Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

Three years after doing away Jerry Dandrige and his other vampires, Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) and Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) are trying to move on and forget about his former life convincing that there are no vampires.

Charley and his girlfriend Alex (Traci Lin) are living at a college campus building but visits Peter at his suite and notices that some coffins are being hauled in to the same building and then Charley experiences some strange people entering the building as well.
Then Charley has a nightmare that a vampiress named Regine Dandridge (Julie Carmen) has tasted a sample of his blood on his neck after cutting himself while shaving but wakes up.
However, Charley feels very sleepy in the day and wears sunglasses quite often whenever it's daylight.
Also, Charley spots Regine and one of her people bringing a guest upstairs to their suite and the guest bound and gagged and is shocked to what he sees as the two people hosting the person are vampires and drinks the guests blood.

He alerts Peter and go to a party hosted by Regine as she dances with Charley.
However, he gives in to her performance and thinks that the whole vampire scene is an act but later on Peter finds out that Regine is Jerry's brother and that she will seek revenge on the two of them for killing him.

The beginning seems a bit bland showing the character Charlie talking to his shrink convinced that there are no vampires as you think to yourself maybe he's so freaked out what has happened before that he is brainwashed to forget about his former life. Also you see him getting rid of garlic rings and crucifixes too which made me convinced that his mind was poisoned thinking what happened to him before was all his imagination. Also he shaves and accidentally cuts his neck and puts a band aid on it which seems to draw your attention making him a nice victim for a vampire to drink his blood as there's an open wound.
Later on in the story looked pretty impressive when a strange group of people arrive in a limo and enter a dorm as they don't look like your everyday people at all looking like suspects of being vampires that this looked crisply done and in good taste too.
Another perfect moment is that we spot a camera shot like someone's flying in the air and landing on the top of a car roof while Charlie is making out with his girlfriend Alex in which this seemed to remind me of a scene from The Lost Boys but what was different this vehcile's roof wasn't torn off and the couple inside it weren't attacked but the head vampiress Regine is lying on top of the car roof spying on them. Things seem strange when the two of them are making out and Charlie hallucinates. This moment does psych you out.
What seems a bit cheesy but in a fun and strange fashion is when Regine accidentally knocks on Charlie's door but asks to come in regardless and they make out and right then this was done in a good fashion as she exposes her fangs and tastes his wound on his neck. You start to wonder if she will plunge in and that Charlie has no hope anymore but to become a part of the vampire cult.
Then we spot a moment on him waking up and seems to be agitated by sunlight which really points out that he might be one of the creatures of the night along with later on him wearing sunglasses while heading out to his campus as this seems to be another paying tribute to The Lost Boys.
Lots of tongue in cheeck moments like a goofy werewolf named Louie climbing up a dorm and about to get into a window and Alex shits the window door without her noticing that he's trying to sneak in and breaks his long claws. Then he falls into a rosebush and is hurt by slinters and prickles. This seemed to be nicely put in for the comedic moments of the storyline since alot of this was commonly used in many horror flicks during this time period but in this one really hams it up with the goofiness here.
A nice creepy moment is seen here when one of the characters rides through a misty hallway dorm in their roller blades towards a student who is cornered and uses their nails to scrape against some lockers as this very much reminds me of what Freddy Krueger does in the Elm Street flicks and the sequels were happening during the same era as this film was. I found this to look perfectly doen with how this student was attacked and certainly looked very scary too.
Another nice tongue in cheek moment that works for a horror flick like this is when the dorky werewolf dude Louie walks Alex to her dorm and a dog barks and growls and without letting her spot what he does he quickly turns his head and has a werewolf expression growling back and the dog backs off. This was celeverly put in indeed.
A scene that seems to pay a tribute to the first flick is when Charlie spots two vampiress' in the window getting kinky with a guy and then one of them which is of course Regine bites his neck and then stares at him. This totally reminds me on what happened in Charlie's neighborhood with the vampire Jerry Dandridge does to a sexy woman in his window of his own home. Yet this doesn't work too well in the sequel and found this a bit of a disappointment.
The excitement starts later on greatly when Charlie and Peter Vincent go to a party which is hosted by Regine to try and snuff her out and one of the people who enters the door welcomes them and then exposes his fangs which seems almost too obvious that he is a vampire and later on Peter discovers a jar full of fake vampire teeth. After all the writers are a little more clever than to have something like that happen right away else it would seem pretty corny and cheesy. It does look cool when Regine seems to put Charlie under her spell to do a dance with her and she exposes her fangs as this looked pretty artsy and good effects here too.
It's cool when Regine explains to Peter who she is and discusses on how she's linked to Jerry himself and her seeking revenge. Definetely a nice traditional moment for a sequel after the horror character was killed during the end of the first film as we see her shooting up later on as a bat flying away which is a nice jumping moment.
The spookiness continues in which Charlie is sleeping in his dorm and we spot mist coming out of the blinds and then Regine enters and drinks the blood from his neck that he cut himself with while shaving as this almost explains as to why he seems to become close to a vampire. Nice explanations as to how he's drawn under her spell for sure.
It gets even better as Charlie tries to drive a stake through her heart while she sleeps in her coffin and her eyes open which seems scary and the colour of her eyes change and his does too which looked effective and neat to watch.
More comedy comes in when a few of the vampires kill a couple of employees at a bowling alley and what do they do but decide to bowl themselves in a hokey type fashion. Plus there's a decapitated head rolling up in the machine with the other bowling balls. Alot of this reminds me of David DeCoteau's scream queen trashy cult flick Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl O Rama. What is more interesting to top it all off is that both films were out the same year.
Some interesting gothic moments when Regine does a dance for the show Fright Night as she at first looks innocent and then smears blood all over her looking terrifying in her vampiress features.
Good comedic lines when Peter is taken away into a psych ward and a mental patient knows who he is and explains to him he needs to kill a vampire which the one liners here looked convincing that the people who work at the ward are convinced that he's cracked.
The excitement really starts up greatly is the battling moments when Charlie, Peter and Alex tries to battle away the vampires but Charlie is weak as well as great temptations on Regine manipulating Charlie to kill Alex as this makes you wonder if he will do so or not by being under her spell. Plus there's alot of great action moments with Regine forming into this monster of some kind which seems similar to watching something in a film like Night of the Demons. Plus there's a moment with one of her people Bozworth showing some tears in his stomach and maggots flowing out. This also seemed to remind me of an act Krueger does too.
Bottom line is that this is an underrated sequel and disappointed many fans. It seems slow at first but then alot of fun touches while watching this flick. I do admit it doesn't have the same chemistry like the original one but normally sequels never have. This one was almost forgotten and half people who have seen the original never knew that this one has happened. Do check it out as it has more tongue in cheek than ever and seemed to flow in with the other horror films that were mentioned in this review.

