(rated PG)
From the book by Karey Kirkpatrick these two little boys aren’t just friends, they’re ‘blood’ brothers. Jonathan “Jerry Maguire” Lipnicki, possibly the worlds cutest kid, stars as Tony, who has just relocated from a bustling American city to a remote corner of Scotland. Every night Tony has nightmares about vampires partly due to the fact that his parents don’t listen, his teacher doesn’t believe him, and the kids at school don’t like him either. The only person who gets it is Rudolph (Rollo Weeks) who appears in his bedroom one night as a hungry bat/vampire/kid. Rather than suck the blood from Tony, they bond as brothers and take on centuries of vampire demons, a good luck stone that can solve the problem and there you have it. Actually, you won’t have it or even get it. I didn’t either, and I’m an adult. Despite having some ‘bite’ with its Tim Burton-ish kooky style and villainous characters with weird inventions, the story is loud, confusing and relies solely on the charm of the cuddly-must-take-home-to-adopt, Lipnicki. He manages to keep the juvenile in what would ordinarily be a very adult (I think?) film. Oh, and because of the cows involved (I won’t spoil it), gives new meaning to the term “Got milk?”
