Little Vampire – review

Director: Joann Sfar

Release date: 2020

Contains spoilers

Based on the French series of books, Petit Vampire, by Joann Sfar, I’m not sure that there is a connection with the Angela Sommer-Bodenburg series despite having seen at least one critic positively connect them. Whilst the premise of a child vampire finding a mortal friend is the same, the whole aesthetic is completely different. My understanding is there is also a long running animated series as well as this film.

about to be sacrificed

The film begins with Pandora (Camille Cottin), along with her son (Louise Lacoste), pursued by a Prince (Alex Lutz) as he intends to marry her – a fate she does not wish to consider. Rejected, he decides to sacrifice them both to the God of the Depths and is throwing them into an exposed pit when Pandora offers her life to anyone who can rescue her.

newly turned

Her call is answered by Les Capitaine des Morts (Jean-Paul Rouve), a skull faced pirate, with a giant hat, in a flying galleon. The pair are rescued but, on being rescued by the living dead they are turned into vampires – Pandora gaining fangs and a greyed complexion, where Little Vampire (as he is named throughout), takes on perhaps more of an Orlock visage. Neither seem too upset at becoming vampires, although later Pandora states that one can only be turned if they have a broken heart.

settled at the mansion

As for the Prince, he is grabbed by the God of the Depths and swallowed in order that he might be transformed into a crescent moon headed creature called the Gibbous, in order that he might get his vengeance on the Capitaine and Pandora. The credits then show the Gibbous chasing them around the globe over the intervening centuries until, eventually, they stop at a mansion that the Capitaine cloaks in a magical barrier that will hide them from their enemies (Pandora does ask why he didn’t do this centuries before).

the vampire and friends

It is here that the story proper starts – with Little Vampire apparently suffering amnesia (not only does he not remember how he became a vampire, but seems to have forgotten the centuries of being pursued and by whom). He lives with monsters (and his demonic dog Phantomato (Quentin Faure) who serves the purpose of being a snarky Jiminy Cricket), whose highlight seems to be watching a weekly horror movie. Little Vampire is bored and wants to go to school and, sneaking off, begins a friendship – by correspondence in a school book, at first – with orphan Michel (Claire de la Rüe du Can).

Gibbous and Michel

Meanwhile Gibbous is still out there, with a habit of turning people into bugs called kawai that serve as his eyes and ears, as well as his galleon crew, but also serve as a resource to torture and kill when he gets angry. Gibbous still wants his vengeance (or for Pandora to marry him – either will do as a solution). Clearly Little Vampire will end up in peril after breaking the rules and leaving the protective barrier.

Nosferatu poster

This was an odd beast. Take the animation; gorgeously detailed backdrops meet very basic, clean animated characters that, for the most part, worked really well. The story had its odd moments (such as the apparent amnesia that is never mentioned), its surreal moments in the characters themselves and yet followed an overall plot that was quite obvious and by the numbers – though as this is a children’s animation that was understandable. It had the opportunity to be rather dark and yet managed (despite the subject matter) to keep things light. It perhaps doesn’t have the underlying elements that would make this as attractive to adults as it might have been – however, it should work for the kids 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On DVD @ Amazon US

On DVD @ Amazon UK