>“O Kennedy, thou custard-cuck,
>why steal jelly when thou could have shared my Bavarian cream?”
Plot
The Emerson family—teenager Michael, his younger brother Sam, and their recently divorced mother Lucy—move to the seaside town of Santa Carla, California, to live with Lucy's eccentric father ("Grandpa"). Lucy takes a job at a video store owned by Max, who takes a romantic interest in her. At the local comic-book store, Sam meets the Frog brothers, Edgar and Alan, self-proclaimed vampire hunters, who claim the undead have infested the town.
Meanwhile, Michael becomes drawn to Star, a beautiful girl he meets on the boardwalk. He notices Star spending time with David, the charismatic leader of a local gang that includes Paul, Dwayne, and Marko. Sensing Michael's interest in Star, David challenges him to keep up with them on their motorcycles, leading him to their hideout in a former luxury hotel buried during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. There, David manipulates Michael's perception, making his food appear as maggots or worms, before offering him a bottle of red liquid. Although Star warns him that it contains blood, Michael drinks. David's gang then leads him to a railway bridge, where they hang suspended over a vast drop, each member eventually letting go and disappearing into the fog. Michael, unable to hold on, falls, but he inexplicably lands safely in his bed.
Michael begins to change; he becomes sensitive to light, finds normal food revolting, and notices his reflection fading. He develops a craving for blood and nearly attacks Sam, but Sam's dog, Nanook, intervenes and stops him. Though terrified, Sam agrees to help Michael and deduces that he is turning into a vampire. His transformation will only be complete, though, if he feeds on human blood, and it may be reversible if they kill the head vampire. Sam, Edgar, and Alan suspect Max is the head vampire, but after Max is invited to dinner at Lucy's house, they notice he has a reflection.
David and his gang attempt to push Michael into killing by revealing their true monstrous faces and demonstrating their ability to fly as they murder a group of partygoers. Michael resists the temptation to feed. Later, Star confides in Michael that Laddie, a young member of the gang, and she are also only partly transformed, as they, too, have refused to kill. She admits that David wanted her to kill Michael to complete her transformation. Determined to save her, Michael leads Sam and the Frog brothers to the gang's lair during the day while the vampires are sleeping. They stake and kill Marko, whose pained screams awaken the others. The boys narrowly escape with Star and Laddie, as David vows to hunt them down that night.
Michael, Sam, and the Frog brothers prepare for the gang's impending assault, arming themselves with holy water, a longbow, and stakes. As night falls, David's gang breaks into the Emerson home. In the ensuing fight, Sam, Nanook, and the Frog brothers kill Paul and Dwayne, while Michael takes on David. Michael resists David's urging to accept his transformation and impales him on Grandpa's collection of antlers. Despite David's death, Michael's transformation is not undone, leading the group to realize that David was not the head vampire.