Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire is a 2000 made-for-television Disney comedy horror film directed by Steve Boyum from a screenplay by Robert Keats, based on a story by Lindsay Naythons. It stars Matt O’Leary, Caroline Rhea, Charles Shaughnessy, Laura Vandervoort, and Robert Carradine.
Lynette Hansen (Caroline Rhea) is a single mother who has grounded her teenage kids Adam (Matt O’Leary) and Chelsea (Laura Vandervoort) for misbehaving. But Adam’s best friend has scored tickets for a rock concert, while Chelsea is trying to find a way to keep a date with her boyfriend.
Chelsea thinks she may have the solution when she arranges for Lynette to go on a blind date with a mysterious but good-looking stranger, Dimitri Dentatois (Charles Shaughnessy); with Mom out of the house, slipping out for some fun will be a breeze.
However, the youngest member of the Hansen family, Taylor (Myles Jeffrey), is a big horror movie buff, and when he meets Dimitri, he’s convinced that his mom is going out on the town with a creature of the night…
Reviews:
” …Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire fully embodies the “anything can happen” vibe of All Hallows’ Eve. Kids ride their bikes through sleepy suburban streets at nighttime, the supermarket is decked out with festive cardboard décor, the fall carnival is in full swing, and the excitement surrounding a Headless Horseman rock concert is electrifying the town.” Derek Anderson, Daily Dead
“All of the cast give likeable performances. There are some very cheap morphing effects. The result is amiable and bubbly enough not to wear out the silliness of a mildly amusing premise. This is a film that manages to straddle being a vampire film, children’s film and plant its tongue-in-cheek, all with an appealing balance.” Richard Scheib, Moria
“There are a lot of hidden jokes for fans of the genre and a great implementation of archetypes commonly found in horror films. The discovery of the threat and the willingness to believe it’s true is very tied in to character arcs in the film. Those arcs are accentuated by how good the performances are…” Bernardo Villela, The Movie Rat
Cast and characters:
- Caroline Rhea as Lynette Hansen – Sabrina the Teenage Witch
- Matthew [aka Matt] O’Leary as Adam Hansen – Santa Clarita Diet; Stung; Sorority Row; Frailty
- Robert Carradine as Malachi Van Helsing – Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda; Slumber Party Slaughter; The Terror Experiment; The 13th Alley; Tooth and Nail; Monster Night; Attack of the Sabertooth; Ghosts of Mars; Lycanthrope; Humanoids from the Deep (1996); Body Bags; et al
- Laura Vandervoort as Chelsea Hansen – Jigsaw; Bitten; V; Goosebumps
- Myles Jeffrey as Taylor Hansen
- Charles Shaughnessy as Dimitri Denatos – Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated; Gargoyles TV series; Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
- Jake Epstein as Duffy
- J. Adam Brown as Boomer
