My Best Friend Is a Vampire

An amiable, exceptionally cheesy and moderately amusing if low-budget teen horror comedy, My Best Friend Is a Vampire plays a lot like if a John Hughes teen drama got mixed up with an episode of Goosebumps. It's an entertaining piece of '80s nonsense that doesn't even attempt to be classy, but that unfortunately means there's a certain carelessness and sense of haste that permeates the film, all the while hinting at a deep-running vein of satire, but it soon dries up. What's left over is a lot of stock misunderstandings that play out in the same vein as a middling sitcom; however, it's not all bad. It's a silly supernatural comedy with stupid and sanitary humour doing nothing to pretend otherwise, fully embracing its clichés, and it doesn't even try to hide its surprises or tropes; it just invites the audience to have fun with the whole thing. The jokes that do land usually come courtesy of the always wonderful David Warner, as a vampire hunter, and Paul Willson, as his bumbling assistant. Jimmy Huston's direction does the job and moves the film along at a brisk pace with a bopping, if overly loud, soundtrack; the central performance from Robert Sean Leonard is generally great, his chemistry with Cheryl Pollak is utterly adorable and his charm goes a long way in making this film sustainable, even if it does look like his vampire make-up has been smeared on with a butter knife. Culty and offbeat for sure, My Best Friend Is a Vampire may not be the best version of the premise that could have been made, but it's far from the worst, it's agreeable, relaxing and rather adorable, even if it would rather calm down than get loud, even during its frantic action sequences. Although I can't be the only one seeing this coexisting alongside Feral Pleasures as part of Dr James Wilson's exceptional filmography, right? House would have had a field day with this.

Granted I only know of one other movie that fits into this genre and that is the Jim Carrey movie "Once Bitten". This one though is better than that one as it is just a bit funnier and has a better and more likable plot to it. This one has a teen going to the house of a girl for what he thinks is going to be a one night stand kind of thing, as it turns out though the person he is seeing is a vampire and he is soon infected and must now feast on blood. Thankfully, it does not have to be human blood as a rather friendly vampire teaches him the ways of living a rather nice existence as a vampire without having to drink the blood of humans. Unfortuanately, a sort of Van Helsing type hunter of vampires who saw him and his friend at the girl's house where he was bitten, however, he thinks it is the guy's friend and not him that has been bitten and turned into a vampire. The guy also is having girl trouble as he even tries to use vampire hypnotism to get the girl he likes. All this makes for an very funny comedy that really is rather lighthearted. So while not perfect, it makes for a fun film to watch.

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.

In Houston, the teenager Jeremy Capello (Robert Sean Leonard) is a normal middle-class boy, who lives with his beloved parents and has Ralph as his best friend. He has a crush on Darla Blake (Cheryl Pollak), but he is shy and does not date her. He works making deliveries for a supermarket and is seduced by his sexy client Nora (Cecilia Peck). While having his first intercourse with her, Jeremy is transformed in a vampire. His friend Ralph is mistakenly chased by two weird vampire hunters, Prof. Leopold McCarthy (David Warner) and his assistant Grimsdyke (Paul Wilson), that believe he is a creature of the night. Meanwhile, Jeremy learns how to use his new powers with Modoc (Rene Auberjonois), and falls definitively in love for Darla.

"My Best Friend Is a Vampire" is a delightful teen comedy. Having a funny story with many jokes and a beautiful cast, this movie makes the viewer feels lighter and happier, being and excellent entertainment. The amazing beauty of Cheryl Pollak, and the chemistry with Robert Sean Leonard, is another attraction. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Meu Adorável Vampiro" ("My Adorable Vampire")

Jeremy Capello is a teenager who has dreams about the gawky Darla Blake. A girl who doesn't think that highly of him, but there's also a beautiful Barbie-like cheerleader named Candy who's actually keen on him. So his best friend Ralph suggests that he should seek out someone unknown for a one-night stand to get this get his mind thinking straight. While, doing his job he encounters the mysterious Nora, who invites him over for the night. So Jeremy with little help from Ralph meets her, only to be bitten by her and a crazed loon (possibly the husband) break in. The day after Jeremy goes through some minor changes and finds out that Nora's place has been burnt down. Through the course he learns that these are vampire hunters after them, but they seem to think that Ralph is the vampire.

The mid-to-late 80s was a time for vampire films (and even teenage monster themes too). This pleasant little romp is the standard mould of these monster comedies (maybe one of the lesser ones), but surprisingly it makes for a decently breezy time-waster if you're looking for a little 1980s nostalgia in your viewing. It has some generally amusing moments, especially from Rene Auberjonois' sneaky vampire mentor role as Modoc and you can see David Warner is having a ball in his ripe crack-ball role of Prof. Leopold McCarthy, vampire hunter.

Most of the performances are reasonably charming. Robert Sean Leonard ("Dead Poet's Society" and who would probably be best known for the recent TV series "House") is delightfully good as Jeremy and Evan Mirand turns in a joyful performance as the loutish Ralph. A fetching Cheryl Pollack is fair as the geeky Darla. Fannie Flagg and Kenneth Kimmins trump in with marvellously tuneful performances as Jeremy's overly worried parents. Paul Wilson makes solid of Prof. Leonard's bumbling assistant Grimsdyke. Let me not forget the minor role of the seductively alluring Cecilia Peck (Gregory Pecks' daughter) as Nora. Oh and look out for a slender Kathy Bates. The variable cast had a witty script to play along with and most of it was quite satisfying when it came to the punch.

Director Jimmy Huston does a competent job without doing anything overtly special, but he gets a lot spirit and odd developments running through some humorous situations. It can get corny in parts and extremely sappy when it comes to its closing moral. A trailblazing 80s pop soundtrack (notably Blondie and Oingo Boingo) features strongly in the film's make-up with the utterly hip and catchy title tune, "The future's so bright (I've got to wear shades)" by the TIMBUK 3. The stereotypically lucid premise (which shares similarities with the Jim Carrey vampire flick, "Once Bitten") is routine and derivative, but still it has some nice touches and diverting trivia on the vampire mythology. None of this should sideswipe your entertainment of it, unless you're looking for something with more aggression amongst its bite. I guess you'll know if you're going to like it after the first 15 minutes.

It might be far from revolutionary (just look at the title and you should know what to expect), but there's just something endearing about this campy lightweight piece.