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Welcome to The Overlooked Motel, a place where under-seen and unappreciated content gets its moment in the spotlight. I hope you enjoy your stay here and find the accommodations suitable. Now, please take a seat and make yourself comfortable. I have some misbehaving guests to ‘correct.’
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Today on The Overlooked Motel, we’re recalling an all-but-forgotten ‘80s horror comedy in the vein of Once Bitten. Jimmy Huston’s My Best Friend Is a Vampire has a similar vibe to the aforementioned effort and features some narrative parallels, like an older woman seducing a younger, inexperienced male teenager before turning him into a creature of the night. However, this 1987 effort diverges from its peers thematically as it eventually becomes a commentary on the queer experience. Wrapped in the guise of a horror comedy, My Best Friend Is a Vampire delivers a mixture of subtext and teen movie tropes. Anyone who enjoys a lost export from the ‘80s with something to say is likely to have fun with this one.
My Best Friend Is a Vampire follows high school student Jeremy (Robert Sean Leonard), an awkward, inexperienced fellow who works part-time as a grocery delivery driver. On a routine drop-off, Jeremy meets Nora (Cecilia Peck), an alluring older woman who previously appeared to him in a rather sexually charged dream sequence. Nora takes an immediate interest in young Jeremy and comes on rather strong, which initially makes him quite nervous. In fact, Jeremy bolts from her home after his first encounter. However, Nora’s obvious interest in carnal relations motivates him to return to her domicile with designs on getting to know her in the biblical sense.
Upon his fateful return, Nora bites Jeremy, causing some unexpected changes in the coming days. Further complicating matters, when vampire hunter Leopold McCarthy (David Warner) sees Jeremy’s best friend, Ralph (Evan Mirand), picking him up outside Nora’s house, he mistakenly assumes Ralph is afflicted and begins plotting to stake the young man. As Jeremy undergoes a series of changes, his parents start to mistakenly assume that he is gay. From there, plenty of comedic hijinks ensue.
If you’ve yet to experience this under-seen effort, you might be tempted to assume that Ralph is the protagonist. The title surely seems to imply as much. But that’s simply not the case. Perhaps that’s why the flick was released outside the U.S. under the more appropriate title I Was a Teenage Vampire.
Jeremy is, in fact, the star of this show; this is his story. Screenwriter Tab Murphy uses Jeremy’s arc to speak not only to the adolescent experience but also to speak to coming to terms with one’s queer identity. To be clear, Jeremy is depicted as straight in the film, but his vampirism is nonetheless used as a parallel for the coming out process and the quest for self-acceptance that follows.
Jeremy isn’t like a lot of other guys his age, a distinction that is hammered home often. Some film scholars have posited that Jeremy is actually gay, but I think the more likely possibility is that his sexuality is sometimes painted as ambiguous to support the film’s subtext on the queer experience. After all, if he were an archetype closer to that of his best pal Ralph, the subtext wouldn’t be as easy to attach.
As for the subtext (and text) on queer identity, the film is surprisingly respectful at every turn, especially for a picture released in 1987. Much of the messaging plays out by virtue of Jeremy’s relationship with his parents (Fannie Flagg and Kenneth Kimmins). They begin to assume he’s gay when they see and hear him interacting with an older, debonair gentleman called Modoc (René Auberjonois). In a surprising turn, however, they do what they can to come to his aid, attempting to stretch themselves, reading up on the coming out process, rather than turning their backs on him.
Such a reaction is expected in contemporary cinema, but for a film released almost 40 years ago, that type of messaging is groundbreaking. Although their reactions aren’t always perfect, Jeremy’s parents never judge their son. That’s heartwarming because countless queer kids in the ‘80s desperately sought acceptance from their caregivers, and many of them had to turn to found family for that level of support.
Queer themes aside, the film also functions remarkably well as an ‘80s teen comedy. There are times when the vampire trappings briefly take a backseat to the rom-com-style relationship between Jeremy and his classmate, Darla (Cheryl Pollak). It’s refreshing to see him take an interest in her. She’s a beautiful young woman, but she isn’t the type of queen bee character the male lead would normally pine for in a teen comedy with a social hierarchy reminiscent of a John Hughes film. Instead, Darla has short hair, plays the saxophone, and isn’t particularly popular. Despite being a slightly unorthodox pick for the love interest in an ‘80s movie, Darla quickly endears herself as spunky, sweet, funny, and engaging.
As for the horror elements, they are somewhat understated here. There is nearly no graphic violence on display; in fact, the film boasts a family-friendly PG rating. But don’t let that deter you. This is a horror comedy with heart, a film that serves as the perfect gateway to the genre. My Best Friend Is a Vampire is the type of film you can show to a friend who is normally squeamish about violence to introduce them to genre cinema.
Overall, it’s nice to see My Best Friend Is a Vampire carve out an unexpected path, eschew convention, and speak to the queer experience in the process. If My Best Friend Is a Vampire was released in 2025, I’d be praising it for many of the same conceits. But seeing as it bowed in 1987, that makes this film years ahead of its time.
If you now find yourself keen to experience this under-seen ‘80s horror comedy, you have a couple of options for doing just that. The film is available to stream on Tubi, and you can also pick it up on physical media.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you would like to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter, Threads, or Instagram.
Categorized:Editorials The Overlook Motel