A vampire named Jerry in 'Fright Night'

Imagine a horror film, only good: "Fright Night," a remake of the 1985 thriller, will be twisting your mind before it's barely begun. That next-door neighbor, the guy Charley (Anton Yelchin) thinks is a vampire? Man, he looks a lot like Colin Farrell. Jumpin' Nosferatu! It is Colin Farrell! And Charley's mom is Toni Collette! And this movie -- in which no one believes Charley, until they start being bitten, eaten and turned into ghouls -- is genuinely gross, scary and funny. What in the name of all that's undead were they thinking?

Director Craig Gillespie ("Lars and the Real Girl") must have been thinking that he'd make a quality horror movie, which is almost an act of charity when you consider what the genre gets away with. This is a little sad -- "Fright Night" is better than it had to be. But it's good news, too: While there's little reason for the film to be in 3-D (except, of course, higher ticket prices), the effects are used both alarmingly and judiciously.

"Fright Night" is still deliciously menacing, thanks largely to Farrell's performance as Jerry ("A vampire named Jerry?" everyone tells Charley), who's both ingratiating and lethal, as any suave monster should be. Yelchin (the only American in the principal cast) is the perfect balance of nerdy and hip; Imogen Poots, as his nubile girlfriend, Amy, is perfectly pert; and Collette, as usual, is great. The real dividend, though, is David Tennant ("Dr. Who"), who plays Las Vegas "vampire hunter" Peter Vincent, a rather feckless fraud who becomes Charley's principal ally in the war against -- yes -- Jerry. He's the perfect antidote to that creepiness crawling up your spine.

PLOT Teenager suspects his neighbor is a vampire. He's right. RATING R (bloody violence, horror, language)

CAST Anton Yeltchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette

LENGTH 1:46

PLAYING AT Area theaters

BOTTOM LINE Shockingly first-rate horror film.