They give off a kind of scent. - Fright Night (2011)

 

Fight Night (2011) is a deeply silly movie, and it certainly has its flaws, but there's also something sort of compelling about it.

Colin Farrell as the vampire antagonist is violent, sexy, animalistic. He's basically pure walking sex, but a very specific type of sex. When he taunts our main character, Charley, he taunts him about the women in his life. His mother and girlfriend. They're ripe for the picking. "You need to look after them," he says. And he looks good while he says it.

Muscles and dirty shirt. Stubble and square jaw. He's everything we're told a sexy man is supposed to be. And let's be honest here. That he's also a murderer of women isn't exactly out of place with that image.

And he's got a bill of goods to sell you.

You, too, can be sexy, animalistic, powerful. Even a goofy intellectual weakling like Christopher Mintz-Plasse can become strong, become cool, if he only embraces the power of violence. He can become a real man, black eyed and sharp toothed.

That's the promise, anyway. By the time he realizes that the promise is a lie, well, it's too late. It's always too late, isn't it? Poor Evil Ed. Selling your soul only ever makes the devil richer.

Fright Night is a fun, dumb movie, with enjoyable performances. To be honest, I would recommend this movie to anyone just based on how fun it is to watch Colin Farrell be evil. That you can also read it as a giddy, over-sexed reflection of toxic masculinity is a bonus.