Jerry Dandrige

Jerry Dandridge

Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandrige
Created by Tom Holland
Portrayed by Chris Sarandon (1985)
Colin Farrell (2011)
Information
Species Vampire
Gender Male
Relatives Regine Dandridge (sister)

Jerry Dandrige is a fictional vampire. He first appears in the 1985 film Fright Night portrayed by Chris Sarandon, which was later spun-off into a comic book series that utilized Sarandon's likeness. Dandrige, portrayed by Colin Farrell, also appears in the 2011 remake . The original screenplay[1] and film credits spell his last name "Dandrige", but some secondary sources, including the makers of the tie-in comics, use the spelling, "Dandridge" (with a second "d").

Fright Night (1985)

Dandrige moves in next door to teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) and his mother. Charley begins to suspect Dandrige is a killer after seeing a news report about a murdered woman whom Charley had seen in Dandrige's house, and the boy later makes the horrifying discovery that Dandrige is a vampire while spying on him through a window.

Fright Night (Comics)

Aside from using the alternate spelling of his name, the comics remain consistent with the original film. After his death, Dandridge's ashes are collected by The Legion of the Endless night, a powerful vampire organization. With the aid of a witch and using the body of an all-star NBA player named Moves Wilson, the Legion are able to resurrect Dandridge, who is now blessed with the ability to withstand the rays of the sun. As the Legion falls apart, Dandridge flees to France and begins to amass his own legion of vampires, beginning with a Parisian prostitute named Lili.

Fright Night (2011)

The character also appears in the 2011 remake of the film, also called Fright Night. Neighbor Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) comes to suspect that Dandrige is a vampire and responsible for the disappearances of several neighborhood residents.

In other media

An arcade-style computer game was released in 1988 for Amiga computers. In the game, players assume the role of Jerry Dandrige as he attempts to turn his victims into vampires before sunrise.[2]

Jerry Dandridge is a minor character in the 1995 Kim Newman novel The Bloody Red Baron.

Fright Night 2: New Blood features Elisabeth Bathory using the alias "Gerri Dandridge", but the characters are otherwise apparently unrelated.

Interpretations

Jerry Dandrige as portrayed in the original film has been variously interpreted as gay, bisexual, and "metrosexual". Literary critic John Kenneth Muir noted instances in the original film in which Dandrige and another male character are posed in potentially sexual positions. These include a scene in which Dandrige's male companion Billy Cole kneels before Dandrige. Cole is dressing a wound Dandrige has received, but Muir found the position reminiscent of fellatio. Dandrige's speech to "Evil" Ed Thompson, in which Dandrige convinces Ed to become a vampire, is also cast in the language of homosexual seduction. Ed is placed in a physically submissive stance, and Dandrige speaks of Ed's outsider status in language that echoes the outsider status of homosexuals in the 1980s.[3]

Anthropologist Paul Clough and cultural critic Jon P. Mitchell characterized Dandrige as "beautiful but strange" and a man interested in seeking out relationships with young boys and young girls. Dandrige introduces Charley to homosexuality, bisexuality and, through his victims, prostitution. They called Dandrige's actions a metaphor for sexually transmitted diseases in general and HIV in particular.[4]

According to Fright Night editor Kent Beyda, writer/director Tom Holland deliberately set out to insert homosexual imagery into the film. He confirmed that the scene in which Cole goes to his knees in front of Dandrige was intended to evoke homosexuality as part of Holland's intent to explore every sexual aspect of the vampire myth.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Scribd - Fright Night (1985) Script
  2. ↑ Moby Games: Fright Night
  3. ↑ Muir, p. 445
  4. ↑ Clough and Mitchell, p. 198
  5. ↑ Muir, pp. 445—46

References

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