My Babysitter's a Vampire

The unimpressive MY BABYSITTER'S A VAMPIRE is a Canadian-produced comedy/fantasy that taps into tweens' and teens' thirst (pun intended) for all things vampire. And for anyone even remotely familiar with the Twilight phenomenon, its teen-vamps-assimilating-into-high-school-life plot will sound a little trite. What's more, the substory follows the characters' obsession with a vamp-themed movie series called Dusk, clips from which are interspersed throughout the show to draw similarities between its story and the series' in a manner that spoofs both the Twilight plot and fans' affection for it.

Unoriginality aside, the series offers little that's noteworthy. The acting is strained (although its exaggerated style adds to the show's overall campiness), and the plot is unimpressive. On the plus side, there are some fleeting teaching moments to be found in Sarah's determination to stand up to the vampires' pressure to drink human blood and in offhand remarks that speak out against teen drinking and drug use. This series is too scary for young kids, and there's a lot of violence, but because it's got a certain campiness that lightens the mood and it obscures much of the biting and greatly limits the gore, it's probably OK for a slightly younger crowd than Twilight attracts.