inventive fun. This particular breed of vampires prefers burrowing into the earth to lying in coffins, which provides a creepy surprise when Charley and Peter meet the demons in their lair.

I didn't see the original, so won't venture an opinion on which "Fright Night" is the best. But Yelchin and Farrell make a pretty effective combination. It may not be great cinema, but this is one remake that can stand on its own.

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