Vampire Dad_Poster

Movie Review: Vampire Dad (2020)

After a fantastic opening that is the unholy blend of Lichtenstein by way of E.C. Comics we get down to brass tacks with Vampire Dad…Psychologist Dr. Raymond Walenski (Jackson Hurst) is the ultimate early ’60’s father figure; a great husband and father with an ideal suburban lifestyle… but that goes to shit right quick when he’s turned into a bloodsuckin’ fang-banger thanks to the beastly bite of Victoria, the Goddess of the Underworld (Sarah Palmer)!

Now that he’s a full-fledged creature of the night, Doc Walenski is offered the position of therapist to the monsters of the world by vicious Victoria; and soon he’s balls deep in the neurotic n’ demonic denizens of the midnight hour… a fact that Walenski’s wife tries to keep from family and neighbor’s alike!

If you ever wished The Addams’ Family had a dash more Ozzie and Harriet and a pinch of The Bob Newhart Show then Vampire Dad is the picture for you!

Writer (along with Kathryn M. Moseley)/director Frankie Ingrassia delivers a horror comedy that is as refreshingly unique as it is entertaining… and that is a wonderful thing indeed my cats n’ creeps!

The idea of a therapist made into a creature-feature nightmare in order to facilitate optimal mental health among his putrid peers is amusing enough, but integrate classic sitcom tropes into the wicked witches’ brew and you have an irresistible recipe for prime eerie entertainment that will appeal to fans of the aforementioned Addams’ Family as well as The Munsters… not to mention comic books such as Batton Lash’s Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre… as well as those of us that grew up with re-runs of more traditional ’60s and 70’s sitcom material.

If I could change one thing about Vampire Dad it would be the following: I would have presented this in black and white and included a canned laugh track… would that have been too much? Fuck it, commit to the bit and all that (though that admittedly would have made this picture harder to market)…

As it stands, Vampire Dad is a winner; it has a ton of heart, a great cast, and is a one-of-a-kind horror comedy… plus it’s a rare (and glorious) thing when Nick At Night fodder meets our beloved horror biz!

Vampire Dad will release on DVD, on-demand and on all digital platforms on June 16, 2020.