That cute little munchkin from Jerry Maguire and Stuart Little, Jonathan Lipnicki, is Tony, the Californian poppet who can’t quite settle in his new Scottish home until a young vampire boy flies in through his window and befriends him. It seems the fanged Rudolph (Rollo Weeks) and his family are being hunted by the nasty Rookery (Jim Carter), but if they can get their hands on a special stone (with Tony’s help, of course), they can be turned back into mortals.
Based on a series of German children’s books, this is fun stuff for kids over the age of eight (younger ones may not like watching vampires drink, even if it is from cows), who will love all the ‘horror’ aspects (though it isn’t scary) like coffins, stakes, the aforementioned bovine blood-drinking and other such ghoulishness. Lipnicki is a cutie, and there’s terrific support from Alice Krige and Richard E Grant as Rudolph’s parents.
Is The Little Vampire (2000) suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
Children may be scared the first time Rudolph appears at Tony’s window.
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