William Ragsdale Looks Back on Fright Night at 40 During the El Dorado Film Festival

      William Ragsdale returned to the El Dorado, Arkansas stage on Wednesday, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Fright Night, the iconic ‘80s horror film in which he plays a teenage boy who rightly suspects his neighbor is a vampire.

      To kick off the El Dorado Film Festival, Ragsdale — known for his roles in Search Party, Justified, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Herman’s Head — reflected on his journey from performing in plays in his small southern Arkansas hometown to starring in his first feature film alongside Oscar-nominated Chris Sarandon and Planet of the Apes star Roddy McDowall.

      He shared behind-the-scenes anecdotes from a modest horror success that evolved into a cult classic, praised today for its effective practical effects and its blend of engaging performances, campiness, tension, and genuine scares.

      He recounted an incident of real danger when his character, 17-year-old Charley Brewster, rushes down a staircase.

      “I was running down the stairs and I slipped, thinking I had sprained my ankle, so I was limping a bit, and they were going to wrap for the day, planning to try it again,” he mentioned during a Q&A with El Dorado Film Festival executive director Alexander Jeffery. “The sound man approached me and said, ‘It’s not a sprain; it’s a break,’ since he heard the sound through the headphones.”

      Ragsdale completed the rest of the film in a soft cast but informed an insurance investigator that he wasn't really hindering the production. This led to frustration for a producer, who reminded him daily about the cost he incurred for his response: “He followed me for about two weeks, saying, ‘$300,000. That’s what you’ve cost me a day.’”

      The film benefited from the meticulous work of Boss Film Studios, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his time at Industrial Light and Magic on projects like Raiders of the Lost Ark. A scene in Fright Night echoes the iconic Nazi-melting sequence in Raiders, though Ragsdale noted Fright Night's execution appears superior.

      One of the film's standout effects is a grotesque mouth that consumes Amy’s (Amanda Bearse) face towards the end. Ragsdale explained that it was a last-minute addition meant to create a jump scare, prompting visual effects artist Randall William Cook to produce it essentially overnight. Cook was under pressure with the tight deadline, but Fright Night writer-director Tom Holland reassured him it would only be on-screen briefly.

      So memorable was the effect that it made its way onto the film’s poster.

      Ragsdale had moved on to significant roles when he discovered that Fright Night maintained a substantial fanbase many years after its release.

      “It wasn’t until the 2000s that I received a call from my manager — around 2008 or 2009. He asked if I would attend a horror convention, and I replied, ‘Sure, but why would I?’” Ragsdale chuckled.

      “He said, ‘The rest of the cast will be there.’ I kept in touch with Chris, but hadn’t seen anyone else in 20 to 25 years. I attended the first convention in Dallas and was surprised by the massive turnout. They all knew the movie, and I thought, ‘Oh — when did this happen? It came about through VHS and DVDs.’”

      Ragsdale grew up viewing films at El Dorado’s Rialto, a Classical Revival theater built in 1929 during the town's oil boom. He began performing in a third-grade rendition of Charlotte’s Web at West Woods Elementary School and later honed his skills with a children’s theater group at the beautiful South Arkansas Arts Center, which has undergone recent renovations and serves as the festival's main venue.

      When an audience member inquired how he lost his local accent for Fright Night, he mentioned that his theater instructors taught him to speak without it. He recalled a moment during a production of The Lion in Winter, in which a teacher, Jim Wilson, advised him, “You can’t talk like that to your daddy, the king,” in a thick accent.

      Ragsdale acted in El Dorado High School plays, earned the Best Thespian Award, and was selected as the Arkansas state representative for the National Society of Arts and Letters Drama competition in Chicago. He then attended Hendrix College in Arkansas, which also boasts alumni like fellow Arkansas native Mary Steenburgen.

      However, he admitted on Wednesday that he thought he might quit acting after that. He considered pursuing law — his grandfather was a local judge — but his parents encouraged him to stick with acting.

      “I took the LSAT, planning to go to law school in Little Rock. But my parents, Bob and Sara, said, ‘Why not try acting for a year? You’re young, with no responsibilities. They kind of gifted me a year in California as a graduation