The acting is well performed by the whole cast. Roddy McDowall (Peter Vincent) as usual is full of with and charm in his reprising role and shows alot of good anxious energy along with exposing alot of good frights in what he did in his performance. At times he was a bit over the top in certain spots but still kept to a decent level in most of his perfomance in this film. A great shocked reaction on him after spotting his small mirror and what he notices. Plus he does well panicking trying to get out of a hallway. A good anxious reaction with him towards his onscreen TV director after bluntly telling him he's fired as the quarreling looked good and highly paced. Full of intense energy in a goofy fashion.
William Ragsdale (Charlie Brewster) shows alot more dynamic energy than in the original and showed many more interesting charactersitics than he ever has before. He shows alot of good anxiety to when he spots something strange or plays it cool while trying to stay at a sane level in which there's nice versatality within him. There's a good calm and uplifting behavior with his discussion towards an onscreen shrink in which his discussion seemed to flow fairly well. A nice shocked reaction on him while he spots some people walking by in a hallway of the dorm as this looked good and natural. A good jumping reaction on him while he hallucinates. Does well standing behind a door anxiously speaking to himself as he shows a good hyperactive behavior to all this. He also does well when he slowly becomes blood thirsty too and really getting into this mode too. Does a good job while trying to talk towards someone else in which he believeably acts like he's drunk and out of it. Shows a nice wide eyed expression towards his fellow actor as well as showing great intense energy grabbing at his throat.
Traci Lind (Alex) was wonderful in her role as a wholesome girl next door type and shows alot of good spunk in whatever she did for her part in it. She seemed to show alot of great effort in acting tough or defensive when she was required tro do so and was a real natural by doing this. Plus showed alot of adventureous energy when the terrors start to occur around her. Does a good job with her speech getting to the point and speaking sharply at the ward in a good serious fashion while trying to disguise herself in which this was one of my favourite scene's in her performance. She could go far in other acting gigs in which she seemed to do well for herself till the late 90's.
Julie Carmen (Regine Dandridge) who plays the wicked head vampiress in which she was terrific with her lustful and deadly behavior. She also does well coming across as innocent at first too. A good soft speaking moment with her towards her fellow actor by acting tempting and charming with her words which came across nicely. She showed a nice wicked stare in a scene as well as doing well by talking to someone else and explaining her vengeful attitude. Yet she could've beefed her characteristics up a bit better. It's still pretty good regardless. She really knew her stuff with this role and studied it inside out. Plus is a great dancer too. Does a perfect dancing scene acting gothic with her blocking during a camera shoot on Fright Night TV Show. All in all I thought she was a worthy character actress.
Jon Gries (Louie) is the comedic werewolf/vampire type character who is very noticeable and well remembered in the film as he was a natural ham and knew on how to act like a total goofball with hyperactive energy. He just was great acting like a wild airheaded type of person. Even non fans of this film will remember his performance. That I can assure you. His comedic timing was right on.
Brian Thompson (Bosworth) certainly looked perfect for the part as one of the vampire gang members with his huge brawny looks and had a perfect deepness in his speaking. He was believeably brutal with his actions as well as intimidating. He shows a nice dark humor with whatever he does in the film. The perfect guy for this role without a doubt. However when he throws punches towards someone else it didn't look too convincingly brutal and was a bit off. A good shocked and painful reaction with him after he is stabbed as well as his howling cries as this was right on.
Ernie Sabella (Dr. Harrison) certainly shows a good uplifting attitude as a shrink at the campus in which he had the nice husky and clean cut looks for the part looking like one of those typical counsellors who acts very lifelike. He also comes across as very mysterious too in which he does this well too. He showed alot of spunk in his supporting role here.

