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The Little Vampire

Play trailer Poster for The Little Vampire PG Released Oct 27, 2000 1h 37m Kids & Family Adventure Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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54% Tomatometer 65 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
After he moves to Scotland with his parents, only child Tony (Jonathan Lipnicki) struggles to make friends at his new school. But he is bullied and picked on by the other boys, and has little hope of overcoming his miserable new life. Then he meets Rudolph (Rollo Weeks), a kid vampire with whom Tony becomes very close. But, when Rudolph's life and the future of the vampire race are threatened by a ruthless vampire hunter, Tony must find the courage to save his best friend.
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The Little Vampire

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Critics Consensus

The Little Vampire can't seem to find the right pitch, with its muddled, jumpy script and badly executed mix of cuteness and fright.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow Common Sense Media Dark movie may frighten some kids. Rated: 3/5 Dec 28, 2010 Full Review Lisa Alspector Chicago Reader Vampire cows provide comic relief and many of the scares in this respectfully dark yet optimistic story about a lonely child who befriends a vampire. Oct 21, 2009 Full Review Derek Adams Time Out Much of the film's success is down to the costume design, the novel SFX and the mildly foreboding atmosphere of the mist enshrouded Scottish countryside. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Frank Swietek One Guy's Opinion The Little Vampire is hardly a children's classic, and it will doubtlessly be more at home after it hits the video shelves. Rated: C+ Jul 24, 2006 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette It's an occupational hazard that you actually have to try to think about movies like this, which just get weirder and weirder the more you consider them. Rated: B Jan 27, 2005 Full Review John R. McEwen Film Quips Online Lipnicki has learned how to make cute faces, but his delivery is formulaic and without emotion. Rated: 3/5 Feb 8, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Nele H I’m quite surprised at the mediocre rating of this film. “The Little Vampire” has been with me since my childhood, and, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, this is a truly unique kids’ movie. It’s not profound or morally complex. But it’s incredibly charming, unabashedly silly, unexpectedly scary, and utterly, gleefully bonkers. The film performs some spectacular tonal acrobatics, jumping effortlessly from the dark and tragic history of its hauntingly beautiful vampires to the silly shenanigans of the present, complete with flying vampire cows and occasional cartoonish sound effects. It’s surprising, but never whiplash-inducing. As it goes on, the action becomes increasingly chaotic, ending in a delightfully daft and, ultimately, emotional climax. The costume design is gorgeous too. The film gives us wonderfully eerie vampires with an Elizabethan flair to replace the more commonplace Victorian one. Their clothes are frayed and tattered and yet all the more impressive for it. On the other hand, you have the mad dieselpunk aesthetic of the vampire hunter and his cluttered factory of a truck, both lurching, steaming and smoking their ways through the film respectively. In terms of acting, there isn’t a single phoned-in performance. Jonathan Lipnicki is adorable as Tony Thompson, the movie’s incredibly diminutive protagonist with the guts of ten grown men. Tony’s improbable displays of Pippi Longstocking-like courage are both endearing and hilarious, especially when his guts don’t match his physical strength (picture this tiny child getting ready to throw hands at a 6-foot-tall vampire hunter). Rollo Weeks as Rudolph is well-spoken and a little wooden at times, but it perfectly fits his role as a 300-year-old boy rediscovering childhood for the first time. He is also surprisingly menacing at his first appearance. Richard E. Grant and Alice Krige, who play Rudolph’s parents, were both born to be vampires. Grant especially makes the best of what might have been a one-dimensional role as the stern, strict Frederick Sackville-Bagg. He is elegant and intimidating, eccentric and, at times, unexpectedly funny (like chomping his jaws like a crocodile when in the vicinity of a biteable human). And let’s all give a big hand to Jim Carter, who absolutely kills it as the gleeful vampire hunter Rookery, and who, to my knowledge, has never again played a role this wild. Like the movie as a whole, he flips effortlessly between funny and threatening – and his confusion at being thwarted by a tiny kid leads to some truly hilarious reactions. So, if you want an unusual vampire movie with a wicked sense of humour, this is the film for you. And for the love of Dracula, don’t confuse it with the 2017 animated film, whose attempt to resurrect the source material led to a disaster of Frankensteinian proportions. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/14/25 Full Review Max K I was looking on a new platform I got called hoopla install the movie, the little vampire, I remember loving this movie as a kid decided to watch it again. Wow what did I just watch? I wish I can get the One and a half hour back, I spent watching this movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/03/24 Full Review Alex J If you came into this movie as an adult expecting to see anything other than a kids movie than this isn't for you. I watched this movie as a child and I loved it then just as I do now, dripping with nostalgia. Wonderful movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/02/24 Full Review Monique Z This was my favorite movie watching growing up. I always was so excited when october started and we could watch this almost every day. My kids love it just as much. It's really weird seeing the reviews from older people and how they critique it. It's for kids, they don't care about the plot or if the acting was good or not. It's a fun movie for halloween 🎃 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/02/24 Full Review Jithin K A cute little Vampire comedy movie for children. It has so many things that feel like it's right on the edge of being good but it's not. The kids being dubbed over without them moving their lips in so many scenes was confusing as there were moments when I wasn't sure which kid was doing the talking. It wasn't really good but it was sweet and cute enough I guess. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/01/24 Full Review Raven H A super cute family feel good movie. There are some scary scenes for younger kids but a great family halloween movie non the less. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/22/24 Full Review Read all reviews
The Little Vampire

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Movie Info

Synopsis After he moves to Scotland with his parents, only child Tony (Jonathan Lipnicki) struggles to make friends at his new school. But he is bullied and picked on by the other boys, and has little hope of overcoming his miserable new life. Then he meets Rudolph (Rollo Weeks), a kid vampire with whom Tony becomes very close. But, when Rudolph's life and the future of the vampire race are threatened by a ruthless vampire hunter, Tony must find the courage to save his best friend.
Director
Uli Edel
Producer
Richard Claus
Screenwriter
Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, Karey Kirkpatrick, Larry Wilson
Distributor
Cometstone Productions, New Line Home Video [us], New Line Cinema
Production Co
Cometstone Pictures, Propaganda Films, Avrora Media, Comet Film, Stonewood
Rating
PG (Some Mild Peril)
Genre
Kids & Family, Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 27, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$13.6M
Runtime
1h 37m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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