Dreamworks Shares "Fright Night" Fun Facts

CEBU, Philippines - With the release of “Fright Night,” DreamWorks shares some interesting trivia about the new vampire thriller starring Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin.

A revamp of the 1985 comedy-horror classic, “Fright Night” is directed by Craig Gillespie and also stars Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

In the film, senior Charlie Brewster (Yelchin) finally has it all—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the hottest girl in high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

But trouble arrives when an intriguing stranger Jerry (Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right—and everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Collette), doesn’t notice. After witnessing some very unusual activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on his neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone that he’s telling the truth, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself.

•“Fright Night” boasts a truly international cast. Gillespie and Collette are from Australia, Poots was born in England, Farrell hails from Ireland, Tennant is from Scotland and Yelchin is from Russia.

•Gillespie directed Collette to an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her starring role in Showtime’s “United States of Tara.”

•Farrell, who plays the role of the vampire Jerry, is such a fan of the original “Fright Night” that he has seen the classic horror film at least 12 times.

•Tennant, portraying vampire expert Peter Vincent, is a classically trained British actor.

•When Poots shot an old revolver at vampire Jerry, it was the first time she had ever fired a gun. The gun created for her is actually a replica of a gun owned by World War II hero, General George S. Patton.

•“Fright Night” screenwriter Marti Noxon has a lot of experience with the undead, having previously written for vampires on the popular television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

•“Fright Night” is set in Las Vegas, where late-night activity is not viewed as out of the ordinary.

•One-of-a-kind props include the St. Michael’s stake, which was whittled from wood and bone, the Assyrian Egyptian vampire stake, the Polynesian stake, crosses, vials of holy water and a stake gun, all designed and built by Prop Master Ben Lowney.

•Lowney used a sharp piece of bone to create one of the vampire stakes. On the cap, he inscribed something cryptic in ancient Greek and Latin, which he is keeping as a secret while waiting for someone to slow down the movie and decipher what has been written.

•To create a crucifix nail that looks ancient, Lowney researched photos of Roman nails that are in the British Museum. To achieve the same look, he soaked an iron bolt in acid for a week. When finished, it looked like a relic.

Now showing across the Philippines, “Fright Night is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.