Vamps (film)

Vamps is a 2012 American comedy horror film directed by Amy Heckerling, starring Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter. It was released on November 2, 2012.

Plot
Stacy (Krysten Ritter) and Goody (Alicia Silverstone), are two socialite vampires living the good life in New York City. Goody was turned in 1841 by the vampire stem Ciccerus (Sigourney Weaver). She struggled with her life as a vampire until Stacy was turned by Ciccerus sometime during the early 1990s. Goody was able to teach Stacy how to use her new abilities, like sustaining themselves on rat blood, but keeps her actual age a secret because she is afraid of being viewed as old.

While at a vampire meeting, Stacy explains how she struggled with drug addiction as a human, but is now happy since being a vampire gave her a second chance. Goody also discovers that if their maker or "stem" Ciccerus is ever killed, they would revert to their human ages. While working at a hospital as exterminators, Goody runs into her ex-boyfriend Danny (Richard Lewis), whom she has not seen since the 1960s. They re-connect under the pretense that she is Goody's daughter, but Danny eventually learns the truth when he sees her bite into another man to prevent a stroke. When he asks why she left him, Goody explains that even though she loved him, she did not want to stand in his way of finding someone he can actually build a life with.

A sub-plot about the vampires being sought by the government via the patriot act by using their electronic devices causes panic for the vampire's anonymous group. Goody along with their vampire-wannabe friend, the tech savvy Renfield and Danny (now a lawyer) come up with a plan to delete and change all the information about all the vampires in the New York area during a solar eclipse. After they succeed the vamps throw a party for both human and non-human feeders, and some old rivalries are put to rest. But all is endangered by Ciccerus who didn't attend and massacred an entire Asian restaurant full of people, because she's a psychotic monster.

Meanwhile, Stacy begins a relationship with a young college student named Joey (Dan Stevens). It is soon revealed that Joey is the son of the infamous vampire slayer Dr. Van Helsing (Wallace Shawn) who is in town to find and kill vampires. After spending the night at Joey's place, he sees Stacy crawling down the side of his apartment building in order to get home before the sun rises. Despite his initial shock, Joey accepts that Stacy is a vampire and the two resume dating. When Stacy begins vomit upon awakening every night, Goody discovers that Stacy is pregnant, but that the baby won't survive unless she becomes human again, which can only happen if they kill Ciccerus. To accomplish this they have to figure out where her tomb is, but Goody thanks to an old trivia game show, figures out that she has taken the tomb of Ulysses Grant because it's the one place in New York that nobody ever goes to.

Goody tells Stacy that they must become human again in order for her to stay pregnant, and the two decide that while they have had a lot of fun as vampires, "being young is getting kinda old". Goody then goes to Dr. Van Helsing to get his help in killing Ciccerus, and she advises him that vampires can only be killed via sunlight or decapitation. When asked why she wanted to become a vampire, Goody explained that her husband and sisters had been killed during a cholera epidemic, and that she had to stay alive in order to protect her two children. Van Helsing then has his assistant look up Goody's living descendants; most of them being doctors, teachers, and a politician. The girls team up with Joey and Dr. Van Helsing to track down Ciccerus and after a struggle, they end up killing Ciccerus so that Stacy can keep her baby and have a future with Joey. Stacy looks relatively the same despite being forty years old, but Goody rapidly ages into an old woman. Revealing her actual age, Goody accompanies Joey and Stacy to Times Square where Goody reminisces about her life. As the sun rises, she disintegrates into ash.

A few years later, Stacy and Joey show up at Dr. Van Helsing's house to pick up their young daughter, whom they have named after Goody. As Van Helsing plays with his granddaughter, he notices that the little girl sports a set of vampire fangs, but rather than being horrified he seems amused.

Cast

 * Alicia Silverstone as Goody
 * Krysten Ritter as Stacy
 * Sigourney Weaver as Ciccerus
 * Dan Stevens as Joey Van Helsing
 * Richard Lewis as Danny
 * Wallace Shawn as Dr. Van Helsing
 * Justin Kirk as Vadim
 * Malcolm McDowell as Vlad Tepes
 * Marilu Henner as Angela
 * Kristen Johnston as Mrs. Van Helsing
 * Zak Orth as Renfield
 * Larry Wilmore as Professor Quincy
 * Meredith Scott Lynn as Rita
 * Brian Backer as the Dentist
 * Taylor Negron as the Pizza Guy
 * Amir Arison as Derek
 * Todd Barry as Ivan
 * Gael García Bernal as Diego Bardem
 * Joel Michaely as Peter - Nerdy Sales Guy
 * Kledyr Jordano as Nick

Casting
Alicia Silverstone, who had already starred in Heckerling's Clueless, was offered the role after Heckerling came to see her in Time Stands Still. Krysten Ritter was Heckerling's first choice for the role of Stacy. Michelle Pfeiffer was initially offered the role of Ciccerus but had to turn it down due to scheduling commitments. Taylor Negron's pizza deliveryman character was a nod to Heckerling's earlier film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, where Negron's character delivers a pizza to Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) in a high school classroom.

Filming
Principal photography lasted 37 days in Detroit, while using New York for exterior shots. Red Hour Films produced the film, alongside Lucky Monkey Pictures.

Release
A limited theatrical release began on November 2, 2012, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release.

Reception
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 50% based on reviews from 16 critics.