My Babysitter's a Vampire
My Babysitter's a Vampire is a Canadian comedy horror television movie starring Vanessa Morgan and Matthew Knight. The film's plot centers on a group of teenagers, one of them a vampire unwittingly hired by a couple to babysit their daughter in lieu of their somewhat untrustworthy son, and their efforts to foil a plot to resurrect a cult group of dead vampires.
My Babysitter's a Vampire | |
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Original movie poster | |
Written by | Tim Burns (teleplay) Tom McGillis (executive story editor) Jennifer Pertsch (executive story editor) |
Directed by | Bruce McDonald |
Starring | Matthew Knight Vanessa Morgan Atticus Mitchell Cameron Kennedy Kate Todd |
Theme music composer | James Chapple Brian Pickett Dave Kelly Graeme Cornies theme song "Girl Next Door" by Copperpot Written by Jarrett Randazzo |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Brian Irving |
Editor(s) | Ellen Fine |
Running time | 81 minutes |
Production company(s) | Fresh TV |
Distributor | FremantleMedia |
Release | |
Original network | Teletoon/Télétoon |
Original release |
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The movie aired on October 9, 2010, on the Canadian television channel Teletoon. The French version of the film aired on Teletoon's French-Canadian counterpart, Télétoon, on October 16, 2010. It premiered in the United States on Disney Channel June 10, 2011.[1]
Plot
Ethan Morgan is a geeky freshman, not trusted by his parents to stay home alone with his little sister Jane. They hire Erica, a girl from Ethan's high school who is a huge fan of Dusk (a parody of Twilight), as a babysitter. However, Erica comes across her best friend Sarah and Jesse, Sarah's vampire ex-boyfriend, on the night she is to babysit, and decides to attend a party that Jesse is throwing instead. During a fight between Sarah and Jesse, Sarah ends up at Ethan's house and tells Ethan's parents that she was asked to babysit instead. Ethan suddenly has a vision when touching Sarah, and notices she has no reflection in the mirror, leaving him suspicious of her. He confides this in his dorky best friend, Benny (Atticus Mitchell).
Sarah leaves to get Erica back from the party, knowing the party is full of bloodthirsty vampires. Curious, the boys have Benny's grandmother watch over Jane while they follow Sarah. They see her feed on a rat and realize she is a vampire. Sarah quickly explains that she is only a fledgling, a vampire who has not drunk human blood. The three of them return home, where they are attacked by a vampire sent by Jesse. The vampire is subdued by Sarah, and they head to the vampire party to save Erica and their dimwitted friend, Rory. However, Erica has been bitten by Gord and later bites Rory. Ethan, Benny, and Sarah then battle the vampires and escape.
The next day, Rory, now a full vampire after drinking human blood, informs Ethan and Benny that Jesse's gang are going to church, so Ethan, Benny, and Sarah follow them. Ethan has a vision in which he sees a gravestone, whose dates unscramble to the number 219, and a mysterious box, which is then uncovered by the vampires. The box is called the Cubile Animus or "Nest of Souls". Ethan and Sarah figure out Jesse's full plan from an old book, learning that in the original settlement of the town, there was a person who went by the name and title of Reverend Horace Black, who led an evil cabal of vampires. During a lunar eclipse, the townspeople burned all the members, leading to all '219' of their deaths. In another vision, Ethan sees that Jesse is, in fact, Horace Black, and plans to use the box to trap the souls of teens going to see the premiere of the new Dusk movie so he can resurrect the souls of his ancient group during the lunar eclipse occurring on the same night.
Benny's grandmother, who reveals that she is an Earth Priestess, gives Ethan, Benny and Sarah enchanted daggers and a spellbook to defeat the vampires. She explains that Ethan sees visions because he is a Seer, which enables him to see visions through touch, and that Benny is a spellmaster, allowing him to cast spells. At the theater, the vampires begin to steal the souls of the teens, but are thwarted by Ethan, Benny and Sarah. Jesse escapes, with Ethan and Benny in pursuit. In another vision, Ethan sees the tree he saw inside the old book, realizing it's the tree in his backyard, where they find Jesse. As the eclipse begins, Jesse attempts to hold Ethan and Benny down and resurrect the souls he already obtained from the Cubile Animus, but Sarah intervenes. When the box lands in Ethan's hands, he releases the vengeful souls that were captured, which destroy Jesse and return to their bodies.
