"The Little Vampire" may be the first horror film with more "moo" than "boo."

It's not meant to be scary. It's meant to be Disney — a fun and warm children's fantasy about a small boy who befriends a family of vampires.

These aren't fiendish monsters. They're good vampires, by virtue of the fact that they're a strong family unit (Mom, Dad and three kids), dress like glam-rock stars, long to be mortal and refuse to drink human blood.

Instead, they slurp from the necks of dairy cows in rural Scotland, where our pint-size American hero (Jonathan Lipnicki) and his family are living while Dad builds a golf course.

But director Uli Edel, working from the popular novels of Angela Sommer-Bodenburg, compensates with an engaging sense of wonder.

The game cast is also likable, starting with Lipnicki, who brings the same cute enthusiasm he gave "Stuart Little."

Pamela Gidley and Tommy Hinkle are enjoyable as his happy, helpful parents. They stick up for their kid, unlike the usual distant, clueless, skeptical movie parents. How refreshing.

Best of all are mom and pop vampire, played by fine actors who go slumming in nutty costumes here: Richard E. Grant and Alice Krige.

They bring some gravity to this lighthearted lark, whose tone, while playful, is also sweet enough for tender sensibilities.

With its dogged good-heartedness, the film doesn't even seem creepy when Lipnicki invites a vampire boy (Rollo Weeks) to use his toy chest as a coffin. But it is a bit much when he carries a dead rat as a talisman. Kids, don't try this at home.

Yet for all its soaring, the movie sags at the end, wading through lots of plot at the expense of liveliness. Much of this concerns a mean vampire hunter (Jim Hunter). His sin is basically racism, since "the only good vampire is a dead vampire" doesn't apply here.

As Lipnicki helps his friends fend off the vampire hunter and find an amulet to reclaim their humanity, one almost wishes for a good old-fashioned food fight to punch things up.

Then a herd of fanged, red-eyed, vampiric cows comes flying to the rescue, and all is well.

That's certainly a film first, and don't forget: These, too, are good vampires.

By the end of this spry and innocent film you may be asking, "Aren't they all?"

"The Little Vampire" is rated PG for violence (mostly slapstick) and scenes of peril, as well as some crude humor (vampire-cow droppings). Running time: 95 minutes.