The Little Vampire parents guide

The Little Vampire Parent Guide

With poorly motivated characters, unexplained vampire lore, and confusion about its intended audience, this movie is unlikely to take a big bite out of the viewing audience.

Overall B

Rudolph, a teenage vampire is running from a fearsome vampire hunter when he runs into a regular kid on holiday with his parents. The two work together to overcome their prejudices and protect Rudolph's family.

Violence B
Sexual Content A
Profanity A
Substance Use A

Why is The Little Vampire rated PG? The MPAA rated The Little Vampire PG

Run Time: 82 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Rudolph Sackville-Bagg (Rasmus Hardiker) is celebrating his 13th birthday (for the 300th time!) when his family is threatened by feared vampire-hunter Rookery (Jim Carter). On the run, Rudolph meets Tony (Amy Saville), a mortal American boy on a holiday with his parents. Together they must find a way to defeat Rookery and save Rudolph’s family, while also overcoming prejudices against vampires and mortals alike.

The Little Vampire is a bit of a mystery to me. I spent most of the runtime trying to figure out who the intended audience is. It is far too childish for the older elementary/middle school crowd, but also too scary for preschoolers. I want to be clear, this movie is not actually scary, but it does have enough jump scares and creepy moments that I think the very young will not enjoy it. The only audience that I could see enjoying it are around age 5 to 8, give or take a year depending on maturity. I’m no marketing major, but that seems to be a very small window.

The story is mostly nonsensical; characters make decisions based on nothing, the plot moves without motivation, and the details remain fuzzy throughout. The writers seem to have wanted to play with vampire lore, but they never actually explain it, so I was just confused. Apparently, these vampires can have children, but then those children get stuck at a certain age? It’s unclear. Am I over analyzing a children’s movie? Probably, but I was a teenager at the height of the Twilight craze, so forgive me if I nitpick a vampire story.

The best part about this film is the short runtime; clocking in at just under the usual 90 minutes. Even so, I did spend the last 30 minutes checking how much time was left. The message about overcoming biases and making friends who are different from you is sweet, though it only really comes in at the end, and might be too subtle for such a young audience.

The Little Vampire is the type of thing to throw on when you want the kids to be quiet, but you don’t plan to be in the same room. Adults will find it painful to sit through, but children of a certain age will most likely be entertained enough to stay occupied

Directed by Richard Claus and Karsten Kiilerich. Starring Rasmus Hardiker, Amy Saville, Jim Carter. Running time: 82 minutes. Updated

Watch the trailer for The Little Vampire

The Little Vampire
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Little Vampire rated PG? The Little Vampire is rated PG by the MPAA

Violence: Multiple instances of cartoon violence and peril. A plane crashes, a car drives off a cliff, a man threatens a vampire with a crossbow, a man gets electrocuted. In all instances there are no injuries or deaths.
Sexual Content: None
Profanity: A few insults such as “idiot” and “imbecile”.
Alcohol / Drug Use: None

Page last updated

The Little Vampire Parents' Guide

Rudolph and his family are unwilling to trust, or even associate with, Tony at first. Why is that? Are their perceptions about mortals accurate? Tony’s parents and other mortals in the story are also scared of the vampires at first. How do both families learn to overcome those prejudices?

Loved this movie? Try these books…

Preschoolers will enjoy the fun comic adventures in Anne Marie Pace’s picture book, Vampirina Ballerina. Young readers will also enjoy the story of a vegetarian vampire in Vunce Upon a Time by J Otto Seibold and Siobhan Vivian.

Early readers will enjoy improving their skills as they read Ron Roy’s The Vampire’s Vacation, part of his A to Z Mysteries series.

What if you discovered you had a twin, who happened to be a vampire? Follow Olivia and Ivy as they navigate this bizarre situation in My Sister the Vampire: Switched by Sienna Mercer.

Vampire hunters aren’t always the bad guys. Grayson Grave shares the adventures of a vampire hunter without powers in Etty Steele Vampire Hunter.

Mild gore will delight scare-seeking older kids and tweens in Blood Diaries: Tales of a 6th Grade Vampire by Marissa Moss.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of The Little Vampire movie is April 1, 2020. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:

Another vampire named Rudolph running from Rookery makes a human friend in the live action The Little Vampire.

Hotel Transylvania is a way better vampire movie. And, if you love it, it comes with sequels: Hotel Transylvania 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.

Kid-friendly creepy content also comes to the fore in the animated version of The Addams Family.

Teen viewers with a vampire fascination will be drawn into Twilight and its many sequels.