Connect with us

News

Animated Film ‘The Little Vampire’ is Fun for the Whole Family

Published

on

It isn’t often that we get a chance to review family fare here at iHorror, but it was clear from the first viewing that The Little Vampire deserved some attention.

Directed by Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich, The Little Vampire takes its story from the same source material as the 2000 film starring Jonathan Lipnicki and Rollo Weeks. The children’s fantasy book Der kleine Vampir by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg has been a mainstay in children’s libraries since it was published in 1979 and has been translated into over 30 languages worldwide.

In the film, a young vampire by the name of Rudolph Sackville-Bagg (Rasmus Hardiker) is sick and tired of celebrating his thirteenth birthday over and over again. He’s also grown tired of his father’s rules which keep the entire family shielded from the outside world.

In a moment of pure rebellion, he flies out of the family’s home and right into the sights of notorious vampire hunter Rookery (Jim Carter, reprising his role from the live action film). Before long, the entire family is being hunted by Rookery and his inventive assistant, and he won’t rest until they are eradicated.

It’s then that Rudolph meets Tony Thompson (Amy Saville), a thirteen year old American boy fascinated by all things vampire.

Frederick and Tony meet in The Little Vampire

At its core, The Little Vampire is a story about the power of seeing beyond the boundaries of “us vs. them”, making it a timely film considering recent events in our real world. Rudolph fails at every attempt to save his family until he embraces the friendship Tony offers him and they begin to work together.

It isn’t all deep reflection and lessons, however. Comedy abounds in the ineptitude of Rookery’s efforts. His repeated failures while using his assistant’s vampire hunting tools would have made Wile E. Coyote proud and had me looking for an ACME stamp on more than one of them.

The film’s animation is stunning. It’s deep purples and blues at night and in the vampire’s lair is matched only by the equally brilliant oranges and golds of the daylight world.

Claus and Kiilerich packed their supporting cast with enormous talent.

Tim Piggot-Smith and genre-favorite Alice Krige (also reprising her role from the 2000 film) voice Rudolph’s parents, Frederick and Freda, perfectly complementing Kevin Otto and Julia Rhodes as Bob and Dottie, Tony’s parents. Each of the actors bring their own tenacity and determination to protect their children at all costs to their roles, whether that protection should be from actual threats or from what they perceive as an overactive imagination.

Larger-than-life British actress Miriam Margolyes, famous for her portrayal as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter franchise, gives voice to Wulftrud who, along with her husband Gernot (Matthew Marsh) runs the rather palatial bed and breakfast in which the Thompsons stay on their European vacation. She plays the garlic-carrying, vampire-fearing character to its comedic hilt.

This is one animated film that is destined to be a family favorite, and would be perfect for the lead up to Halloween night.

The Little Vampire is currently enjoying a limited theatrical run. Check out the trailer below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCo-B07dfdk

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

Published

on

Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

on

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading