It feels like this film had some idea of what it wanted to be, but it just never quite hits the sweet-spot of nostalgic cheese it was obviously aiming for. You can tell a conscious attempt was made to keep the decade that TEENAGE VAMPIRE is set in purposefully vague (although a high-tech bowling alley and the presence of a cell phone thwart this attempt somewhat), but a slightly bigger budget might've helped in overcoming the obvious limitations in the final result.
The traditional oversimplified high school movie cliches are present and accounted for here, including the not-so-secretly gorgeous nerd girl lead character who undergoes a transformation from drab to fab thanks to her newfound supernatural powers, her awkward but sassy best friend, and her annoying dorky little brother. The vampire cheerleader clique comes across as typical mean girls, but they don't have the supernatural otherworldly charm that you'd expect from bloodsuckers who've been the popular kids for literally decades.
Of course, the main target audience for this movie is Gen-Z tweens and teens, who might look up from their phones long enough to be mildly entertained. Their Millennial parents who attempt to watch along with them will definitely catch a familiar scent from their own childhood, but the potential is ultimately wasted in a film that neither works as a dark teen comedy nor a cheesy teen comedy.
