6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Young student finds himself being transformed to a vampire after a night with a quite attractive female vampire. First, he does not quite believe it himself, but with the help of a 300 year old teacher and the handbook "vampirism - a guide to an alternative lifestyle", he finds out that blood does not taste as bad as he expected. Of course, he does not bite women, as a good guy he sticks to pig blood which is offered by the local butcher as a special offer for vampires. Trouble rises when a vampire hunter tries to track him down with wooden sticks and silver bullets...
Starring: Robert Sean Leonard, Cheryl Pollak, Rene Auberjonois, Evan Mirand, Fannie FlaggHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When scenarist Tab Murphy, after having submitted what were evidently countless screenplays to studios which were rejected outright, was tasked by his agent to finally write something commercial that someone might actually be interested in, you know, buying, Murphy had the sudden brainstorm that while there had been both I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (both in 1957), there had never been I Was a Teenage Vampire. While this film went through a few interstitial title changes, that teenage vampire concept is the underlying conceit of this kind of sweetly funny enterprise. The film came out during a spate of so-called teen sex comedies, and not so coincidentally this film actually opens with a dream sequence which sees a sexually aroused nerd named Jeremy Capello (Robert Sean Leonard, pre-Dead Poets Society) having a horrifying vision of first being more or less seduced by a number of scantily clad young women only to be ultimately thrown to the ground and accosted by a harridan nun, evidently channeling Lorena Bobbitt or something like that, with a very large pair of scissors. And the whole vampirism aspect is actually "achieved" with another at least attempted sexual liaison Jeremy ends up having with an older woman named Nora (Cecilia Peck).
My Best Friend is a Vampire is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films' Vestron Video Collector's Series imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As tends to be the case with these Vestron Video Blu-ray releases, there's not a wealth of technical information imparted other than "digitally restored". While somewhat variable in quality at times (more about that in a moment), in the many brightly lit outdoor moments, this transfer pops quite winningly, with a healthy palette, generally great detail levels, and an organically resolving grain field. There are other moment in both interior and exterior locations where the color timing seems to skew slightly toward the yellow and/or green end of things, and there are a couple of passing dimly lit moments that can look pretty rough, with a splotchy, relatively undetailed, appearance. Age related wear and tear is really rather minimal, though tiny blemishes can still be spotted.
My Best Friend is a Vampire features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The surround track provides a decidedly more immersive experience, both in terms of ambient environmental effects but probably even more especially with regard to a source cue suffused soundtrack, one which has a noticeably more energized midrange and low end on the 5.1 track. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.
Some of the supplements get into the nascent days of Kings Road Entertainment, which at the time of this production had just burst upon the scene with All of Me, and was looking to cement their status with another major hit. Kind of hilariously, Kings Road's website has a list of its properties which are "available for remakes", including this film. My Best Friend is a Vampire turned out not to be a box office bonanza, but looking back on it now, it's a sweet if slight film that offers some fun moments and winning performances. This release isn't stuffed to the gills with supplements like some of the other Vestron Video outings, but the supplements that are here are quite enjoyable, and technical merits are generally solid as well. Recommended.
1988
2019
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1981
Collector's Edition
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2019
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Slipcover in Original Pressing
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Collector's Series
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