One of my absolute favorite pastimes is watching old Halloween content on YouTube. Most of my nights end with a compilation of vintage Halloween commercials, old Halloween safety PSAs, or Halloween specials from my youth. There's nothing I find more relaxing.
A few days ago, I suddenly had a memory of an old spooky cartoon I hadn't in seen ages, a movie I used to rent from the video store as a child called The Ketchup Vampires, and felt compelled to look it up.
Both The Ketchup Vampires and its sequel/prequel Ketchup Vampires 2 are available on YouTube. And let me tell you, this unlocked some major memories for me!
The original movie is dated 1995, so I would have been seven or eight at the time, depending on the month of its release. But I vividly remember discovering it at our local video rental place.
I had wandered over to the children's section while my mother looked through the new releases in the main part of the store. Looking right at me from the top shelf at the front of the section was this cover:
Now, being such a scaredy-cat child, it was difficult for me to find spooky content that I could actually watch without it causing me panic after the fact. This was around the time that I would have still been reeling from an episode of the show Ghostwriter, which wasn't even really intended to be a scary show, about a slime monster. (One day this may get its own post, but it is mentioned here if you're curious.) And, depending on the time in 1995 that this was released, it was likely also around the same time period as when I was terrified to go near mirrors because of Bloody Mary. To say my mother was extra-cautious about what sort of spooky media I consumed during this time, was an understatement. I very vividly remember running back over to her and telling her all about it, and the second she heard the word "vampires", she got extremely reluctant. I desperately pleaded my case, arguing that if the vampires were consuming ketchup, the whole point was for it not to be scary! If anything it would probably be funny! And, thankfully for my young spooky heart, she eventually gave in.
The funny thing is, I don't actually remember a whole lot about my thoughts on the actual story at that age, but I remember that I became absolutely obsessed with The Ketchup Vampires and rented the movie every chance I got. I don't know if I even liked the story so much as I just liked the spooky atmosphere of it, but it consumed my thoughts for awhile. I don't remember when I finally moved onto the next thing, but it was definitely my life for a period of time.
Then, as luck would have it, the following year, I walked into the video store to find that a sequel had been made!
I was so, so excited to rent it...I believe I'd even had my heart set on a different movie that evening but whatever other thoughts I'd been having completely evaporated when I discovered Ketchup Vampires 2. Though if I recall correctly, I didn't like it as much as the first movie because it actually turned out to be a prequel, and focused a lot on the love story between the two main characters, rather than expanding the story.
I don't know at what point I finally stopped watching the Ketchup Vampires movies, but I can tell you I never really forgot them. In fact, when Twilight first became a thing, I remember being greatly amused that the human lover of the main vampire in both movies was named Bella. And honestly, when thinking about vampires in general, the vibe of the Ketchup Vampires, minus the Ketchup part, is usually what comes to my mind first. Perhaps because it was my first real exposure to those sorts of characters.
Watching the movies again was such a nostalgia trip! Remembering the imagery but not the storyline so much was actually a lot of fun. I was expecting to be laughing my ass off at how ridiculous a cartoon about vampires drinking ketchup instead of blood must be, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by it, and it was super fun to remember.
The basic gist of the story is, a family of vampires who didn't want to drink blood, started a race of "ketchup vampires", and this particular group lucked into finding a home with a scientist, who happens to have a ketchup factory in his castle. This particular family is actually responsible for vampires making this epic shift in red stuff, as told through a flashback of the parents stealing an ancient book that, when red from during a ceremony, would commence the vampires officially becoming bloodsuckers. Sadly, though, this means their son, Pino (Short for "Vampino" because do vampires ever name their children anything original?) is some sort of chosen one and if he were to kiss a particular vampire girl, namely Huberta, who I'm pretty sure is described as being his cousin in the second movie, things would go back to bloody normal in the vampire world. It's a fun little adventure as the more "evil" vampires scheme to get Pino to join them, and as Pino figures things out and thwarts it all, with the help of his human girlfriend Bella, whose name still amuses me. There are also some really cute little animated bats, two of whom fall in love, get married, and have babies in what seems to be depicted as the span of a few hours. And, perhaps the best part, it's narrated by none other than Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, who is honestly the original Queen Of Halloween and probably the very first person who inspired me to build a life around spooky things.
I will say, I kind of wish they'd released the movies in the opposite order as, watching it as an adult, the first movie doesn't make a whole lot of sense on its own. None of the backstory except for the thing with the book is explored until the second one. In the first, Pino and his family are already living at the castle, he and Bella are already together, there are some random characters we seem to be expected to already know...it does kind of read like starting a book in the middle. As an adult I think I actually prefer the second movie, as it actually tells a story. Bella is actually a pretty cool character, being so obsessed with vampires and spooky things. I did find out, though, while reading some comments on the YouTube videos, that The Ketchup Vampires was actually originally a television series, and was originally in German! Most of at least the first movie seems to be lifted and stitched together from that. Some of the episodes do seem to be on YouTube, so I may have to watch them one day and see how they measure up against the movies of my youth. But, in the meantime, if you're looking for something spooky, fun, and nostalgic, I would definitely recommend giving the two movies a watch. If you grew up watching 80s or 90s Halloween specials, you're bound to feel some nostalgia, even if you'd didn't see these during their original moment in the sun...no pun intended.
Did anyone else happen to watch these movies as a kid? Or even stumble across them as an adult? Or maybe, possibly, is anyone familiar with the original German series? I would love to know!
Stay spooky, my friends.
Comments
Post a Comment