Fright Night - Recap

Tom and Leona Ogilvy arrive at the house belonging to Tom’s recently deceased cousin, Zachariah. The housekeeper, Miss Patience, isn’t there to meet them as promised so they go inside. She comes downstairs and tells them that she never stays in the house after dark. As Miss Patience shows the couple the upstairs, the doors behind them close on their own.

In the attic, Miss Patience points out a large trunk and tells them that she was the only one who stayed on with Zachariah, who scared everyone else away. When Tom examines the trunk, Miss Patience tells him that Zachariah’s last words were to keep the trunk where it was and unopened. He said that someone would come for it, and Leona says they should honor Zachariah’s deathbed wish. Tom, a writer, plans to use the attic as an office. Miss Patience takes them downstairs to see the ground floor, and once they leave the trunk shakes on its own.



In the library, Tom notices that Zachariah collected books on the occult. There is a portrait of Zachariah on the wall, and the house is exceedingly cold. Miss Patience’s ride arrives but stays at a distance, and she explains that no one from the village will come any closer to the house. Once she leaves, the Ogilvys go back inside. In bed, they listen to the crickets chirp and try to sleep, and Tom assures Leona that at least they can approach the house. The crickets suddenly go dead quiet for a moment and then start again.

The next day, Tom is working in the attic when Leona brings him cocoa. She explains that she researched crickets, but it didn’t explain why crickets stop chirping all at once. After Leona leaves, the lights flicker and the trunk moves back and forth on its own. Tom stares at it in horror and then collapses over his typewriter. He wakes up a few minutes later and goes back to work as if nothing had happened. Tom goes to the bedroom and finds Leona in the bed. She notes that he left bed and went upstairs, but Tom has no memory of coming to bed. When he sees that his pillow is indented, he realizes that Leona is right and he’s forgotten the entire thing.



In the attic, the trunk opens and two goblins discuss how to possess the couple. They realize that Leona is too innocent to possess, but Tom’s soul is weak and pliant. They call upon the Prince of Darkness to aid them and flow down the stairs, as the trunk closes behind them. Tom’s typewriter starts typing on its own, writing out the invocation.

The next day, an increasingly irritable Tom complains about Leona’s cooking skills as he goes through Zachariah’s books. He sees the invocation on the typewriter and accuses Leona of writing it. She denies it and says that involves a Young Man offering a scaling white liquid to the Young Woman on Sabbat’s Eve. Tom isn’t convinced at first, but finally relents and admits that local kids might have broken in on a dare to write something scary on his typewriter.



Tom goes back to work while Leona notices the trunk moving. She calls in a mover from an out-of-town company to remove it. That night, Leona is trying to sleep but Tom’s pacing in the attic keeps her awake. She goes upstairs and Tom admits that he’s still preoccupied with the trunk despite its absence. He tells her to go back to work and sits down at his typewriter. The crickets stop chirping and the trunk appears in the attic. As he examines it, Tom hears Leona screaming and runs to the bedroom. She tells him that something was in bed with her and touched her, and it’s trying to destroy them. Tom tells her that the trunk is back and promises to get rid of it.

The next day, Halloween, Tom puts the trunk in a shed and boards over the door. As the sun sets, he goes back to the kitchen and asks Leona to make cocoa. When she admits that she ran out, Tom berates her and Leona responds by saying that he hasn’t been paid in three months, and cocoa is a luxury. As they argue, they lapse into Old English. Tom finally grabs the boiling milk and prepares to pour it down her throat, but there’s a knock on the door and they snap out of their spell, and realize they almost completed the invocation.



The Ogilvys answer the door and confronted by two monstrous creatures: Trick-or-Treaters. Sobbing with relief, the couple gives the children candy. Tom realizes that it’s Halloween, the time when spirits return to visit their old haunts. He runs upstairs as the truck bursts out of the shed and reappears in the attic. Leona answers the door when there’s another knock. As Tom runs down, his wife opens the door and finds Zachariah’s corpse at the door. It tells them that it’s come for the trunk, walks past them, and goes to the attic as the lights go out.



The next morning, the Ogilvys confirm that the trunk is gone. Tom figures that Zachariah wrote the words on the typewriter to warn them against the goblins, and they’re safe since he took the trunk. He goes back to the attic and yells for Leona to come. There’s a new trunk, and a new note saying that someone will call for it. Tom realizes that Zachariah will return again in a year, and they quickly put the house up for sale and leave.

Share this article with your friends