Play for Today (TV Series) Vampires (1979) User Reviews

Interesting story, not a horror

[begob · 6/10 · 20 December 2015]

A misfit boy obsesses over the vampire myth and finds what he's looking for.

Tender story that's well observed and shows attention to detail. The acting is very good from the children, and it's all convincing. Dialogue is very natural, and the close ups work well. The pace is spot on, the score good.

But not really a horror, since the the obsession doesn't result in a literal event, or even a climax - just kids letting their imaginations run free as they try to make sense of a world full of the sadness of death, desertion and authoritarianism.

An excellent TV film.

[philip_hindley · 10/10 · 22 January 2007]

I would like to see this TV film again, I haven't seen it since it was first screened in 1979, and I don't think it as ever been repeated. I remember there were lots of references to horror and sci-fi f Films,particularly there was a reference to The Quatermass Experiment. there was a scene where a woman teacher as a heart attack in the school assembly hall, also the lads get into the cemetery and are frightened off by a Dracula type figure who just happens to be a cemetery official. I like the bit where the lads are discussing the difference between sci-fi and horror ,one of them mentions that his sister remembers seeing this thing on the telly where this mans arm changes into a great big monstrous cactus type thing,obviously referring to THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT!!