| “ | Welcome to Fright Night! For real. | „ |
| ~ Jerry Dandridge |
| “ | You have to have faith for this to work on me, Mr. Vincent! | „ |
| ~ Jerry Dandridge to Peter Vincent referring to a crucifix |
Jerry Dandridge is the main antagonist of the 1985 film Fright Night and its 2011 remake.
He was portrayed by Chris Sarandon in the original 1985 film while in the 2011 remake, he was portrayed by Colin Farrell, who also portrayed the Marvel villain Bullseye.
Biography
Fright Night (1985)
He was at least a thousand year old vampire before he moved into a small town in the United States. He had a vampire sister named Regine Dandridge. Sometime between the events that turned them into vampires and the time Jerry moved to a small town, they went their separate ways. With his man servant, Billy Cole, Jerry fed on the blood of women who crossed his path or in some cases, called them in via mail-order service.
Once Jerry moved into a small town, he was followed and stalked by a high school student, Charley Brewster. Charley had called the police on him and annoyed Jerry in various other ways. Jerry charmed Charley's mom to invite him into their home, much to Charley's horror. Later on that night, he broke into their home without being detected. Jerry tried to negotiate and intimidate Charley to leave willing enough alone. But Charley refused.
One night, "Evil" Ed Thompson, Charley's best friend, pranked Charley in front of his girlfriend Amy pretending he had been bitten by a vampire. The two argued, then Ed took a shortcut. Ed was stalked by Jerry, who managed to bite him, transforming him into a crazy and violent vampire.
Jerry tried different methods of intimidation from going after his girlfriend and destroying his car. In Jerry's eyes, Charley started a war that Jerry was prepared to finish. Charley went to seek out a movie star who was only known as Peter Vincent, a character he played in vampire horror films where he killed vampires. After a lot of convincing, he helped Charley expose Jerry as a vampire. Jerry turned Amy into a vampire.
Later on, Charley convinced Peter to join him in hunting Jerry. After a battle that lasted all night long, Charley and Peter killed Jerry along with his demonic man servant. Amy was restored back to being human. The only fatality in this battle was Evil Ed.
Fright Night (2011)
In the 2011 remake, the plot is relatively the same as the original, though with a few differences: one of them being that Jerry is at least 400 years old rather than 1000, and he doesn't have the ability to shapeshift. He is also not served by anyone, so Billy Cole makes no appearance. He is also much more ruthless and psychotic in the remake, given he kills a family at the beginning of the the film because he suspects their teenage son was spying on him, and he murders a woman he had sired after fooling Charlie into thinking she was a human victim. He also keeps his victims locked in a larder where he feeds on them, and even turns Charlie's girlfriend into a vampire.
Jerry's Legacy
Sometime after his death, his sister, Regine Dandridge, tried to avenge his death, only to meet her end at the hands of Charley and Peter.
Videos
