In the much underrated Fright Night, Chris Sarandon plays the vampire. He has a companion, Billy, who is able to go out during the day.
Late in the movie, Roddy McDowall’s character (a TV monster movie host) shoots Billy in the head. This only phases Billy for a minute because he gets up and goes after McDowall again. McDowall shoots Billy several more times and he finally melts in a puddle of goo.
Was Billy a vampire? Or something else?
It’s interesting to note that the two teenage stars, William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse, would go on to star in their own Fox shows - Ragsdale in “Herman’s Head” and Bearse in “Married…with children”.
And the third teenage star, Stephen Geoffreys, went on to an entirely different sort of career.
It’s never established what exactly Billy is supposed to be. Based on the film’s own mythos, he can’t be a vampire because he can withstand being exposed to sunlight. IIRC the last time I posed this question the consensus was Billy was some sort of “familiar.”
Billy is a ghoul–a human who has drunk some of the vampire’s blood and is now in service to him. He has some limited superhuman abilities–strength and toughness–but none of the vampire’s limitations.
Interesting that this thread should appear now, since I just watched the movie, courtesy of Netflix, two days ago. I was wondering about Billy as well.
This helps.