The Little Vampire – The Little Vampire 3D (2017)

Directed by: Richard Claus, Karsten Kiilerich | 83 minutes | animation, adventure | Dutch voice cast: Buddy Vedder, Britt Scholte | Original voice cast: Rasmus Hardiker, Amy Saville, Jim Carter, Joseph Kloska, Phoebe Givron-Taylor, Tim Pigott-Smith, Alice Krige, Julia Rhodes, Kevin Otto, Diane Wilson, Graham Clarke, Miriam Margolyes, Matthew Marsh, Matthew Dylan Roberts

Vampires: You have to love it. That is certainly the case for Anton, as he is fascinated by vampires. While he is on vacation with his parents, they get off the road and end up in vampire territory. At the same time, the vampires are being hunted by a vicious and notorious vampire hunter. By sheer coincidence, Anton and Rudolph, a young vampire in their early teens, come into contact and slowly but surely become friends. This is the premise for ‘The Little Vampire’.

The film is a German-Danish-Dutch co-production and markets itself as the first 3D animation film made entirely in the Netherlands. The book series on which this film is based is extremely popular with 13 million copies sold. Whether the film contributes to its popularity remains to be seen. After watching ‘The Little Vampire’ mainly feels like a snack.

There isn’t much wrong with the film, but it isn’t a convincing production either. The story is fairly standard and therefore probably quite predictable. It goes without saying that the two boys become friends and of course things continue for them and those around them not without a fight. And predictability doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as there are elements that stand out from the rest of the rippling mediocrity. This can be done, for example, by means of good jokes or a special way of animating.

To start with the jokes in ‘The Little Vampire’; there is nothing original in it. Mainly some slapstick jokes and that’s about it.

The animation is not special either. Where the best-known films in this genre (the Hotel Transylvania series) the animation style contributes to a unique experience, the style is especially sufficient here. A single scene, like one of the chase scenes, looks tight, but it’s mostly mediocrity that dominates. And that goes for almost everything.

With great fame among young readers and a director who already has several animated series behind his name (Karsten Kiilerich), ‘The Little Vampire’ has every opportunity to become a success. It just won’t be. It’s a film that won’t get boring while watching, but won’t linger for long afterwards.