Blood squirts out of a ladys neck after being bitten by a vampire.
A decapitated head is picked up by one of the vampires at the bowling alley.
There is blood all over Regine's face when she does a dance on the Fright Night TV show.
A vampires face goes into decay and crumbles.
A body built vampires stomach is torn open and maggots dump out of him.
Another one's face melts.
Regine the vampiress burns to death

Brad Fiedel is back again for composing the music here and uses some of his previous work to prove this is indeed a true sequel which is what I like. You couldn't find someone better. There's some good high pitched screeching type sounds along with the hissing effects which works in well during the dark moments on these vampires sneaking up on their victim or attacking. Plus some good chiming sounds too. Also nice heavy beat sounds too here and there. Nice harp plucking sounds too as this was peacefully done when the lusty vampires Regine approaches and is hungry for blood revealing her fangs and acting calm there's some good guitar sliding sounds too which fits in well with the harp playing. There's of course alot of great suspenseful violin playing during the showdown with the battle against the vampires and more screeching sounds as well as some other good heavy composing.

More 80's soundtrack artists as well as some from the 60's like "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett during the bowling scene with the vampires. This works in well with the story and the dark comedy happening here too.
We also have a cover song of "Come to Me" which was from the original movie during the closing credits but this time performed by Deborah Holland. She is marvellous with her vocals in the song.

Regine Dandrige: Let's talk about blood, Mr. Vincent, its very precious to me.