The Little Vampire

A quick, sloppy production of a throwaway script about a little boy who befriends a family of bloodsuckers and helps them recover a magic amulet, The Little Vampire suffers from a pungent collective apathy that wafts off the screen from the cast and crew. The little kids in the picture (lead by Jonathan Lipnicki from Stuart Little and Jerry Maguire) seem like they're just playing "undead" in grandma's dusty attic and not really trying to participate in the plot, while the grown-ups in the cast (including respectable actors such as Richard E. Grant) give let's-get-this-over-with performances in scenes that feel as if director Uli Edel (Body of Evidence) didn't say "Cut!" so much as "Oh that's good enough, let's just move on." If Jonathan Lipnicki is washed up at 18 and looking back on his career as a button-cute child star, this will very likely be the picture that embarrasses him most. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)