# The Little Vampire (film)
*The Little Vampire* (German: *Der kleine Vampir*) is a 2000 live-action children's fantasy-comedy film directed by Uli Edel, based on the children's novels of the same name by the German author Angela Sommer-Bodenburg. It follows Tony Thompson, a lonely American boy who moves to Scotland and befriends Rudolph, a nine-year-old vampire whose family is hunted by a vampire hunter and cursed to remain vampires until a powerful amulet can be restored.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) • [2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/the-little-vampire) A German, Dutch, British, and American co-production distributed by [New Line Cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-line-cinema), it opened in the United States on October 27, 2000.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / producer | Uli Edel; produced by Richard Claus[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) |
| Source | *The Little Vampire* novels by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) |
| Writers | Karey Kirkpatrick and Larry Wilson[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) |
| Principal cast | Jonathan Lipnicki (Tony Thompson), Rollo Weeks (Rudolph), Richard E. Grant (Frederick), Alice Krige (Freda), Jim Carter (Rookery), Pamela Gidley (Dottie Thompson)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) |
| US release | October 27, 2000, wide, through New Line Cinema[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/) |
| Box office | $27,965,865 worldwide ($13,572,400 domestic, 48.5%) against a $35,000,000 budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/) |
| Ratings | MPAA PG (Some Mild Peril); passed 'U' in the UK with "scenes of mild, scary horror"[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_vampire) • [5](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-little-vampire-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjmxmzi) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 45 (24 reviews); 56% on the Tomatometer (63 reviews)[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-vampire/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_vampire) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Nine-year-old Tony Thompson has moved with his parents, Dottie and Bob Thompson, from a big American city to a small village in a remote corner of Scotland, where his father is building a golf course for the local squire Lord McAshton. Every night Tony dreams of vampires, and at school the local boys, Nigel and Flint, tease him about his obsession.[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/the-little-vampire)
One evening a bat flies into Tony's room and transforms into Rudolph, a nine-year-old vampire boy who is exhausted and hungry. Tony protects him from Rookery, a vampire hunter pursuing the family in his truck, and leads Rudolph to a local farm, where Rudolph drinks the blood of a cow; Rudolph's family has stopped biting people and switched to cattle.[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/the-little-vampire) • [7](https://www.filmernst.de/Filme/Filmdetails.html?movie_id=33) Tony then helps Rudolph find the missing half of an amulet that can lift the curse on Rudolph's family, the Sackville-Baggs, and let them become human again.[2](https://watch.afi.com/movie/the-little-vampire) • [8](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/93724--the-little-vampire/)
## Production and release
The film was written by Karey Kirkpatrick and Larry Wilson from Sommer-Bodenburg's novels, photographed by Bernd Heinl, edited by Peter R. Adam, and designed by Joseph Nemec, III; the music was composed by Nigel Clarke and Michael Csányi-Wills.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) Production companies included Propaganda Films, Stonewood, Avrora Media, Comet Film, and Cometstone Pictures.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_vampire) The European Children's Film Association reported production costs of about 23 million dollars and noted that the special effects were created by Hollywood professionals.[9](https://www.ecfaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/journal/ECFAjournal2000_4.pdf)
The film opened in Los Angeles and New York in the week of October 27, 2000.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) Release dates elsewhere: France on September 27, 2000 (as *Le Petit Vampire*, visa dated August 25, 2000),[10](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/100386) Australia on April 5, 2001, and Italy on February 8, 2002.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/) Running times differ between national databases: 94 minutes in the AFI Catalog, 95 minutes in the Australian and German classifications, 96 minutes on the French visa, and 97 minutes in the Spanish certification.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384) • [11](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/little-vampire) • [10](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/100386) • [12](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=109100)
Censors treated it as mild fare. The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) passed the film 'U' on June 14, 2000, with "scenes of mild, scary horror"; a 2020 re-release was classified PG for mild threat, violence, and very mild bad language, with content advice noting brief punches, a vampire hunter's weapons, and implied drinking of animal blood.[5](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-little-vampire-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjmxmzi) Australia rated it PG for "medium level violence, supernatural theme".[11](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/little-vampire)
