Ok, first of all, this animated series has several names depending on the release; School for Little Vampires, School for Vampires, Die Schule der kleinen Vampire, Scuola di vampiri.
Out of all the popular things that go bump in the night, vampires are my least favorite. They just never were really that impressive to me, but on rare occasion one version or another peaks my interest. School for Little Vampires is one of those cases. Since I was raise watching horror movies, and was lucky enough to be born in a time when horror movies, toys and cartoon were at their most popular, I often miss ‘the good ol’ days’. Don’t get me wrong, I fully remember that the production quality was poor, and often time the writing was inconsistent for horror toons, but they were always fun.
School for Little Vampires brings back that fun, the characters are mostly cliché and the plots are fairly predictable. But, my four-year-old and I can laugh as Oskar faints from the thought of blood, or how Polidori screws up another attempt at hunting the vampire scum.
The show is based around the school, and most of the focus is on Oskar von Horrificus. Oskar is a gentle vampire that isn’t able to stand the sight of blood, and has a sweet spot for a town girl by the name of Sunshine. Sunshine being the niece of the towns vampire hunter (Though Sunshine, nor the town believes in such things), makes Oskar’s life interesting from time to time.
The school itself is full of interesting vampires, from Lenny the lowly servant and only turned vampire to Count Alarich von Horrificus, a vampire that rules the school and tries to help his nephew and the other children become the terrors of the night that vampires are supposed to be.
Speaking of the children, there is Leechy the inventor, Ashley the unfortunate pile of talking dust who took too long to get out of the sun, Klot the youngest and very childlike, Stoker who has a lust for blood and mischief and often acts in opposition to Oskar, and finally Gothetta probably the most mature of the bunch. Like many small groups of youths, love interests seem to crop up, and these vampires are no different. While Oskar pines for Sunshine, and Gothetta for Oskar, Stoker does for Gothetta (Well, with maybe the exception of when Moonbeam is in the picture).
I personally enjoy Count Alarich, his character is strong and comes off cold, but reveals his own doubts and weaknesses amongst his peers.
I am ignoring a large group of the cast, but you’ll just need to watch to find out more. At the time of this writing, School for little Vampires is on Netflix, and is a great way to bring out the blood thirsty child in you.
Oh, and I would add the theme song to my playlist… Just saying. (I included the German version, because I couldn’t find the English version)
Rev. Krueger : 9/10
IMDB : 7.5/10
