Film Review: MY BEST FRIEND IS A VAMPIRE (1987, Jimmy Huston)

Stars: 3 of 5.
Running Time: 89 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Robert Sean Leonard (DEAD POETS SOCIETY, THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO), Kathy Bates, David Warner (TRON, TIME BANDITS), Rene Auberjonois (EYES OF LAURA MARS, WALKER, BREWSTER MCCLOUD), Cheryl Pollak (PUMP UP THE VOLUME).
Tag-line: None I could find.
Best one-liner: "This blood's for you!"

MY BEST FRIEND IS A VAMPIRE is kinda like an 89 minute Halloween episode of a nondescript 80's sitcom, but this sort of thing is not without its charms. I'd say on the 80's-o-meter, it's somewhere between THE WORST WITCH and TEEN WOLF TOO, and I'll leave it up to you to decide which is the high end and which is the low end of that scale, not that it even matters. The plot is this: Robert Sean Leonard (DEAD POETS SOCIETY, TAPE) becomes a teenage vampire after an encounter that's about as erotic as the 'corn seduction' scene from TROLL 2.

Creedence Leonore Gielgud, is that you?

Next thing you know, he's slurping raw meat milkshakes and receiving tutelage from centuries-old vampire (Rene Auberjonois of WALKER and BREWSTER MCLOUD) named Modoc.

Robert Sean and Rene purse their lips in preparation for a scene where they must take the name 'Modoc' seriously.

His mom & dad think he's gay, and, given its Texas locale, I guess the moral is that your average parent would rather their kid be an undead bloodsucker than a "homo?" Ah, well. The story is unfolded from the point-of-view of our newly-anointed ghoul, and not from the POV of his d-bag best friend, thus making the title problematic, but, you know what, let's not split hairs here. The film adheres to the rule that every teen movie must have a zany driver's ed scene, features a 'car coasting on two wheels scene' one year before TWINS, and has liberal use of Timbuk 3's "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)," which everyone knows is the most essential ode to tinted eyewear since Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night." Cheryl Pollak (PUMP UP THE VOLUME) is the nerdy love interest (code for a total model babe in dorky glasses) and Kathy Bates has a bit part as her mom.

Hang in there, Kathy, MISERY is right around the corner.

David Warner phones it in as the Van Helsing-type, and he's completely aware that he's in something that's only a half-step up from an After School Special.

David Warner mentally compares his career's trajectory with that of Roddy McDowall's.

Basically, all you need to know is that there's a scene where Leonard and Auberjonois clink beer cans full of blood and toast: "This blood's for you!"



I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that it all ends on a kooky freeze frame:

This kooky freeze frame, no less.

Three stars.

-Sean Gill

2009 Halloween Countdown OVERFLOW

1. [•REC] (2007, Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza)
2. THE MANITOU (1978, William Girdler)
3. SLEEPWALKERS (1992, Mick Garris)
4. CUTTING CARDS (1990, Walter Hill)
5. THE LEOPARD MAN (1943, Jacques Tourneur)
6. MY BEST FRIEND IS A VAMPIRE (1987, Jimmy Huston)
7.
...

Film Review: THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO (1998, Whit Stillman)

Stars: 5 of 5.
Running Time: 113 minutes.
Tag-line: "History is made at night."
Notable Cast or Crew: Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Chris Eigeman (BARCELONA, KICKING AND SCREAMING, HIGHBALL), Mackenzie Astin (THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS MOVIE, LOST), Matt Ross (FACE/OFF, BIG LOVE), Carlos Jacott (HIGHBALL, CONRAD AND BUTLER TAKE A VACATION), Jennifer Beals, Robert Sean Leonard, Burr Steers (Gore Vidal's nephew and 'Flock of Seagulls' in PULP FICTION), Taylor Nichols (BARCELONA, METROPOLITAN).
Best one-liner: "Book this clown."

"You know that Shakespearean admonition, 'To thine own self be true?' It's premised on the idea that 'thine own self' is something pretty good, being true to which is commendable. But what if 'thine own self' is not so good? What if it's pretty bad? Would it be better, in that case, NOT to be true to thine own self?" Welcome to Jane Austen's SATURDAY NIGHT PYREXIA, a world where the silver-tongued parry, slash, and down vodka tonics (and whisky sours) deep into an endless night of excess, crippling malaise, and the sweet, sweet disco beat.

This singular universe comes courtesy of Whit Stillman, and again, he follows a circle of UHBs (Urban Haute Bourgeoisie) as they simultaneously wrestle with preconceived notions of failure AND try to get the most out of their nightlife. If you prefer your comedy subtle, intricate, and full of stinging wordplay, then LAST DAYS OF DISCO will likely rank among your all-time favorites. Stillman's characters are at once extremely lovable and hateable; they either possess no sense of propriety or far too much, they won't take 'no' for an answer, or will, cheerfully.

And like any social circle, their ranks include winsome scoundrels, total a-holes, mousy introverts, and the tragically repressed. Our cast includes (amidst a sea of publishing flunkies, ponytailed d-bags, and costumed partyers) duplicitous, self-absorbed, and all too true-to-life Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale); awkward, traditional Alice (Chloe Sevigny); stand-in Fourierist, irresistibly drawn to Yuppie culture, Dan (Matt Ross); moralist, manic-depressive Josh (Matt Keelsar); groveling, pleasant ad man Jimmy (Mackenzie Astin); and the crown jewel: snarky, witty, roguish cad Des (Chris Eigeman, as himself...kind of).

Now, Stillman realizes that he's created a divisive aesthetic, and rewards his die-hards with warm, clever cameos from characters in his previous films, METROPOLITAN and BARCELONA. But, after 11 years, I only wish he would reward us with another feature... (Supposedly there are two television pilots, the long-awaited Jamaican film, and perhaps some other projects in the works.)

-Sean Gill