''The Little Vampire'' is a 2000

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and sp ...

film based on the children's book series of the same name by German writer

Angela Sommer-Bodenburg Angela Sommer-Bodenburg (born December 18, 1948) is the author of a number of fantasy books for children. Her most famous contribution to the field of children's fantasy is '' The Little Vampire'' series, which has sold over 10 million copies and ...

, about a boy who tries to save a young vampire and his family from a ruthless vampire hunter. It was directed by

Uli Edel Ulrich "Uli" Edel (; born 11 April 1947) is a German film and television director, best known for his work on films such as ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' and '' Body of Evidence.'' His '' Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny'' won a Golden Globe for ...

and written by

Karey Kirkpatrick Karey Kirkpatrick is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. His films include Chicken Run, ''The Rescuers Down Under'', '' James and the Giant Peach,'' ''Over the Hedge'', ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'', ''Charlotte's Web'', and ...

and Larry Wilson. The film stars

Jonathan Lipnicki Jonathan William Lipnicki (born October 22, 1990) is an American actor who is known for his roles as a child actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Jerry Maguire'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999) and its 2002 sequel ''Stuart Little 2'', '' ...

Rollo Weeks Rollo Percival Loring Weeks (born 20 March 1987) is a British businessman and former actor. He is best known for his titular roles in the films '' The Little Vampire'' (2000) and '' The Thief Lord'' (2006). Early life Weeks was born in Chiche ...

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is a Swazi-English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy ''Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack Hock in Mar ...

, Jim Carter and

Alice Krige Alice Maud Krige (; born 28 June 1954) is a South African actress and producer. Her first feature film role was in '' Chariots of Fire'' (1981) as the Gilbert and Sullivan singer Sybil Gordon. She played the dual role of Eva Galli/Alma Mobley i ...

Plot

9-year-old Tony Thompson moves with his family from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, where they take up residence in a small castle while his father is employed building a golf course on the estate of Lord McAshton. In his new home Tony starts experiencing nightmares about vampires and a mysterious comet. Things are not any better for him at school, as he gets picked on by Lord McAshton's grandsons, Flint and Nigel. One night, while dressed up as a vampire, Tony is mistaken for one by the young vampire Rudolph, who is on the run from the evil vampire hunter Rookery. After realizing that Tony is not a vampire, Rudolph tries to attack him but ultimately fails due to being weakened by Rookery. After trying to leave through flying out the window, Rudolph falls from the sky due to his weakness. Tony helps Rudolph find a cow to feed from, and in return Rudolph takes Tony flying. The two boys quickly become friends, and Rudolph confides to Tony that his family only drink animal blood and wish to become human. Rudolph reveals that they are searching for a magical amulet that can be used to turn vampires into humans, but Rookery is also seeking to use the amulet against them. When Rudolph takes Tony to the cemetery where his family lives, they are confronted by Rudolph's parents Frederick and Freda, Rudolph's romantic sister Anna and rebellious teen brother Gregory. Frederick doubts Tony's loyalty to his son, but when Tony helps repel an attack from Rookery, Frederick begrudgingly allows Tony to help them, but warns him not to betray him and the rest of the vampire clan to Rookery. Tony and Rudolph then proceed to get revenge on Flint and Nigel. Rookery alerts Lord McAshton to the presence of vampires in the village. Lord McAshton reveals that his family has known about the existence of vampires for generations. Elizabeth, an ancestor of Lord McAshton, was romantically involved with Rudolph's uncle Von, who was the last known holder of the amulet, and both lovers were killed by the McAshtons. Learning this, Tony, Rudolph, and Anna seek out Elizabeth's tomb, where Tony experiences a vision pointing out the location of the amulet: Tony's own bedroom. Rudolph and Tony race Rookery to the amulet while the rest of Rudolph's family, along with Tony's parents, travel to the site of the ritual the vampires hope to perform. After a chase, Tony and Rudolph manage to escape with the amulet while Rookery inadvertently drives his truck over a cliff after getting entangled in a blimp. Tony and Rudolph succeed in bringing Frederick the amulet, but the ceremony is interrupted by Rookery, who returns riding the blimp. The vampires are unable to stand against Rookery's glowing cross, but Tony's parents defend them and defeat Rookery, pushing him off a cliff to his apparent death. Tony completes the ceremony by wishing for the vampires to become human. Rudolph and his family disappear as the comet passes, leaving Tony and his parents alone and unsure if the ceremony succeeded. Some time later, while visiting the village market, Tony spots Rudolph and his family, now human, moving into a house in the village. At first they seem not to recognize Tony, but as Tony does the whistle to them their memories return, and the friends are reunited.

