''Vampire Dog'' is a 2012 Canadian

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that generally relates to children in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are made ...

directed by Geoff Anderson and starring Collin MacKechnie,

Julia Sarah Stone Julia Sarah Stone (born November 24, 1997) is a Canadian actress. She began studying theater at the age of six, and appeared in a number of school plays over the following years. After booking a small part in an independent short film in 2009, sh ...

, Amy Matysio, Ron Pederson and Jodi Sadowsky. The vampire dog (Fang) is

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refe ...

Norm Macdonald Norman Gene MacdonaldThe capitalization of Norm Macdonald's surname has been inconsistently reported in publications such as ''TV Guide''. Books that discuss him, such as ''Shales'' (2003) and Crawford' (2000), as well as other sources such as ...

Plot

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, a woman in her kitchen cooks a jelly pudding. A dog suddenly appears from nowhere and eats the pudding when she leaves the kitchen. The woman witnesses the dog suddenly disappear. Back at home, the dog's owner questions who should look after the pet after his death. In Lugosi County, somewhere in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, twelve-year-old Ace and his mother Susan arrive at their new home. Ace plays drums well but suffers from

stage fright Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia that may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...

. Susan gets work as an additional music teacher at the local

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

which will be closing after the current year. Though the current music teacher, who is also the school's principal, Barry Hickman, discourages students and doubts their skills, Susan thinks the right approach will help the kids. She involves the school in a

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

, which, if they win, will save the school from closure. Hickman assigns Ace to play drums, but Ace panics and falls off his stool. The other students record this; since Ace is also the son of the new teacher, he is teased and ostracized. Skylar befriends Ace, though she tries to hide it from the other students. Susan gets a letter from a notary: her late husband's father has died, and Ace has inherited his old dog, Fang. Later, a trunk is delivered; inside is apparently a regular dog. A television program shows an interview regarding a woman from Transylvania and the incident with the dog. Doctor Warhol sees the show, and is now sure: the legend of the vampire dog is true. Warhol is sure the

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

of the vampire dog will lead to a solution to create a

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

that will stop the aging of human skin. She orders her assistant Frank to search for the vampire dog. The next day, Fang is outside, tied onto a long string. When Ace arrives from school, Fang hides in the shade under the deck. Once inside, Fang starts talking and blames Ace for putting him in the sun: he cannot go out in the sunlight. Ace faints, and Fang drags him to the couch. After Ace awakens, Fang explains that he is a 600-year-old vampire dog living on jelly pudding. Besides talking, Fang can hypnotize and run at almost the speed of light. Ace forbids Fang to tell his mother - she might faint and hurt herself. He decides not to tell his mother the dog needs jelly pudding to survive, so he smuggles Fang to school each day so the dog can seek pudding in the schools' kitchen and cafeteria. Meanwhile, Skylar knows the truth about Fang. Fang tells the kids how he turned into a vampire dog 600 years ago when the legendary count Vlad tried to attack the great-great-great-...-great-parents of Ace. Fang attacked the vampire, but was bitten, with the bite turning him into a vampire as a result. After he became immortal, the dog stayed with the family, who declared that their descendants would become Fang’s new owners. After becoming a vampire, Fang ate mostly horse hoofs until discovering jelly pudding. Skylar, a genius in chemistry, knows the reason: jelly pudding contains

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, coll ...

, which contains

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the connective tissues of many animals. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of protein content. Amino acids are bound together to form a trip ...

, which for Fang, is a substitute for

haemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobi ...

. Skylar wonders if she can find a way for Fang to walk in the sunlight. Doctor Warhol and Frank have attempted to kidnap the dog and failed. They then scheme to buy up all the gelatin in town to lure the dog but fail again. Not much later, Fang is found by the school caretaker and brought to a pet shelter. His mother grounds Ace for taking the dog to school and refuses to get his dog back because she has to save her career and the school. Despite being grounded, Ace and Skylar visit the pet shelter to save Fang from another kidnap attempt by Warhol and Frank. The talent show takes place that evening. Susan's class performance is stopped by Hickman, exposing that the drummer is using a drum computer to cheat. Warhol bribed Hickman and the drummer (his nephew Murray Arbuckle) to doom the school so that she could build her chemical company on the land. The contest jury rules that the group can continue if another drummer can be found. Ace appears and plays drums without his stage fright. His school wins and is saved. Susan is proud of her son. The corrupt Hickman is fired, while Arbuckle is assigned to the instrument

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

instead of drums. Ace becomes a very popular boy. Skylar finds out Fang only needs to take a special medicine against his sun allergy. Warhol and Frank are arrested by police and declared lunatics after claiming Fang is a vampire dog. Later, the kids go to the park with Fang to try out the allergy medicine, which is successful, and now, Fang can play in the sun and enjoy life like a normal dog.

Production

The film was shot on locations in Regina and

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and is Geoff Anderson's debut as feature film director. It was one of the last films to take advantage of the Saskatchewan Film Employment Tax Credit; the production company announced it was moving to Alberta due to the end of the credit.

Releases

''Vampire Dog'' was released on DVD, for streaming, and download on-demand in 2012.

Reception

The

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

review in 2012 stated that the film had "anti-bullying messages weighed down by predictable plot", further calling it "logic impaired", and giving it two (of five) stars. In its advice to parents, it cited "silly slapstick action with nothing scary and no serious consequences", and rated the film as suitable for seven-year-olds. Couch Critics reviewer Sarah Jehnzen approved the film for all families, but gave the film two (of five) stars, stating that the film lacked "laughs" until the blooper scenes, and that the two plot lines "didn't mesh well."Jehnzen, Sarah (October 1, 2012)
''Vampire Dog''
. Couch Critics. Retrieved November 30, 2012.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2071648, Vampire Dog Canadian comedy horror films Films about dogs Vampire comedy films 2012 films English-language Canadian films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films Films set in Transylvania Canadian vampire films