It's late at night, and in his room Charlie (Ragsdale) and his girlfriend, Amy (Bearse) are making out beneath the soft glow of the TV playing the late night horror show. Peter Vincent (McDowell), the great vampire hunter, is hosting another of his movies, but the teens are totally distracted. That is until Charlie hears some commotion at the house next door. While looking out the window, Charlie sees a coffin being taken into the basement of the house. Naturally he is bothered by this idea; in fact, so much so that he ignores Amy who is finally ready to go all the way. She storms out of his room, and the befuddled Charlie has missed his big chance.

The next day Charlie sees a beautiful woman going into the house next door and soon thereafter sees her picture on the news. She has been murdered and found in the city. Charlie tries to poke around and investigate the house next door, but he is run off by one of his neighbors. That night Charlie spies a naked girl in the window across from his bedroom. She is soon embraced by another man, but this one has fangs. Unfortunately for Charlie, the vampire sees him as well. After trying to convince his mom and Amy that the neighbor is a vampire, he goes to the police with information on the murders that keep being reported. A detective accompanies him to the vampire's home. When nothing strange is found, Charlie tells the cop about his true suspicions and of course he looks crazy.

Charlie goes to his friend "Evil" Ed for help. Ed runs down the classic weaknesses of the vampire, and Charlie prepares himself with tons of garlic and crosses. The main thing Ed tells him is not to worry because a vampire can't enter without being invited. That would be all fine if Charlie's mom didn't invite her new neighbor Jerry (Sarandon) in for a drink. That night Jerry visits Charlie and tries to convince the teen to forget all about him. When Charlie resists, Jerry attempts to throw Charlie out the window, but the vamp gets fended off with a pencil staked into his neck.

With nowhere else to turn, Charlie seeks the aid of TV host Peter Vincent, but he is rebuffed. After Amy pays the freshly fired host, he goes with them to Jerry's house to perform a fake vampire test on the man by having him drink "holy" water. Charlie is shocked when nothing happens to Jerry, but he reluctantly accepts Peter's proof. However, before Peter leaves the house he notices that Jerry has no reflection in his pocket mirror. Peter makes a hasty retreat, and the teens set off to walk Amy home. After splitting up, Ed runs afoul of Jerry and gets turned into a bloodsucker. Then Jerry stalks Amy and Charlie to a nightclub where he seduces Amy and manages to get her away from Charlie. After his own confrontation with the newly vamped up Ed, Peter and Charlie must go once more into the vampire's den to destroy the creature of the night and rescue Amy from his clutches.

--Peter Vincent's name was a play on the classic horror stars Peter Cushing and Vincent Price.

--The Peter Vincent film that Charlie watches on TV is actually Hammer Film's The Scars of Dracula.

--Tom Holland who directed the film would go on to direct Child's Play next and later the Steven King adaptations Thinner and The Langoliers.

--Chis Sarandon had a long career spanning from Dog Day Afternoon through perennial favorites such as The Princess Bride and lending his voice to Halloween icon Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas.

--Stephen Geoffreys abandoned mainstream cinema to star in gay porn under the name Sam Ritter. He appeared in such films as Manhunt and Gay Men in Uniform. In 2007 he returned to the horror genre in Sick Girl, an independent feature.

I think Roddy McDowell's portrayal of Peter Vincent has a lot to do with it. I really love the story of the washed up horror great getting a chance to be the brave vampire hunter that he had once pretended to be. McDowell infuses the role with pathos and really makes you feel for an actor at the end of the line. There's also how totally '80's the movie is. Chris Sarandon's Jerry especially personifies this, and for many years my picture of Patrick Bateman in Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho was based on his image. He seemed the total yuppie vampire which the likes of has never and will never be seen again. All of the cast does an excellent job, and the story is well written. The effects are very nice in places, although the huge mouthed vampire that Amanda Bearse becomes is perhaps a bit over the top. Overall, the film is just a damn good time that stood out as something different in a time when so many horror flicks had become copy cats. More than that, it is a film that I want to watch every time October rolls around, and I'm getting prepped for my own Fright Night.