Poster of Vampire High

Vampire High

Drama, Fantasy

Director: N/A

Release Date: September 15, 2001

Where to Watch

Stephenie Meyer owes some money to Vampire High: insipid human vamp romance, vampire wedding, etc. Unlike Twilight, these vampires can be brutal and obey most of the well-known rules. These vamps don’t sparkle though they also have their peculiar biology traits, supernatural talents and legal rules. It felt like Vampire High’s creators were inspired by Buffy’s premise, but flipped it so the series could follow the vamps. Don’t expect Buffy quality. Initially the series is cringe worthy at best, but Vampire High has a talent for recognizing missteps and eventually correcting them. The series picks up speed as it mostly abandons the humans’ story lines and begins to explore the vampires relationships with each other-around episode 9. I think that the series’ creators realized that the initial leads were duds and got more interested in the formerly supporting characters. In the opening title sequence, there is an allusion to a vampire civil war, but it is rarely the focus of the series. The premise of Vampire High is that vampires need to embrace their human side to survive as a species. When the vampires do that, the show initially had difficulty differentiating them from their human teen counterparts despite the age and experience difference, but around episode 13, the show seems to correct that mistake. Some of the rules of this world remain unclear although towards the end of the series, it begins to take focus. Why do only some human beings know about vampires-there is even a government agency, but not all? Why is one human of his own volition allied to the vampires and is resistant to their powers–think Giles for vamps? What makes him special? It was impressive that for a show with a limited budget, I kept forgetting that there are few scene changes. I did keep thinking that it was a bad idea to have clueless human teens and vampires in such close proximity, but at least unlike Vampire Knight, the humans weren’t knowingly interacting with them. Still it is a recipe for trouble, and many contrived story lines were born. Not a must see except for die hard vamp fans with a little spare time-perfect background tv.

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