This underrated vampire movie was ahead of its time — by about 5 years

When it comes to the modern vampire, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight has a lot to answer for. While the first book landed in 2005, it was the 2008 movie that truly propelled the franchise (and vampires) into mass appeal. Vampires weren’t just for horror nerds and theater kids anymore. Vampires could be cool and sexy.

However, my obsession with these creatures of the night (and why I thought they were always amazing) started five years before Twilight was ever published, with The Little Vampire, a movie loosely based on author Angela Sommer-Bodenburg’s children’s book series of the same name. The film follows nine-year-old Tony Thompson (Jonathan Lipnicki), who recently moved from California to Scotland. Tony is plagued by dreams of an aristocratic, vampiric family that seeks a magical amulet to turn them back into humans. Turns out, these dreams aren’t just dreams, and he eventually encounters a young boy named Rudolph (Rollo Weeks) and the rest of his vampire family.

Directed by German filmmaker Uli Edel (Last Exit to Brooklyn) with a script by Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run) and Larry Wilson (Beetlejuice), The Little Vampire had phenomenal people working behind the scenes, with vast experience in comedy and horror, to ensure this film would be one to remember.

And remember it I do, with a fondness that has continued to grow even as vampire media keeps expanding. If teenage Aimee loved Twilight for how it pushed against the known stereotypes for vampires, kid Aimee loved The Little Vampire because it took every stereotype about vampires and leaned into them even harder.

Twilight’s vampires are undoubtedly American in their origins, a far cry from the foreign aristocracy the bloodsuckers are known for. They can also walk around during the day, dress stylishly, speak modern English, and, overall, blend in with human society. The Little Vampire goes the opposite way entirely. These vampires are all aristocrats, hiss at the sunlight, sleep in coffins, transform into bats, and even hang upside down. While they speak modern day English, slang is lost on them — there’s one scene where Tony has to explain to his vampire friend what this brand-new gaming device called the Nintendo Game Boy Color is (feel old yet?). Their clothes look like they belong in the 16th century with their high collars and flowing capes. Everything about them screams vampire. And to me (someone who was determined to be a Goth at the age of six), this kind of vampire was always going to be appealing.

Ironically, while Twilight and The Little Vampire’s bloodsuckers couldn’t be more different in presentation, they do have two things in common. The first is that the vampires make it a rule not to feed on humans, but on animals instead. While this gives The Cullens their signature amber eyes, Rudolph and his family choose to feast on cows specifically, because that’s the animal they see the most while living in the Scottish Highlands.

The animals may differ, but their reasons for not draining humans remain the same: both of these vampires seek to connect with humanity. The outside world, and the humanity inside themselves. For the Cullens, not drinking human blood shows they see humanity as their equals, not livestock. For Rudolph and his family, it’s because they believe vampirism is a curse they don’t want to pass on. In fact, they would do anything to be human again. Both reasons are noble and empathetic.

And second, their desire for humanity also relates to their relationships with humans. Both Twilight’s protagonist Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Tony Thompson are fish-out-of-water characters, considered as outsiders from the get-go. It’s this loner appeal that attracts Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison) and Rudolph to their respective sides. The vampires see someone on the edge of society, and they can relate. For Bella, Edward’s appeal is a dangerous but desirable predator who would move heaven and earth for her. For Tony, Rudolph and his family are capable of protecting him against school bullies and reflecting his own loving relationship with his family.

Image: New Line Cinema/courtesy Everett Collection

As it turns out: vampires are just like us! Only far more human than the monstrous creatures they’re made out to be in classic tales like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and John Polidori’s The Vampyr.

I’m far older than I was back when I first watched both of these films, and my tastes when it comes to vampire fiction now lean more into them being distinct and brutal creatures in their own right. But even so, it’s hard not to love these two films for the way they made vampires feel special by leaning into a simple and timeless message: making kindness cool.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that The Little Vampire was a straight-to-video release, when it was in fact released in theaters. We have edited the article to reflect this.