Jerry Dandrige is a fictional character from the ''

Fright Night ''Fright Night'' is a 1985 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland, in his directorial debut. The film follows teenager Charley Brewster (played by William Ragsdale), who discovers that his next-door neighbor Je ...

'' franchise, a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

who first appears in the 1985 film ''

'' portrayed by

Chris Sarandon Christopher Sarandon (; born July 24, 1942) is an American actor. He is well known for playing Jerry Dandrige in '' Fright Night'' (1985), Prince Humperdinck in '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), Detective Mike Norris in '' Child's Play'' (1988), a ...

, which was later spun-off into a

comic book series a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

that used Sarandon's likeness. Dandrige, portrayed by

Colin Farrell Colin James Farrell (; born 31 May 1976) is an Irish actor. A Leading actor, leading man in blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various List of awards and nominations received by Col ...

, also appears in the 2011 remake, in both of which he is the main

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.makers of the tie-in comics, use the spelling, "Dandridge".

''Fright Night'' (1985)

Jerry Dandrige, along with his undead servant Billy Cole, moves in next door to teenager Charley Brewster (

William Ragsdale Robert William Ragsdale (born January 19, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for playing Charley Brewster in the cult horror-comedy film ''Fright Night'' (1985) and its sequel ''Fright Night Part 2'' (1988), and Herman Brooks on the televis ...

) and his divorced 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. Dandrige soon learns about Charley's investigation of him and threatens his life, which leads Charley to seek out a TV host named Peter Vincent (

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

) to help him find a way to kill Dandrige. Jerry notices that Charley’s girlfriend Amy resembles his deceased lover, and falls in love with her. Jerry kidnaps Amy and turns Charley’s friend Evil Ed into a vampire, telling Charley that the only way to rescue her is for him and Vincent to enter Jerry’s home. Unbeknownst to them, he has already transformed Amy into a vampire. Peter and Charley kill Billy and Evil Ed, before confronting Jerry. The two vampire hunters manage to stall Jerry until dawn, and then smash the walls of his cellar to allow sunlight to enter, which burns Jerry into ash. With Jerry dead, Amy is cured of her vampirism.

''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 The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player named Moves Wilson, the Legion is 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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and begins to amass his own legion of vampires, beginning with a Parisian

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

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 Anton Viktorovich Yelchin (March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016) was an American actor. Born in the Soviet Union to a Russian Jewish family, he immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of six months. He began his career as a child ...

) 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 Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

computers. In the game, players assume the role of Jerry Dandrige as he attempts to turn his victims into vampires before sunrise. Jerry Dandridge is a minor character in the 1995

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction – both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at the age of eleven & ...

novel ''

The Bloody Red Baron ''Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron'', or simply ''The Bloody Red Baron'', is a 1995 alternate history/Horror fiction, horror novel by British author Kim Newman. It is the second book in the Anno Dracula series, ''Anno Dracula'' series and take ...

''. '' Fright Night 2: New Blood'' features Elisabeth Bathory (played by

Jaime Murray Jaime Erica Murray (born 21 July 1976) is an English actress. She is known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series ''Hustle (TV series), Hustle'' (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dexter (TV series), ...

), a vampire using the alias "Gerri Dandridge", but the characters are otherwise apparently unrelated.

Homoerotic interpretation

In the original film, Jerry Dandrige has been variously interpreted as gay, bisexual, and metrosexual. Literary critic

John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Bor ...

noted instances in the original film in which Dandrige and his human-slave protector are posed in potentially sexual positions. These include a scene in which Dandrige's male companion and daytime protector, Billy Cole, kneels before Dandrige. Cole is dressing a wound Dandrige has received on his right hand, 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. 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 disease A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...

s in general and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

in particular. According to ''Fright Night'' editor

Kent Beyda Kent Beyda (born October 11, 1953) is an American film editor. Life and career Beyda worked as an assistant editor on John Cassavetes' '' Opening Night'' (1977), Allan Arkush's ''Rock 'n' Roll High School'' (1979), and Joe Dante's ''The Howling' ...

, writer-director

Tom Holland Thomas Stanley Holland (born 1 June 1996) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, he featured on the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Europe list of 2019. Some publications have called him one of the most ...

deliberately set out to insert homosexual imagery and themes 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.Muir, John Kenneth (2013). ''Horror Films of the 1980s''. Mcfarland. , pp. 445–46

References