For the last couple of years, I've developed something called the "Truth in Advertising" awards, meant to distinguish films whose titles kept their promises from those that did not. Previous winners include Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and There Will Be Blood. Previous losers include March of the Penguins (more like Agonizingly Long Slog of the Penguins) and Man on Fire (more like Nobody On Fire, Ever). All time loser goes to My Life as a Dog. My Best Friend is A Vampire is kind of a draw, because at no point is the lead character's best friend a vampire. However, our lead character does become a vampire, and since he has a best friend, I can't claim that it was totally misleading. Still, kind of a strange choice for this film's plot, which goes as follows:
Jeremy Capello (Robert Sean Leonard) is a fairly average teenage guy, with a fairly standard annoying best friend named Ralph (Evan Mirand) and fairly standard teenage problems. One day, he is invited up into a spooky mansion by the very attractive Nora (Cecilia Peck) and the scene basically goes exactly where you think it's going to. While in the middle of the PG-rated sexual antics, vampire hunters (David Warner and Paul Wilson) burst into the room with the intention of killing them both. Jeremy manages to escape, but in the days following, he starts to notice a few odd changes, such as his insatiable thirst for blood. Fortunately, Modoc (Rene Auberjonois) is there to guide him through his initiation into vampirism, his avoidance of the vampire hunters (who now believe that Ralph is a vampire) and his relationship with school nerd Darla Blake (Cheryl Pollack).
That's really as far as the plot goes. They toy around with the vampire mythos a little bit, suggesting that they aren't really so terrible but that a couple of bad apples back in the Dark Ages gave them all a bad name, which is why there are crazy vampire hunters that hunt them at every turn. Really, Modoc is the most likeable character in the film, projecting a confidence and comfort with his role that nobody (not even camp-meister David Warner) can match. Leonard is fine in the lead role and his romance with Pollack is one of the nicer elements of the film, as his going for the school nerd even when the blond cheerleader is after him never feels like a gimmick. Beyond that, it never really registers as an especially notable comedy vampire flick, particularly being released the year after The Lost Boys and (the actually good) Near Dark came out, but it's inoffensive and by-the-book enough to make for reasonably engaging entertainment.
One thing that I couldn't help but notice about the films in the Lost Collection (as Lionsgate is referring to it) that I've seen is that each one has at least one totally out-of-place gay joke. The one in this and Morgan Stewart's Coming Home weren't too bad, but the one in Repossessed is really jarring. What does this say about the 1980s? I'm not sure. But absolutely none of them would pass the studio today. That's probably a sign of progress.
On the whole, My Best Friend is a Vampire is a fairly entertaining little romp (in fact, the word ‘romp' seems to have been created for movies like this), without anything to really push it over the edge into "you-need-to-see-this" territory. It might be worth a rental if you're curious, but if you're looking for a campy 80s monster fest, your money might be better spent on Fright Night or The Monster Squad.
DVD Bonus Features
In addition to the film (presented in Full-Screen), the disc also has a trivia tack which allows you to view small bits of trivia during the film in a "pop-up video" style.
"My Best Friend is a Vampire" is on sale April 14, 2009 and is rated PG. Comedy. Directed by Jimmy Huston. Written by Tab Murphy. Starring Robert Sean Leonard, Rene Auberjonois, Cheryl Pollack, David Warner, Paul Wilson, Evan Mirand.
