Long ago, Charley Brewster had a vampire living next door. The vampire in question kidnapped his girlfriend and turned one of his only friends into a fellow creature of the night. Eventually, with the help of a charlatan turned do-gooder, Charley was able to slay the vampire known as Jerry Dandridge and bring and end to his reign of terror.
There was only one problem...despite the best efforts of the aforementioned Peter Vincent, Charley's friend Ed (unlike a certain heavy metal band's mascot) wasn't dead. Or, rather, was still undead. As Charley and Amy made out in Charley's room, the flash of a pair of eyes and a cackling laugh told us that Evil Ed would be returning to menace Charley...and then Fright Night Part 2 came along and...it didn't happen. Evil Ed was barely mentioned.
So...what if he came back to menace Charley and Amy once again?
Let's pick up right where the first film ended. Charley and Amy are finally on the same page of their relationship and return to high school as though nothing has happened after what is probably the most traumatic night of their lives bar none. "Evil Ed" Ed Thompson has been reported as missing, the police call Charley and Amy in as the last people to have seen him alive...which is a surprisingly accurate statement. The police do not seem to believe their story. Nor do they believe that the pair know nothing about the disappearance of Jerry Dandridge, something for which washed up actor turned crusader against evil Peter Vincent has also been called in for.
The sun has set by the time they get out of the police station, Charley thinks he sees Ed off in the distance and pursues him into an empty alley. When Peter and Amy catch up, Charley asks Peter if he's absolutely certain he put a stake through Ed's heart. Peter replies that he's "Sure. Quite sure, yes." Somewhat relieved, Charley leaves with the pair, the trio not seeing a pair of familiar eyes following them from a shadowed doorway as they leave, burning with hate.
A few days, and nights, pass. One night, waking up early in the morning, Charley witnesses some lights coming from the late Jerry Dandridge's house. He calls up Peter Vincent and the pair search the house, but find nothing. Peter tells Charley not to worry, the danger is obviously over now. Charley isn't convinced.
It seems that Charley's belief is confirmed when he gets a threatening letter from an unknown sender that seems to have been written in blood. When he brings this up to Peter and Amy, Peter recognizes a letter written in blood as having been used in his movie Carnage Castle, specifically as a letter sent to the lead - Peter Vincent playing vampire hunter Daniel Lestrade - by the insidious vampire Vlad. This all but completely confirms that Ed is the one behind it all, Ed being an even bigger fan of Peter's films than either Charley or Amy.
Peter theorizes that Ed may be mimicking Carnage Castle and both Charley and Amy press him for what happened next in the movie, but Peter can't remember as it was the sequel (that was panned by many critics) to the much more popular Blood Castle.
Little meta joke. Indulge me.
They head to the Fright Night studio to view the original reels only to find Ed already there. Because of it being such a public place, even late at night, neither side risks a direct fight although it's very clear that there's no love lost between the vampire and his hunters. Ed, blocked by crosses empowered by faith, swears to the three that he's going to destroy them both for Peter's attempt to kill him and their successful slaying of Jerry Dandridge. Ed gets chased off and the trio find that only three of the reels remain intact - Fingers of Fear, Jaws of the Vampire, and Scream for Your Supper.
Peter theorizes that Ed's subconscious might be leaving clues as to how to defeat him. Being that Ed isn't an ancient vampire like Jerry was, some of his humanity might still remain and he's trying to tell them how to stop him. He begins to dig into the films in question while Charley takes Amy back home.
Amy's room gets outfitted with crosses and garlic to keep Ed out, just in case. Charley heads back to his home, however, to find that Ed has already been invited in by his mother. He once more has to act as though nothing is happening in order to protect his mother. Ed tells Charley that he'd never think of killing Mrs. Brewster, he just wanted to see him squirm. And he wanted to remind Charley that he'd be seeing him again really soon...and that he'd be bringing friends.
