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My Best Friend Is a Vampire

  • 1987
  • PG
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987)
Teen ComedyVampire HorrorComedyHorrorRomance

After a weird sexual encounter with a beautiful woman, a teenage delivery boy finds himself turning into a vampire, while being pursued by a couple of clumsy vampire hunters.After a weird sexual encounter with a beautiful woman, a teenage delivery boy finds himself turning into a vampire, while being pursued by a couple of clumsy vampire hunters.After a weird sexual encounter with a beautiful woman, a teenage delivery boy finds himself turning into a vampire, while being pursued by a couple of clumsy vampire hunters.

  • Director
    • Jimmy Huston
  • Writer
    • Tab Murphy
  • Stars
    • Robert Sean Leonard
    • Evan Mirand
    • LeeAnne Locken
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    4.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jimmy Huston
    • Writer
      • Tab Murphy
    • Stars
      • Robert Sean Leonard
      • Evan Mirand
      • LeeAnne Locken
    • 31User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos22

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    Top cast27

    Edit
    Robert Sean Leonard
    Robert Sean Leonard
    • Jeremy Capello
    Evan Mirand
    • Ralph
    LeeAnne Locken
    LeeAnne Locken
    • Candy Andrews
    • (as Lee Anne Locken)
    Cheryl Pollak
    Cheryl Pollak
    • Darla Blake
    Cecilia Peck
    Cecilia Peck
    • Nora
    Fannie Flagg
    Fannie Flagg
    • Mrs. Capello
    Kenneth Kimmins
    Kenneth Kimmins
    • Mr. Capello
    Michelle La Vigne
    • Flo
    Harvey Christiansen
    • George
    David Warner
    David Warner
    • Professor Leopold McCarthy
    Paul Willson
    Paul Willson
    • Grimsdyke
    Rene Auberjonois
    Rene Auberjonois
    • Modoc
    Erica Zeitlin
    • Gloria
    Gary Chason
    • Drivers Ed Instructor
    Kathy Bates
    Kathy Bates
    • Helen Blake
    • (as Kathy D. Bates)
    John Chappell
    • Buddy Blake
    Jill Bianchini
    • Waitress
    J.P. Conroy
    • Butcher
    • Director
      • Jimmy Huston
    • Writer
      • Tab Murphy
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews31

    6.04.6K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    6paul_m_haakonsen

    Definitely an enjoyable teen comedy...

    This 1987 teen comedy definitely embodies everything that the late 1980s had to offer in terms of movies of this type.

    When I sat down to watch "My Best Friend is a Vampire" here in 2021, I didn't even know about the movie, and I hadn't seen it before now in 2021. But I must admit that now that I have seen it, this definitely was an enjoyable movie.

    "My Best Friend is a Vampire" is a light-hearted teen comedy with a vampire theme as its focal point, but still managing to put in elements such as transition to adulthood and all the problems that being a late teen comes with.

    The storyline told in "My Best Friend is a Vampire", as written by Tab Murphy, was actually a rather enjoyable and nicely paced story, not to mention an easily followed storyline and one that you quickly get immersed into.

    And with this being a 1987 movie, then you will see some familiar faces, provided you grew up watching movies and TV, of course. With the likes of David Warner, Cheryl Pollak and Rene Auberjonois. I will say that the definitely did have a good ensemble of actors and actresses to portray the various roles in this movie, and that the performers did good jobs.

    All in all, then "My Best Friend is a Vampire" is an enjoyable teen comedy, and one that is as watchable today, as I bet it was back in 1987. This movie definitely haven't felt the passing of time. But such is it with vampires, I suppose.

    I am rating "My Best Friend is a Vampire" a six out of ten stars.
    kayebtoyz

    how far would you go for a high school friend?

    this review has nothing to do with the acting abilities, direction, costumes, or anything technical...it's all about the feelings and what it meant to me "way back then".... almost 10 years after high school i still remember this movie..... i caught this movie on one on AMC (i can't believe i'm that old)... but it was on cable TV when i was in high school and i thought it was a creative spin on the B-vamp movies, and it cracked me up. So one day when one of the cheerleaders and a guy who would become the VP for student council at the local college (i went there, too) were discussing 90201 i asked if they had seen this movie the night before.... at first they thought that i was making it up (i guess that it was my reputation for being stoned and/or making bad jokes). but for a long time whenever the previous night's television scheduled programs were discussed one of them always turned to me and said something like, "we're not going to have any of the vampire s*** today...."...to their defense, they thought that i was making up this movie, they weren't being mean....especially after one of them actually saw the movie and i pulled the ethnic card on us all (we are all from different racial backgrounds and i asked what they would do if their best friend was different, and by the way, weren't these parents cool? so they thought that he was gay, they still went up against the cops for him) i know that this reekes of total cheese, but then again, didn't high school? anyway, i've seen so many vampire movies and i had read all of the anne rice books (hell, i saw this before interview with the vampire came out as a movie....) but this was still a different view on an old story...

    i cracked my ass up!! after all these years it still brings up some things that i didn't think about then, such as....how my parents would react if they didn't think that i was "normal".... and that the reactions of the parents in this movie reminded me of the dad in "better off dead"......and i wonder if those people from high school say this and thought about me... After all, isn't that some of what movies are about? where you were when you saw....oh... well... that may be music, my bad....but connie and angel, i thought about you when i saw this movie again tonight... to everyone else, this movie is worth watching if you like B-movies, vampire movies, and comedies.
    10orisons1

    This wraps up 80's teen movies up

    I couldn't believe the rating this movie got here so I had to write, this was a movie that opitimised every aspect of the eighties (including really bad dress sense)from the troubled/angst teenager, to the mad thinks he's doing-good scientist and put it all togother in a fun relaxing and romantic teenage movie(no shlock horror typical of the era). I honestly think that anyone sits down and watches this movie for what it was and is "a rom/com" they will enjoy, even now when it looks a bit dated.......Honestly go rent buy scrape this movie up or out of the cupboard and put your feet up grab some popcorn or beer or possibly pigs bloods (sorry couldn't help a reference to the movie) and enjoy.................
    vertigo_14

    The Vampire Hunting Business Bites!

