It has been a while since I’ve watched an animated movie but this one seemed right up my alley.  With a love of vampires, demons and all things that go bump in the night, and with Halloween just around the corner this seemed like a good fit.  This movie boasts an impressive cast of Ray Liotta, Emilio Estevez, Marion Ross, Nathan Gamble, Ariel Winter and Matthew Lillard among others. 

Described by Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment as:

“Unwilling to wait until Christmas so he can write to Santa, Sam decides to write to Dracula for Halloween instead.  Much to his surprise, Dracula personally responds, showing up at Sam’s doorstep and turning his life upside down. “

This is a very clever movie for kids and adults alike, each will get something a little bit different from it.  Sam is the outcast, he lives with his Grandma and has a pet spider and does not do well in social situations.  I’m not going to lie, the spider creeped me out at first, I have issues with spiders, but I grew to love Webber and dare I call him ‘adorable’. 

Sam struggles with his self confidence, something that every young child will deal with at some point.  Your usual stereotypical characters are involved here, the cheerleaders, ‘cool kids’ and the girl next door who see’s past Sam’s own insecurities .   The movie takes place at a neighbourhood Halloween party where Dracula and ultimately Sam learn some important lessons.

Sam and Dracula use their time together to help each other out, Dracula teaches Sam how to gain his self confidence around his peers.  In return Sam helps Dracula get his scare on, as people are just not scared by traditional monsters any more.  You see, as Dracula points out, Halloween today is not what it is used to be.  The Count comments on how Halloween just isn’t scary any more, one little boy dresses up as a hot dog…what is scary about that? 

I think my favourite line of the movie was when Dracula came head to head with Kirk, the self confessed ‘cool guy’.  Kirk arrives to the local party dressed as a vampire, with a costume simply made up of fangs.    “You look like a pretty boy with a bad set of teeth.”

This is a fun movie for all the family to enjoy, with nice little nods to the state of horror movies and vampires in today’s culture.  Younger viewers will enjoy the movie for face value and see a little of themselves in Sam, older viewers will also find themselves identifying with Sam and also with the points made by Dracula, reminding you that all you need to get your mojo back is a little help from your friends.