Vampire High

Synopsis

Cast

Main characters

• Jeff Roop as Drew French, a dark, silent and mysterious vampire, and reluctant leader of the "night students". He has been a vampire since the 1800s, and in his mortal life, had been an artist named Edward Vincente. He falls in love with a mortal, Sherry Woods, who Drew believes is his "One", a vampiric term referring to one's soul mate. Drew has the power to see and hear things happening far away. When Sherry dies, Drew is deeply affected and almost returns to his predatory ways in the hopes that reclaiming his emotionless vampiric life will make the pain of losing Sherry go away. When this doesn't work, he plans to kill himself by sunlight but is confronted by Dillan who tells him that killing himself would only dishonor Sherry's memory.
• Meghan Ory as Sherry Woods, an unusual mortal girl who falls in love with a vampire, namely Drew. Before Drew came into her life, she had a relationship with fellow human student Nick McAllister, which she broke off because of his arrogant, dominating personality. However, she seems to have some unresolved feelings about Nick, because she doesn`t completely ignore his endless attempts to get her back. But eventually she does end up giving her heart to Drew, which leads to tragic results. Right after Sherry finds out that Drew is a vampire, she develops appendicitis, her appendix bursting before an ambulance arrives. Drew attempts to turn her into a vampire to save her but before he can bite her, she dies.
• Ilona Elkin as Merrill Young, vampire. She initially appears timid, bookish and soft-spoken, but as the series progresses, it becomes apparent that Merrill does have a conniving and often malevolent side she tries to keep suppressed. She believes that Drew is her 'One,' and is deeply upset when he falls for Sherry. In her jealousy, she possibly causes the appendicitis attack which kills Sherry, a possibility which haunts her afterwards. She later begins to develop an attraction to another vampire, Marty. Merrill has the power to read other people's minds and dream slide. Of all the vampires, she is the one most determined to succeed at the experiment. She is also the only one whose "Maker" is identified, namely a trashy, trampy vampire named Patsy LaRue. As an extra note, she keeps a pet rat she calls Bela.
• Paul Hopkins as Karl Todman, a newbie vampire who is easily led astray in the program, particularly by Marty. He looks up to Drew, and has a romantic relationship with Essie. Prior to becoming a vampire, he was a popular football player at his old high school, Wrenfield High, located a few miles from Mansbridge. As the youngest of the vampires, Karl is shown having the most trouble adapting to his situation, and often yearns for his old life. His first bite as a vampire was on a female ex-classmate at Wrenfield on whom he had a crush, draining her on the night of their school prom. He has a mother and younger sister, neither of whom know that he is a vampire.
• Karen Cliche as Essie Rachimova, a glamorous vampire of royal lineage. She was originally a member of the Russian Royal Court just before the Revolution, and claims that Tsar Nicholas II, Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna and Grigori Rasputin were all vampires. She develops an awkward and turbulent relationship with Karl. Essie has the power of hypnotic suggestion, sometimes using this power to wipe the memories of people who accidentally witness the vampires' activities.
• Joris Jarsky as Marty Strickland, another vampire. Somewhat wayward and rebel-esque, Marty is noted for his humorous outlook on life and light-hearted nature. He initially agrees to join in the Mansbridge Experiment because of the offer of a free and regular supply of blood, but starts to rediscover his lost humanity in spite of himself. He has an intense rivalry with Drew, and becomes romantically interested in Merrill Young. Marty has the power to telekinetically move objects with his mind.
• David McIlwraith as Dr Reginald Murdoch, the enigmatic and mysterious head of Mansbridge High, and of the Mansbridge Experiment. He has his work cut out for him not only in trying to make the Mansbridge Experiment a success, and dealing with the problems of both the night and the day students, but also in keeping the one group from snacking on the other. It is not fully revealed exactly what he is, though there are hints he is neither human nor vampire. His unique status may explain why he is impervious to many of his vampire students' gifts, like Essie's talent of hypnotic suggestion, or why he is capable of subduing an out-of-control Karl, not to mention why he never seems to sleep.
• Marianne Farley as Dillan Vanderson, a human student. A late comer into the year at Mansbridge, Dillan has a strong personality which may cause more harm than good. On the night Dillan first arrives to Manbridge, it is suspected by Merrill that she is possessed by the spirit of a legendary huntress named Diana Valmont, who fell in love with a vampire long ago. According to legend, after the vampire killed her, she comes back in human form every year on the day she was killed to slay male vampires who seduce mortal women. Ironically, it turns out to be Sherry who is possessed by the Huntress, not Dillan. She at first targets Drew to prevent him from killing Sherry, but he insists that he will not kill her because his love is pure. Afterwards, the Huntress releases Sherry who then befriends Dillan, who has become her roommate. After Sherry's death, it appears that Dillan will be the one to take her place as Drew's love interest. In the last episode, after she seemingly recovers from being bitten by Karl, as Dillan says goodbye to the other students for the summer, her eyes momentarily turn red when she comes close to Mimi's neck, indicating that she is not fully recovered and may be turning into a vampire. However, this is not explored further due to the cancellation of the series.

  Supporting characters

• Jodie Resther as Mimi Sperling, best friend to Sherry and later to Dillan after Sherry passes away. She is the daughter of a former rock star, and, like Sherry, hates being at Mansbridge. Unlike Sherry however, Mimi does acknowledge that she needs to be there. Mimi never realizes how close she becomes to being a victim of a vampire.
• Adam MacDonald as Nick McAllister, ex-boyfriend to Sherry. Because of his obsession with Sherry, he has a strong rivalry with Drew even though the two never meet. He is a mean, insensitive jock who frequently bullies fellow Mansbridge student Malcolm Frye, partly because he suspects him of being Sherry`s secret admirer. Although it is not shown how he and Malcolm react to Sherry`s death, by the end of the series an odd kind of bonding seems to have developed between the two, possibly over the loss of Sherry in their lives.
• Patrick Thomas as Malcolm Frye, friend to Sherry and Mimi, bully magnet for Nick, and resident computer whiz at Mansbridge Academy. A former classmate of Karl's at Wrenfield High, Malcolm unwittingly causes trouble for the vampire students when he posts his sighting of the supposedly deceased Karl at Mansbridge on the internet. A jealous Nick suspects him of being Sherry`s secret admirer, but in actuality, Malcolm has a crush on government agent Marianne Hackett, and is an enthusiastic fan of her organization BPDA. He also has a fascination with vampires, ghosts, and the possibility of life after death.
• Daniel Pilon as Vakaal, one of the Elders who have control over the Mansbridge experiment, and who acts as their liaison with Murdoch. He is clearly ancient even by vampire standards - possibly thousands of years old - and so powerful even Marty is unwilling to cross him. He frequently makes surprise visits to Mansbridge to check up on how the Experiment is progressing.
• Wendii Fulford as Marianne Hackett, an agent and leading investigator for the Biomorphic Predatory Disease Agency, a government organization which claims to specialize in dealing with rare and deadly diseases, but is in fact dedicated to finding and exterminating vampires. A veteran vampire hunter, she suspects that there are vampires at or around Mansbridge, and is determined to prove it. She also suspects that Murdoch is connected to the suspicious activities surrounding Mansbridge, but it is unclear whether her apparent attraction to him is purely pretend or sincere. Her favorite weapon when fighting vampires is a laser gun, although she is also handy with a crossbow.
• Victoria Barkoff as Doctor

  Background

DVD releases

Episode list

Reception