The Little Vampire (1985) Review

     In my book “Becoming the Devil They Fear: A Gay Book of Shadows” I briefly mention that my older sister and I would run around in capes pretending to be vampires and scaring the crap out of my mother, making her think we might attempt to fly out our bedroom windows. Our favourite TV show at the time was “The Little Vampire”, a Canadian-German children's television series created by the German Polyphon Film- und Fernsehgesellschaft and Canadian Norflicks Productions Ltd. The series is based upon the similar books written by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg.

     I attempted to watch the full series on YouTube recently, however some of the audio files did not match with the video. And it wasn’t just a second or two difference, it was far more than that which made the certain clips unwatchable. But I still wanted to watch the full series as my inner-child was so excited to watch it all again. I could only remember glimpses of the show prior to re-watching it, so I was in desperate search for a DVD copy…

     Typical, there were only German DVD copies which did not play in North American players. However since these were the only copies, I was willing to improvise. I ordered a copy with an optional English track and waited a couple of weeks as it was shipped from Germany, go figure. I received the 2 DVD set in about two weeks time and was ready to watch this classic series. Firstly I wanted to see if the normal DVDs would play in my player, but to no surprise it was region locked.

     It was time to improvise, I ripped the DVDs onto my computer with the English track and I was able to watch them digitally. Plus I burned them onto blank DVDs and bought a 5 DVD case from the wonderful OTV store here in Saskatoon for a couple of dollars. Woot! I was set! I added the 3 blank DVDs and the 2 original DVDs to the case, along with the original German DVD slip.


     It was time to watch the complete series all the way through and to see what I really thought of it as an adult. Yes, so many old movies and TV shows are disappointing to watch from our childhoods, but this one is definitely re-watchable!

     The opening scene is in a tomb where the vampires sleep and the co-main character of the film, Rudiger who appears to be a 10 year old boy is tired of hanging around a tomb all night and goes out to explore. In the beginning scene we see that Alfred... I mean Michael Gough plays the character of the head vampire Uncle Ludwig in this series.  It is pretty rad to have Alfred from the Tim Burton Batman franchise play the head vampire of their tomb.

     The theme song is sang by the character Lumpi played by Jim Gray.  Later in the series he impresses me with his singing and you'll know why as you continue reading.



     We see Rudiger flying from a cable which I can’t see very well because of course the film has not been mastered since the original airings. If it were, the string would be far too visible anyway, so it’s quite forgivable. As well the green screen would likely be more noticeable which shows Rudiger flying near what looks like Saskatoon’s classic Victoria Bridge, now demolished and being rebuilt

     The series was shot in Edmonton according to IMDB but I’m assuming the green screen footage is shot from all over Canada.  The camera then pans over to a building where a gymnastics class is happening and that’s when we meet the other co-main character Anton.

     He apparently doesn’t like gymnastics too much as he hilariously struggles to do a cartwheel and a helicopter cam pans over him and his mother driving home in their retro Jeep. I’m assuming to resemble that Rudiger has been watching Anton and is now flying over him on his way home.

     Sure enough we find out he enjoys drawing vampire pictures alone in his room and reading his Dracula book later on. He is visited by Rudiger who flies through his bedroom window.  

     Anton seems to remain calm for the most part. Not very common of 10 year old boys to remain calm over something like that but I suppose we can assume Anton is just a very odd child. Later Rudiger gives Anton a vampire cloak with a substance he calls “rance” which gives the cloak the ability to make individuals fly, including Anton.

     The two friends go out on adventures together and it’s just lovely to see two odd ducks getting along so well. Suddenly I am remembered why I loved this series so much and why my inner-child wanted to watch it so bad. The odd child who loved ghoulish creativity was me, although realistically I would have been far more terrified than Anton if a vampire came flying through my window at that age. Sure enough as I continued watching this great series, it became a classic that I can cherish even in my adult years. The acting was actually well done and the series overall was directed nicely and well put together.

     One strange character appears in a later episode named Effie and although I am forced to take away a star, I almost want to give back the star. Effie looks as though she is in her 20s, but she acts Anton’s age and not much older than him according to the story. Okay, yes terrible casting here, but holy s*** she is hilarious. I think it’s partially that she’s over-acting her part, trying to be a younger teenager who hasn’t quite bloomed yet. Watching this actress acting a lot younger than she appears is simply so bad that it’s good, especially when she whines that she saw Anton flying to his parents and her Aunt.

     The best part is that I don’t think the director knew how funny this really is and was just trying to make her pass as a child. Failed miserably, yet failed so terribly that it’s hilarious.

     There's also a vampire hunter who we get introduced to played by Goldfinger... I mean Gert Frobe.  His character's name is Detective Gurrmeyer, who Anton's mother sold a house to after he moved here from overseas.  I wont say much about him, as I don't want to spoil the series for those who haven't watched.  Here's an eccentric GIF of him singing and playing the tuba...

     A few moments as honorable mentions in the series:

· When Rudiger & his sister-like friend from the tomb put blotches of red makeup on their faces so that they can visit with Anton’s parents.



· Anton’s father telling him not to make a pig out of himself because he ate the vampires’ food when his parents weren’t looking. While Anton has two full sandwiches in his mouth.



· When Anton locks Effie in his apartment and Effie cries “You’re a LIAR!” He recently told her that he would show her where the “rance” was in his apartment because she stole and washed the cloak.



· Lumpi, the teen who looks early 20's vampire (I was told he is supposed to be 13 from a fellow who read all of the books) sings an even better version of the theme song and it’s totally 80’s retro David Bowie style.



     Overall, this series is an exceptional piece of work and it’s hard to stop watching. Each episode leaves right where the last one left off. You could definitely just watch the full thing as a feature length film. While I want to give this film a full 5 stars out 5, there was the matter of bad casting for Effie which is why I’m giving it 4 out of 5, despite how much hilarity she adds to the show.

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Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Vampire_(TV_series)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0179585/