What actually happens
The neighbor has a lot of secret rooms
Charley Brewster lives in a Las Vegas suburb where students keep going missing, and his old friend Ed has a theory about why. When Charley gets home, his mother Jane introduces him to their new neighbor, Jerry. Ed tells Charley that Jerry is a vampire, Charley calls him crazy, and they stop being friends. Jerry then catches Ed on his way home, says he has been watched and has been watching back, and chases him into a pool. He convinces Ed that life would be better as a vampire, and Ed lets him bite. When Ed goes missing, Charley finds his videos of objects moving by themselves, with Ed explaining that Jerry never shows up on camera. Charley sneaks into Jerry's house and discovers secret rooms where Jerry keeps his victims. He takes this to Peter Vincent, a Las Vegas magician who is supposed to be a vampire expert, and Peter doesn't take him seriously and sends him away.
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A real estate sign and a penthouse
Jerry comes to Charley's house and sets it on fire. Charley, Jane and his girlfriend Amy escape across the desert in their minivan, and Jerry catches up with them. Jane wounds him with a real estate sign used as a stake, and she ends up in a hospital. Peter calls Charley after recognizing a sigil in the photo Charley took at Jerry's house, and they meet at Peter's penthouse, where Peter explains that Jerry's kind of vampire eats people. Then Ed turns up, completely transformed, and helps Jerry attack Charley, Amy and Peter. This is the scene people brace for, and it comes in the middle of the movie: during that fight, Charley reluctantly kills Ed. Amy meanwhile shoots Jerry with silver bullets, which do very little, and then hurts him with holy water. They run into a club and lose each other in the crowd, and Jerry kisses and bites Amy and takes her away.
A blessed stake and a change of mind
Peter says he won't help, and he tells Charley that a vampire killed both of his parents, which later turns out to have been Jerry. He does hand over a stake blessed by Saint Michael, which is supposed to finish Jerry and restore everyone he turned. Charley goes to Jerry's house, and Peter decides to come along after all. In the basement, a crowd of Jerry's victims attacks them, Amy among them. She tells Charley how the two of them could be together forever, then lunges to bite him, and Charley stabs her on purpose in a place that misses her heart and gets away. Peter is ambushed by Jerry and a crowd of victims, and he takes out a few of them before his weapon backfires.
Charley sets himself on fire
Charley comes back to the basement and finds the remaining vampires feeding on Peter. He shoots holes in the roof, and the sunlight that comes in kills them and leaves a patch of light that protects Charley and Peter from the vampires who are left. Jerry appears and tells Charley that his quest is over. Charley has put on a flame-retardant suit, so he has Peter set him on fire and tackles Jerry, and the other vampires watch the two of them fight. Peter shoots another hole in the floor above, which lets in more sunlight and burns Jerry. Peter then tosses over the stake Charley dropped, and Charley stabs Jerry in the visible heart. Jerry dies, and his victims turn human again.
The ending, explained
Charley stabs Jerry in the heart with the stake blessed by Saint Michael, after Peter has shot extra holes in the building to let the sunlight in. Jerry dies, and all of the people he turned become human again. Ed is not one of them: Charley killed him earlier, at Peter's penthouse. Peter survives the basement, Amy is human again, and Jane recovers from the hospital stay. The movie finishes with Jane going shopping for a new house, which is a reasonable response to the fire.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits, so it is safest to stay until they finish.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Fright Night scary?
Somewhat. Fright Night is a 3.5 out of 10: a horror comedy with some jump scares and some gore, and the low dread is gone once the credits roll.
How does Fright Night end?
Charley kills Jerry with a blessed stake after Peter lets sunlight into the basement, and Jerry's victims turn human again. Ed does not survive, but Amy, Peter and Jane do.
Does the dog die in Fright Night?
No, no dog dies in Fright Night. A dog appears in the opening scene and is not seen again, and the kennel in the neighbor's backyard is empty.
Is there a post-credits scene in Fright Night?
Nobody has confirmed whether Fright Night has a scene after the credits, so it is safest to stay until they finish.
Who is Peter Vincent in Fright Night?
Peter Vincent is a Las Vegas magician who is supposed to be an expert on vampires. He sends Charley away at first, then helps him once he recognizes a sigil in a photo, and it turns out a vampire killed both of his parents.
