Tony Thompson (Jonathan Lipnicki) is a nine-year-old boy who has just moved to Scotland with his family. Tony is having trouble making friends at his new school, and he has strange dreams about vampires every night. One night a bat flies into Tony's room--a bat that then turns into Rudolph, a young vampire boy fleeing from an obsessed vampire hunter. Rudolph explains that the vampires don't want to hurt humans and only drink the blood of cows. Tony and Rudolph become friends, and Tony meets Rudolph's family. But Rookery, the vampire hunter, is chasing the vampires, trying to keep Rudolph's family from finding a missing magic stone that has the power to turn the vampires back into ordinary humans. Starring Richard E. Grant and Alice Krige as the vampire parents, THE LITTLE VAMPIRE is a fun family adventure with a good mix of lighthearted action and clever comedy. The film, based on a series of popular German children's books written by Angela Sommer-Brodenburg, features colorful characters and a herd of flying vampire cows.
Theatrical release: October 27, 2000
Filmed on location in Culross, Scotland and in Germany.
McAshton Manor as seen in the film was actually Dundas Castle, built in 1818.
Based on a series of children's books written by German author Angela Sommer-Bodenburg.
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Widescreen
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Stereo 2.0 - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical
Interactive Features:
Full-Motion Menus
Interactive Games - 1. Graveyard Golf
2. Find the Amulet
3. Mix and Match
Text/Photo Galleries:
Additional Text - 1. Snack Recipes
2. Vampire and Monster Jokes
Filmographies - 1. Cast & Crew
DVD-ROM Features:
Script-to-Screen Comparison
Website
Screensaver - 1. Flying Vampire Cow
Director of Photography
Bernd Heinl:
Executive Producer
Alexander Buchman: THE LITTLE VAMPIRE
Executive Producer
Anthony Waller: Producer/Director/Writer
Executive Producer
Larry Wilson:
Production Designer
Joseph Nemec, III: Production Designer, THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2006)
Source Writer
Angela Sommer-Bodenburg: author, German children's books
Costume Designer
James Acheson: British costume designer, DANGEROUS LIAISONS/SPIDER-MAN
Review 1:
"...Warmly allusive....The performances are uniformly well executed..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.57-8 11/01/2000
Review 2:
"...THE LITTLE VAMPIRE is a treat....[The film] is literate, clever, mischievous and just plain fun..."
Source: New York Times
p.E28 10/27/2000
Review 3:
"...A playful reworking of the traditionally gothic blood-sucker genre....[With] lavish costumes and excellent production design..."
Source: Total Film
p.103 11/01/2000