To get around being grounded, two kids get their mom up with a guy online, unaware he's out for a special kind of dinner on this date.
Adam Hansen (Matt O'Leary) is watching a vampire movie and feuding with his sister Chelsea (Laura Vandervoot), who is on the phone with her boyfriend, when their mom Lynette (Caroline Rhea) comes home.
She orders the two to finish their homework and chastises Adam for letting younger brother Taylor (Myles Jeffrey) watch the movie despite his horror movie fears. Rather than do his homework, Adam is on the site of vampire hunter Malachi Van Helsing (Robert Carradine), until his mom enters. She begins a speech to explain his father is getting remarried, only to learn the kids already know; he assures her she's still "the bomb." After learning his friend Duffy's (Jake Epstein) brother might get them tickets to the band "The Headless Horsemen," Adam lands in hot water after making up a story in class to take the place of an essay he failed to complete, using a magazine article. He is overjoyed to learn Duffy's brother got backstage passes, but his mom grounds him for his antics, and Chelsea follows for mocking him. Later, Adam suggests they get Lynette a date for tomorrow using newspaper ads, so they can sneak out. Chelsea is hesitant, but agrees when he brings up her boyfriend. They eventually sen a message to "Wolfsbane," unaware this screen name belongs to the vampire Dimitri (Charles Shaughnessy). Pretending they've been unhappy thinking about how things used to be, the kids get Lynette to the grocery store where Wolfsbane will be, but fail to find him. The whole time, Van Helsing skulks nearby, with the kids assuming he's Wolfsbane, and they eventually run into Dimitri, who quickly charms their mother. They walk out with him and Lynette agrees to a date, but Taylor overhears Van Helsing say on the phone that a vampire is around, then sees Dimitri turn into a bat. Chelsea excitedly tells her boyfriend Peter the good news, but Adam learns Duffy gave his pass to 10th-grader Boomer (J. Adam Brown), who will only give him the ticket if he gets him a date and a kiss on the lips with Chelsea. At home, Adam doesn't tell Chelsea what he had to promise to get the passes, and to his confusion, Taylor keeps asking questions about vampires. He explains how to beat them and says they'd need Van Helsing, but doesn't believe his brother that they need him to stop Dimitri. Dimitri arrives that night, only entering when given permission, and while Taylor tries to contact Van Helsing, Adam and Chelsea coax Lynette into going on the date. Taylor is only able to leave a message, as Van Helsing is at a car dealership and gets info on Dimitri by using charcoal to reveal his footprints. Van Helsing listens to the call, but Taylor has already left to help Lynette, with his siblings in tow to stop him from ruining the night. The two grab him just in time, but Adam realizes he won't stop, so he agrees to go in and prove Dimitri is normal, which the man agrees to. They make up the "spoon test:" a vampire can't hang a spoon from his nose. He of course passes, but Adam notices Dimitri's reflection missing from a mirror. Although they take Taylor home, Adam now realizes it's a race against time to save Lynette from Dimitri, and Van Helsing is about to join the case.
It's been years since I thought about this movie, but I'm glad I did, because it was definitely worth revisiting a movie from my early childhood.
Just as with other movies and specials, I of course found issues this time around, mainly with cheesy things like Carradine's trenchcoat and hat as he walks around as the hardboiled, no-nonsense hunter. When her first appears, he honestly couldn't look creepier or more suspicious as he follows the family, but this is also something of a positive. It's an obvious fakeout if you're older or no the movie, but if not, this scene is a good red herring to make you think at first that Carradine is the vampire. Compared to Carradine, Shaughnessy is simply a charming man who quickly hits it off with their mom, and he gives no kind of sign he's Wolfsbane. Sometimes the kids acting wasn't the best, but that's a pretty obvious statement with kid actors, and they still had good moments, too. I liked the family dynami, with the siblings fighting but Adam actually being a pretty good older brother, despite letting Taylor watch a movie he couldn't handle. For the most part in movies, older brothers treat their younger siblings like crap until they've gone through a lot together, but this is saved for Adam and Chelsea. When Taylor has a bunch of questions about vampires, Adam acts completely normal, never getting annoyed, and even when he doesn't believe his brother, he doesn't act like a jerk about it, but simply brushes him off. Lynette could be rather oblivious at times; I felt bad she was the last to learn her ex-husband was getting married, and the kids easily trick her with their plan. She still comes across as a good mom, though, and I like how she grounds Chelsea, not just because she called Adam a "dweeb," which would be silly, but seemingly also because she just keeps butting in as he receives his punishment. You get to see the kids come together pretty soon into the movie, as they figure out Dimitri is a vampire and shed their selfish decisions from before. All of them always seemed to have some care for each other, bjut CHelsea and Adam have a feuding relationship, so it's nice to see them band together to stop Dimitri. Following this point come the spoilers, so be warned on this spooky day, lest you found out how they take on Dimitri!