Cast

Production

Parts of the film were shot in farmland near

Cockburnspath Cockburnspath ( ; sco, Co’path) is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way a long-distance footp ...

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lot ...

, at

Culross Culross (/ˈkurəs/) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cuileann Ros'', 'holly point or promontory') is a village and former royal burgh, and parish, in Fife, Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395. Originally, Culross ...

and nearby Dunimarle Castle in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, in

Newliston Newliston is a country house near Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located south-west of Kirkliston, and west of the city centre. The house, designed by Robert Adam in the late 18th century, is a category A listed building. The 18th-century gardens, ...

House,

Dalmeny House Dalmeny House (pronounced ) is a Gothic revival mansion located in an estate close to Dalmeny on the Firth of Forth, to the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was designed by William Wilkins, and completed in 1817. Dalmeny House is the hom ...

and

Dundas Castle Dundas Castle is a 15th-century castle, with substantial 19th-century additions by William Burn, in the Dalmeny parish of West Lothian, Scotland. The home of the Dundas family since the Middle Ages, it was sold in the late 19th century and is c ...

near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, at

Gosford House Gosford House is a neoclassical country house around northeast of Longniddry in East Lothian, Scotland, on the A198 Aberlady Road, in of parkland and coast. It is the family seat of the Charteris family, the Earls of Wemyss and March. It was ...

in East Lothian and also on roads in

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the A ...

around Oatridge, near

Broxburn Broxburn ( gd, Srath Bhroc, IPA: �s̪ɾaˈvɾɔʰk is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the A89 road, from the West End of Edinburgh, from Edinburgh Airport and to the north of Livingston. Etymology The name Broxburn is a corruption ...

. The school to which the main character goes is Low Port primary school in

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

Soundtrack

A soundtrack for the film, titled ''Music from and Inspired by The Little Vampire'', was released on October 17, 2000, by

New Line Records WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based o ...

. Like the last soundtrack,

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

group Vengaboys released the song Shalala Lala as a single and it is included in the soundtrack album.

Track listing

Reception

The film was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing $28 million against its $35 million budget.

Critical

The film received mixed reviews from 66 critics, with

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

giving it a 55% rating. The consensus states, "''The Little Vampire'' can't seem to find the right pitch, with its muddled, jumpy script and badly executed mix of cuteness and fright." Lawrence Van Gelder of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave it a positive review, declaring, "Not often does a family film come along that is literate, clever, mischievous and just plain fun."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, however, gave the film two stars, saying "The movie has first-rate credits, from the director Uli Edel (''Last Exit to Brooklyn'') to the writers Karey Kirkpatrick (''James And The Giant Peach'') and Larry Wilson (''Beetlejuice''), to the cast (Lipnicki played the kid in ''Jerry Maguire'' and ''Stuart Little''). The costumes are neat, the photography is great--all the pieces are on hand, but they don't fit." Michael Thomson for the BBC gave the film three stars, questioning the tone but remarking, "Yet the basic idea which drives this jolly film, along with Lipnicki's charm, is sometimes almost enough." Jan Stuart for ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' praised most of the cast, but criticized Lipnicki, and said, "Older kids and grown-ups looking for more sophisticated humor will have to content themselves with a running gag about vampire cows, which could have been funnier than Edel makes it here."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Vampire, The 2000 films 2000 comedy horror films 2000 fantasy films 2000s children's comedy films 2000s children's fantasy films 2000s English-language films 2000s fantasy comedy films American children's comedy films American children's fantasy films American comedy horror films American fantasy comedy films Children's horror films Dutch children's films Dutch comedy horror films Dutch fantasy films German children's films German children's comedy films German comedy horror films German fantasy comedy films Scottish films English-language Dutch films English-language German films English-language Scottish films Films based on children's books Films based on German novels Films directed by Uli Edel Films set in castles Films shot in Edinburgh Films shot in East Lothian Films shot in Fife Films with screenplays by Karey Kirkpatrick Films with screenplays by Larry Wilson (screenwriter) Halloween adventure films New Line Cinema films Vampire comedy films 2000s American films 2000s German films