## Box office
The film earned $13,572,400 domestically (48.5% of its total) and $14,393,465 internationally, for a worldwide total of $27,965,865.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) lists the budget as $35,000,000,[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/) while The Numbers lists a production budget of $22,000,000.[13](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Little-Vampire-The) On either figure the film did not recoup its cost in theaters. The ECFA journal reported early returns that appeared to be paying back the production costs: $13.5 million in the first three weeks in more than 800 US theaters, £4 million in five weeks in 330 British theaters, and 13.5 million marks in three weeks in 800 German theaters.[9](https://www.ecfaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/journal/ECFAjournal2000_4.pdf)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. The film holds a Metascore of 45, "mixed or average", based on 24 critic reviews, against a user score of 7.5.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-vampire/) On Rotten Tomatoes, 35 of 63 reviews were positive, for a 56% Tomatometer, and the site's critics consensus says the film "can't seem to find the right pitch, with its muddled, jumpy script and badly executed mix of cuteness and fright".[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_vampire) Roger Ebert, the longtime [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic and 1975 [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) winner, called it "a dim-witted but visually intriguing movie" and noted that it was "aimed at kids but filmed with an adult sensibility".[14](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-little-vampire-2000) Positive notices included The New York Times, which called it "literate, clever, mischievous and just plain fun".[15](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-vampire/critic-reviews/) The film received two [Young Artist Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-artist-award) nominations, one win and one nomination at the German Film Awards, and one nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-vampire/)
## Legacy
The 2000 film was the first feature adaptation of Sommer-Bodenburg's characters, which have sold over 12 million copies in book form.[16](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-little-vampire) The series was adapted again as the animated *The Little Vampire 3D* (2017), with Richard Claus, producer of the 2000 film, as co-director.[17](https://www.cinemamanagementgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IAMAG-The-Little-Vampire-3D-_-First-International-Trailer.pdf) In scholarship on children's horror, the film is cited as one of the few US children's horror films featuring child vampires, alongside the *Hotel Transylvania* films.[18](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/90706/1/WRAP_Theses_Lester_2016.pdf)
## References
1. [The Little Vampire (2000), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/61384)
2. [The Little Vampire, American Film Institute (watch.afi.com)](https://watch.afi.com/movie/the-little-vampire)
3. [The Little Vampire (2000), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0192255/)
4. [The Little Vampire, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_vampire)
5. [The Little Vampire, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/the-little-vampire-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjmxmzi)
6. [The Little Vampire, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-vampire/)
7. [Der kleine Vampir, Filmernst Filmdatenbank](https://www.filmernst.de/Filme/Filmdetails.html?movie_id=33)
8. [The Little Vampire, ACMI collection](https://www.acmi.net.au/works/93724--the-little-vampire/)
9. [ECFA Journal 2000/4, European Children's Film Association](https://www.ecfaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/journal/ECFAjournal2000_4.pdf)
10. [Le Petit Vampire, visa et classification, CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/100386)
11. [The Little Vampire, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/little-vampire)
12. [El pequeño vampiro, ICAA Film Database](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/en-us/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=109100)
13. [The Little Vampire (2000), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Little-Vampire-The)
14. [The Little Vampire movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-little-vampire-2000)
15. [The Little Vampire critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-little-vampire/critic-reviews/)
16. [The Little Vampire, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-little-vampire)
17. [The Little Vampire 3D: First International Trailer, IAMAG](https://www.cinemamanagementgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IAMAG-The-Little-Vampire-3D-_-First-International-Trailer.pdf)
18. [Lester, PhD thesis, University of Warwick](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/90706/1/WRAP_Theses_Lester_2016.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on novels, novellas, and short fiction › Films based on contemporary literary fiction › Fantasy and family adaptations*
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