The next day, Ethan, Benny and Sarah head to school, meeting Erica and Rory, who have decided to live peacefully as vampires.
Cast
- Matthew Knight – Ethan
- Vanessa Morgan – Sarah
- Atticus Mitchell – Benny
- Cameron Kennedy – Rory
- Kate Todd – Erica
- Joe Dinicol – Jesse
- Ella Jonas Farlinger – Jane
- Ari Cohen – Ethan's Dad
- Laura DeCarteret – Ethan's Mom
- Hrant Alianak – Principal Hicks
- Joan Gregson – Grandma
- Cassie Steele – Rochelle
- Jamie Johnston – James
Broadcast
The movie originally premiered on Teletoon on October 9, 2010, and on Télétoon on October 16, 2010. In the United States it premiered on June 10, 2011, and in the UK and Ireland on October 3, 2011.
Television series
A television series based on the film has been produced. It was created by Fresh TV, creators of 6teen and Total Drama. The first four episodes of the series aired on Teletoon (English) from March 14, 2011, to March 17, 2011 and on Télétoon (French) from February 28, 2011, to March 3, 2011. The series formally premiered in Canada on January 5, 2011, on both channels. The series premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2011,[2] in the United States, and the channel aired all the episodes of the first season in the US before they premiered in Canada. The first season officially premiered in Canada on January 5, 2012.[1] It was produced by Fresh TV.
Season 2 of the show has been greenlit by Fresh TV, and was originally revealed by Vanessa Morgan on her official, personal Twitter.[3] Filming began on September 21, 2011, to November 17, 2011. The same day filming ended, Disney Channel announced they would pick it up for a second season. The second season first premiered on Disney Channel in the US on June 29, 2012. It made its premiere on Teletoon in Canada on September 6, 2012. The series is currently on hiatus as of April 2013,[4] but a second movie is being planned.
Reception
Critical response
It holds a 74% audience approval in Rotten Tomatoes.[5] Pretty Famous gave it a smart rating of 82.[6]
Ratings
On its original airing on June 10, 2011, on Disney Channel in the United States, the TV film pulled approximately 4.18 million total viewers and 0.6 rating in the age 18-49 demographic, ranking in seventh place in that age demographic but leading that night in top total viewers.[7]
Awards and nominations
Year | Group | Award | Recipient(s) | Result |
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2011 | Gemini Award[8][9] | Best Dramatic Mini-Series or TV Movie | My Babysitter's a Vampire | Nominated |
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | Atticus Mitchell | Nominated | ||
Directors Guild of Canada Award[10] | Best Direction in a Television Movie or Mini-Series | Bruce McDonald | Nominated | |
Best Production Design in a Television Movie or Mini-Series | Ingrid Jurek | Nominated | ||
Best Sound Editing in a Television Movie or Mini-Series | Gren-Erich Zwicker, and Richard Calistan | Nominated |
See also
- Vampire film
References
- "Disney Channel Kicks Off Summer With "My Babysitter's a Vampire"". Fanlala. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- "Disney Channel Staking Claim to My Babysitter's a Vampire". Dread Central. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
- Fresh TV. "Teletoon Canada Greenlights My Babysitter's a Vampire for Second Season". Astral. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
- "Kool345 TV Cancels My Babysitter's a Vampire Due to Steep Ratings Drop from Season 1 to Season 2". Kool345 TV.
- "My Babysitter's a Vampire". www.rottentomatoes.com. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- "My Babysitter". movies.prettyfamous.com. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
- Gorman, Bill (June 13, 2011). "Friday Cable Ratings: 'American Restoration' Tops Night + 'Smackdown!;' 'Camelot' Ends Season Well Below 'Spartacus' Prequel".
- "And the 2011 Gemini Awards nominees are…". kidscreen.com. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
- "Gemini Nominee List" (PDF). geminiawards.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- "2011 Directors Guild of Canada Awards Nominees Announced". Retrieved August 15, 2011.