I Woke Up a Vampire is a fantasy teen comedy show created by Thomas Lynch (The Secret World of Alex Mack). Directed by Michael McGowan, Warren P. Sonoda, Jesse Shamata, and Lisa Rose Snow. Although there are 16 episodes, only 8 episodes are released with a runtime of about 25-30 minutes.
The ensemble cast of the show includes Kaileen Angelic Chang as Carmie Henley, Zebastin Borjeau as Dylan Helsing, Niko Ceci as Kev Gardner, Ana Araujo as Leanna Timmons, Kris Siddiqi as The Collector, Aaliyah Cinello as Madison Spencer, Delia Lisette Chambers as Jayden Henley, Charlotte Legault as Shapeshifter and others.
I Woke Up a Vampire Review
On her 13th birthday, Carmie wakes up from a strange dream where a mysterious voice is constantly calling her a vampling. While she doesn’t think much of it & is excited to audition for her school musical, she realises that it was more than a dream when she found herself floating in the air. Moreover, she can talk to her dog Rainey as well. Her best friend Kev is sceptical when she shows how her skin glows up in camera & mirrors until he witnesses her kick a giant garbage can off a curb, across the street, and all the way up into a tree.
Kev’s learned enough from reading comic books to know what vamplings are and how dangerous it can be for them. He warns Carmie that people who gain superpowers also tend to gain enemies and she’d better watch out. Just then we meet Dylan, a hunter who catches supernatural beings living in the human world. He calls them the Mythics or the Blendeds, as they blend themselves with humans to avoid getting caught. Just like the stars align in the worst way possible, he also enrols in Carmie’s school as he suspects blended there.
On the other hand, Carmie just wants to show off her new powers to the whole world. She goes head-to-head with mean girl Leanna (Araujo), as they try to out-sabotage each other in the school musical auditions. Kev tries to extract as much information about the blended from the comic books, unaware of the fact that the store owner is the one who pays Dylan to hunt down the mythics. He trades them to a shapeshifter in exchange for a ‘jewel’ that he wants to possess.
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The show will heavily remind you of the popular shows from the 2000s, where teenagers look their age and do silly things that you would expect of them, instead of trying to be a glamourised grown-up. It follows the typical teen show formula with a self-absorbed lead, a hands-on best friend and extra loving family, yet she feels an emptiness. She knows she is different from others but can’t put a finger on one particular thing. So when she realises that she has vampire powers and knows that she was adopted as a kid, the search for her biological parents is what keeps her going.
However, the comedy and jokes feel too forced and often fall flat. In the situations, they don’t intend to be comedic, feel much funnier instead. Also, the visual effects to show a werewolf or even glowing skin of Carmie doesn’t stand up to the expectations despite having the better technology available nowadays. There are lots of loopholes in the story that don’t make sense like they never go to class. School is just about musical practice & the principal is the one managing it all (?)
It was good to see that the antagonist/bully is not shown as an evil mean girl, but a regular high schooler with a bit more self-esteem. But her antics just become boring when she blabbers on & on about how great she is at everything. I would take a bully from hell instead of listening to her every few minutes. On a little bright side, Dylan’s scenes will directly teleport you to the summer vacation as a kid – watching bit low-resolution shows on a box television.
Another disappointing fact is that they only released 8 episodes when all 16 episodes are already available on Prime Video or Apple TV in selected regions. And there are no immediate plans to release the next ones on Netflix. It’s better to watch it on the streaming platforms with a complete show, instead of watching an incomplete story on Netflix. Overall, I Woke Up a Vampire is mainly targeted towards pre-teens who would find it much more enjoyable than an adult, without trying to find logic to things. However, if you are seeking Disney’s old vibe then it can be a good autumn binge-watch while scrolling on your phone.
Rating: 3/5
I Woke Up a Vampire is available for streaming on Netflix, Apple TV and Prime Video.
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