    My Best Friend is a Vampire follows a long line of fun films about supernatural occurences disrupting an already awkward period of teenage development just as it did in My Mom's a Werewolf (teenager's mother turns into a werewolf), My Boyfriend's Back (girlfriend's dead boyfriend rises from the grave), and I Was a Teenaged Zombie (teenager's friends turns zombie to fight zombie drug dealer), and the list goes on.

    This was surprisingly a very entertaining film about a young boy who, upon almost losing his virginity to a strange older woman is a strange old house, is given the bite that turns him into a vampire. Now a professor and his idiot assistant, vampire hunters, want to kill the vampire that is on the loose. The only problem is, they've mistaken his friend as their undead target.

    The funniest parts of the movie involve a lot of great slapstick humor between Ralph, the vampire's best friend, and the vampire hunters who seem to follow him at every turn, although he can't figure out why. Even more amusing is the vampire teenager learning to cope with being a vampire thanks to the help of an older man, an English vampire mentor. With the help of dark glasses and a large stock of pigs blood, maybe life as a teenaged vampire won't be all that bad. It just makes shaving a little hard when you can't get your reflection in the bathroom mirror. And even more amusing than that is the misconception that the vampire's parents have about him. I would've guessed that they would have thought their little Johnny was on dope, but their mistake is actually much funnier.

    Plus, you have a pretty good soundtrack to boot with the dominating song being Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright."

    If this is your forte of films, the 80s horror/comedies, you should likely enjoy this one. It doesn't bite!
    6BA_Harrison

    It's no The Lost Boys. Or Fright Night. Or Vamp. But it's fun enough.

    High school student Jeremy Capello (Robert Sean Leonard) has a part time job at a grocery store; when he is asked to make a delivery to the old, seemingly abandoned Gardner mansion, he thinks it is a prank, but is surprised to find a sexy young woman living there, who invites him to come back at night.

    Despite amorous attention from hot cheerleader Candy (LeeAnne Locken), and having a crush on band nerd Darla (Cheryl Pollak), Jeremy is talked into returning to the house by his best friend Ralph (Evan Mirand), who thinks his pal should have some guilt-free sex with a stranger. As Jeremy is getting down to business with the sexy woman (Cecilia Peck), two men burst into the room brandishing weapons; Jeremy escapes and runs to where Ralph is waiting in his car, and the pair drive away. As Ralph pulls up outside Jeremy's home, he notices that his pal has been bitten on the neck...

    My Best Friend is a Vampire is an amiable and moderately amusing teen comedy horror that, whilst not exactly laugh out loud funny or in any way scary, is still an entertaining piece of '80s nonsense. Informed that he has become a vampire by mentor Modoc (Rene Auberjonois), Jeremy must come to terms with drinking blood while trying not to take a bite from Darla when on a date; he must also convince Ralph that, even though he's a bloodsucker, he's still his best friend and means him no harm. Meanwhile, the two men who surprised him at the mansion - vampire hunters Professor Leopold McCarthy (David Warner) and his assistant Grimsdyke (Paul Wilson) - are convinced that Ralph is the vampire and plan to stake him through the heart.

    With lots of car chases, plenty of '80s pop songs (including The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades by Timbuk 3 - tune!), bad fashion (Darla's hats!), and enjoyable performances (future Oscar Winner Kathy Bates plays Darla's mother!), My Best Friend is a Vampire provides an easy-going hour-and-a-half of harmless throwback fun.

    5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

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    Related interests

    Lacey Chabert, Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, and Amanda Seyfried in Mean Girls (2004)
    Teen Comedy
    Tom Cruise and Indra Ové in Interview with the Vampire (1994)
    Vampire Horror
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby (1968)
    Horror
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Fannie Flagg, who plays Jeremy's mother, is also the author of the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Kathy Bates, who plays Darla's mother, starred as one of the main characters in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), the movie adaption of that novel.
    • Goofs
      Modoc recommends that Jeremy should drink pig's blood, B- specifically. Swine do not have type B blood, only A and O.
    • Quotes

      Jeremy Capello: [after ordering lots of meat and then a pint of pig's blood] Uh.. how much for just the blood...?

      Butcher: [grinning] First time, eh, kid?

    • Connections
      Referenced in Camp Midnite: Show 106 (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      Heartbeat Getting Stronger
      Written by Nicholas Tremulis and Roger Reupert

      Performed by Nicholas Tremulis

      © 1985 Black Lion Music/Bad Dad's Music

      Courtesy of Island Records

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    FAQ16

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 6, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Bad Blood
    • Filming locations
      • Houston, Texas, USA
    • Production companies
      • Kings Road Entertainment
      • Zealcorp Productions Limited
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $174,380
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $174,380
      • May 8, 1988
    • Gross worldwide
      • $174,380
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 29m(89 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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