The Little Vampire
Tony Thompson [Jonathon Lipnicki] is lonely and friendless. His parents, Bob and Dottie,have just moved him from San Diego, California to Scotland, and the twoMcAshton boys, Nigel [Iain De Caestecker] and Flint [Scott Fletcher], are making fun of him at his new schoolbecause of his obsession with vampires. Unfortunately, Nigel and Flint arethe grandsons of Lord McAshton, Bob's boss.
One night, a bat flies into Tony's room. The bat is Rudolph Sackville-Bagg[Rollo Weeks], vampire, and he's in a bad way. He can't fly, and thevampire hunter Rookery [Jim Carter] is looking for him. Rudolph desperately needs bloodand asks Tony to lead him to a cow. While Tony waits for Rudolph to finishhis dinner, Rookery attempts to run Tony over with his vampire-huntingmobile, but Rudolph saves him just in time. Tony and Rudolph are nowtit-for-tat, each having saved the other. They decide to become friends.Rudolph sleeps the next day in Tony's toybox but is gone when Tonygets home from school. Rudolph shows up again that night, asking about apicture Tony drew of an amulet he saw in a dream, the amulet of Attamon,made by the Great Magician from a piece of the comet of Attamon. Tonyoffers to help Rudolph find it because it could mean the end of a cursethat causes Rudolph and his family to remain vampires. Unfortunately,Rookery is also seeking the amulet because, used in another way, it cansend all the vampires straight to hell.Suddenly, Rudolph's family shows up...father Frederick, mother Freda,sister Anna, and brother Gregory. Frederick is not happy that his son hasbefriended a human. Just then, Rookery shows up and starts firing stakesat the vampire family. Tony cuts the hose between Rookery's stakegun andhis pneumatic air supply. The vampires and Tony take refuge in anunderground crypt, and Tony has a vision in which he sees a woman coveringthe body of the Great Magician with a blanket bearing a crest flanked bytwo stags and a banner reading "Sola animo at manuforti."
Later that night, Tony and Rudolph pay a visit to the McAshton boys.Tony presents himself as the Lord of the Underworld and Rudolph as "thefiendish friend of Tony Thompson," and orders the boys to treat Tony withrespect or else they will be bat-bait. The next day at school, theMcAshton boys trip all over themselves to be nice to Tony. It appears thatTony's problems with the McAshton boys are over.However, his problems with the McAshtons are just beginning. Thatafternoon at tea, Tony's dad shows him a picture of the McAshton crest. Loand behold, it is the one from Tony's vision. Later that evening, Tonygoes to the crypt to tell Rudolph of his discovery, only to find Rookerythere. Rookery lowers a bright light into the crypt, but Tony throws arock at it and breaks the bulb. Unfortunately, Rudolph's father takes thefull brunt of the light and is severely weakened. After fortifying theirdad on some cowblood, the vampire family moves into Tony's cellar in orderto hide from Rookery. During the night, as Tony tries to sleep, Anna [Anna Popplewell] comesinto his room. She gives him a good luck charm (a dead mouse) from the oldcountry and tells him to whistle if he should ever need her help.
It's Saturday morning, and Tony goes to work with his dad, hoping tolearn more about the McAshton crest and the whereabouts of the amulet.Unfortunately, Rookery is also there, and Lord McAshton is telling himabout the family history. It seems that the woman in Tony's vision, theone in which he sees her covering the body of the Great Magician with ablanket that bears the McAshton crest, was actually Lord McAshton'sancestor, Elizabeth, and the Great Magician was the vampire VonSackville-Bagg. Even more important is the fact that Elizabeth is wearingthe amulet of Attamon in a family portrait and was probably buried withit. Rookery asks where she is buried, so Lord McAshton takes him to thefamily crypt. They open her coffin, but it is empty. Most likely, she wasburied elsewhere, but where?
Tony, who has been watching from a balcony, suddenly fallsoff...right into the coffin. Rookery, who has also been after Tony, closesthe lid. Tony can't get out, but he remembers his good luck mouse andwhistles for Anna. Although it is daylight, Rudolph and Anna coverthemselves with a blanket and helmets and go to Tony. A mouse leads thethree of them to a secret passage in which they find the real coffin ofElizabeth McAshton and Von Sackville-Bagg, but the amulet isn't there.Suddenly, Tony has another vision of Elizabeth burying the stone under thefloorboards of her room...which is now Tony's room.Rudolph and Tony go to Tony's bedroom and start prying up thefloorboards, but Rookery is wise to them. When Tony refuses to hand overthe stone, Rookery takes Tony, stone and all, for a ride in hisvampiremobile. As they drive along, they are attacked by a herd of flyingvampire cows (the cows on which Rudolph and his family have been feeding)who cover Rookery's windshield with cowpies.
Meanwhile, Frederick and Freda realize that tonight is the night thatthe Attamon comet will cross the moon, and all the vampires must be calledto unite on the cliffs. Frederick is still too weak to fly, so theyintroduce themselves to Tony's parents and invite them to view the comet,too, using their car to drive out there. The entire vampire clan isgathered on the cliff, but where is the amulet?At the last minute, Rudolph and Tony fly in. Tony gives the amulet toFrederick who says the magic words. A red light descends from the comet, ared fog creeps over the vampires, and they all disappear.
Epilogue: It is some weeks later. Tony and his parents are at the market intown when a new family moves in. It is the Sackville-Baggs, but they arehuman now. At first they don't recognize Tony, but a little whistle fromTony brings back their memories. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