The cheesiness of this movie really ends up making it more entertaining, especially with Carradine and Shaughnessy perfectly hitting their overdramatic marks.
Carradine just can't be taken seriously skulking around as Van Helsing, though the movie makes sure he knows what he's doing as he hunts down Dimitri. Among its silliness, the movie comes with plenty of actual vampiric lore, like when Adam mentions that vampires can't cross running water without their coffin. They even slide in some references as simple likes and dislikes for Dimitri's online ad, like saying he hates turtlenecks and Italian food. For the most part even this is silly though, and despite trying so hard to show the family why he's to be feared, Dimitri comes off as underwhelming. At one point, he gets fed up having to do what Lynette likes, and discovers she hasn't fallen for him, so he hypnotized her, and Adam throws a baseball at his head. Enraged, Dimitri rushes over and, after revealing he is in fact Wolfsbane, he orders Adam to stay away from him, claiming Lynette is his and they can do nothing. Later, the kids have made it to Dimitri's house before him, thanks to Duffy and the others messing up his car, and Adam decides to steal his coffin. Unfortunately, Dimitri catches Chelsea and demands his coffin back, and once inside, Van Helsing arrives and causes a standoff. Van Helsing, despite not being impressive, easily steps aside when Dimitri rushes him, and now outside, Dimitri tries to get back in and Val Helsing slams the door. This makes Dimitri seem just laughable, but things turn around when he then breaks the door down, which knocks Van Helsing over. He then tosses the man into a piano, instantly knocking him out, but before he can bite him, Taylor hits him on the head and says to leave the man alone. Upon turning his attention to Taylor, Dimitri is flabbergasted when Adam challenges him, mocking him for facing off with an 8-year-old. Having had enough, Dimitri demands to know what's wrong with them, as they're not afraid of a vampire, despite being a bunch of normal people. It's pretty hilarious to watch Dimitri essentially lose his sanity over the course of the movie, especially when he reaches this breaking point and screeches "ENOUGH! What is it with this family?!"
I enjoy how, despite Van Helsing being pumped up as the person they need for sure to win and the expert in everything, it's mostly Adam who puts in work.
He has Chelsea at his side of course, but his monster knowledge of course comes into play, and he's able to come up with multiple creative ideas to face Dimitri. After finding Lynette at the dance club, Adam gets in easily and makes a guy think she's alone, hoping it'll get her away from Dimitri, but the vampire gets rid of him. Remembering his mom used to be a rockabilly singer, Adam convinces one of the performers to let her take the stage, wasting Dimitri's time. As she does this, Adam unintentionally gets a bouncer's attention, and when the man says he can't be there, he claims Dimitri is stalking his mom. The bouncer, willing to do anything for Lynette, who is famous there, roughly throws Dimitri out, and Chelsea gets her confirmation on his vampirism when he checks to be sure no one is around, then climbs the building to get back in. It was also just interesting for me to watch this scene now, because I noticed the bouncer was Benedict Wong, the man who plays Wong in the Avengers movies. By this point, Dimitri was already starting to show irritation with what Lynette wanted to do, and getting thrown out made him furious enough to break the kids' bikes. Similarly, we see Carradine change over the course of the movie, as he is forced to let Taylor follow him on the mission to kill Dimitri. At first adamant that the boy can't come along, Van Helsing is forced to take him when Taylor slips into his car and they get far from the house. On the way, Van Helsing keeps up his tough guise, but starts to grow attached to the boy, who is surprisingly good at helping on the search. Atone point, Taylor watches hungrily as Van Helsing starts eating a sandwich, so the man rips off part and gives it to him. Taylor asks if Van Helsin's mom made it for him, which makes the hunter laugh before replying he doesn't live with his mom, but rather in many hotel rooms. Taylor says him mom does everything for him, and I feel like at this point Van Helsing might start to realize how lonely his sad is. By the end of the movie, he actually asks Lynette on a date, so perhaps he started to feel he needed people in his life and she sounded good. The end makes use of something that was set up at the start of the movie, as well, as at the start, the movie Adam watches says true love defeats a vampire's hypnotism. The same way the man in the movie saves his lover from the vampire, Adam and Chelsea are able to get Lynette back by calling out to her as Dimitri attacks.
At the time I decided to watch this movie, I hadn't seen it for years, probably since I was a young kid.
Despite this, there were parts I remembered and looked forward to, and more that I enjoyed this time around than I found just ridiculous. With Robert Carradine somehow as a vampire hunter and The Nanny's own Maxwell Sheffield as a vampire, it's a lot of silly fun to watch. The kids are entertaining in how they defy Dimitri, but Shaughnessy is really my favorite part of this, especially as he becomes more irritated over time. In all his years as a vampire, I imagine Dimitri never came upon anyone quite as strange as this family, who act as if they're not afraid at all. This movie is just a lot of campy Disney silliness, and it's very entertaining to watch as a family.
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AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
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