At the studio, Peter watches Jaws of the Vampire and - watching the cult resurrecting the lead vampire for a final showdown with his character in the film - realizes that Ed means to resurrect Jerry Dandridge. He moves to leave, only to encounter some students from Charley and Amy's school. At first, they seem rather innocuous, but amidst the autograph signings and photographs, someone slaps a pair of handcuffs on him and knocks him out with a strong, almost inhuman punch in the face.
Ed has been making a few ghouls, it seems...
After convincing his mother to leave town for a few nights, Charley hightails it back over to Amy's. The pair find themselves suffering a ghoul problem soon after and - unlike Billy Cole - there's too many of them for the pair of fight alone and they are also captured.
It all goes down once again at the Dandridge House. In the basement where Peter and Charley ended Jerry's unlife, Ed is preparing to bring him back with a ritual that had been prepared by Jerry and Billy Cole in the event of his death. The ritual requires all mortals present when Jerry died, meaning Charley, Peter, and Amy. As they get into the nitty-gritty of it, though, Peter manages to fast talk Ed and distract him long enough for Charley to get himself free. Charley and Ed get into it, a broken chair giving Charley a weapon and the cross he kept on his person keeping Ed on the back foot.
Peter gets Amy free and begins to fend the ghouls off with fire while Amy reads from the tome Ed was reading from. It turns out that Peter's theory was right, Ed's humanity was not completely taken away by the vampire bite much as Amy's hadn't been. Using the book, Amy is able to separate Ed's human side from his now vampiric body. While this results in the vampiric Ed becoming far colder and more callous, it allows Charley and Amy a brief reunion with their friend.
Ed forgives them and tells Charley there's no ill will between the pair of them. Free of the vampire and thus Jerry's influence, he sees things a bit more clearly. Charley apologizes nonetheless and thrusts a stake into Ed's heart. The human and vampiric sides of his nature are rejoined as he begins to crumble to dust, giving his iconic laugh once last time.
"Thank you, Brewster..."
The ghouls Ed had made cease to be as well, returning to their humanity and looking very confused about the whole thing.
Sometime later, Peter walks Amy and Charley back to the Brewsters' house. All being said and done, Peter thinks he's forgetting something, but waves it off. Getting into his car, he bids them both a good night. Charley and Amy head into the house and find that Mrs. Brewster is back far sooner than anyone had expected. She calls them from the kitchen, saying that she has a surprise for them.
A few blocks away, Peter suddenly remembers the twist ending of Scream for Your Supper - the mother of the main character having become one of the living dead! He nearly causes an accident as he makes a u-turn, heading back to the Brewster House. He pounds on the door several times, his stake and cross in hand. When he forces his way in, he finds...Charley and Amy sitting at the kitchen table with Mrs. Brewster and enjoying a hot, fresh apple pie.
They all look very confused and there's a few awkward moments of silence before Mrs. Brewster asks Peter if he'd like to join them.
. . .and that's where we're leaving off. Ironically, this could fit pretty well in between Fright Night and Fright Night Part 2, but I'll still hold to this as a What If since we never saw it onscreen. Also, yes, I've been informed of the NOW! comics concerning Fright Night, which did include both Evil Ed returning as an antagonist and Jerry Dandridge being resurrected...and I've read neither of those, so any similarities are coincidental. Promise.
I did pull a few names of Peter Vincent films from the wiki, however, as I'm sure the sharp-eyed among you will see.
Next time, we head back into the realm of the slasher film and look at another scenario I've cooked up out of nothing better than the desire to grab views.
We've seen Tommy Jarvis remain the hockey mask clad killer of the Friday the 13th franchise. We've seen Freddy Krueger attempt to contend with the agents of Hell itself. And now, we've seen what might have happened if Ed "Evil Ed" Thompson had come back to menace Charley Brewster and his friends. Next time, we'll be returning to Crystal Lake and we won't be going alone.
It's time, at last, to answer the question...
What if...Michael Myers fought Jason Voorhees?
Be prepared!
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