Lonny (Justin Gocke) is a little American kid who goes to spend the summer with his Aunt Leah (Pat Evison) in New Zealand. His friend Kanziora (Milan Borich) soon becomes convinced that Lonny’s eccentric old grandfather (Al “Grandpa” Lewis) is a vampire. His suspicions are confirmed shortly after Grandpa passes away when he returns sporting fangs, a cape, and the ability to fly around in the moonlight. Problems arise when Leah’s loutish boyfriend (Noel Appleby) fancies himself as a vampire hunter and tries to drive a stake through Grandpa’s heart.
From David Blyth, the director of Death Warmed Up and The Red Blooded American Girl, My Grandpa is a Vampire is a kid friendly horror flick that would feel comfortable sitting alongside stuff like My Best Friend is a Vampire and My Mom’s a Werewolf on the video store shelf. It works mostly as a tribute to Grandpa himself, Al Lewis. If you’re a fan of the man (and frankly, who isn’t?) the film should be at the very least tolerable. The scenes of Lewis taking the boys flying out in the moonlight are sweet, but the rest of the movie is frustratingly uneven. The jokes are lame, the Kiwi accents are annoying, and some parts are downright perplexing. The scene where a drunk woman hits on little Lonny (at his grandfather’s funeral no less) is extremely cringeworthy. The most memorable scene occurs when the boys take Grandpa to McDonald’s, which means it might make for a good WTF kids movie double feature with Mac and Me.
Lewis looks like he’s having fun doing a slight variation on his beloved character. I mean if you’re making a movie called My Grandpa is a Vampire, who better to play the vampire grandpa than Al “Grandpa” Lewis? That’s just smart casting if you ask me. However, if you’re really jonesing to see Lewis in action, you’re honestly better off with old Munsters reruns or those old Grandpa monster movie compilations than this. Even when viewing it strictly as kids’ entertainment, My Grandpa is a Vampire still doesn’t quite cut the mustard. There isn’t much here to please adolescent horror fans and younger viewers who scare easily will probably be bored more than anything.
AKA: Moonrise. AKA: Grampire.
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