Cavanaugh Mad About 'Transylmania'

If you're a fan of vampire movies, don't let "The Twilight Saga" entirely suck the cinematic life out of you: There's a new fanged flick on the horizon, and if actor Patrick Cavanaugh has his way, you'll check yourself into the institution of "Transylmania."

Opening in theaters Friday, "Transylmania" is a comic spoof of the vampire genre, and its laughs, unlike other vampire movies, are intentional.

"I don't know how some of the 'Twilight' actors say those lines and keep a straight face, like talking about how they sparkle," Cavanaugh said, laughing, in a recent @ The Movies interview. "The genre is all about romantic vampires all of a sudden, which is funny to me."

That's not to say there isn't a little romance in "Transylmania," too, albeit a little more unconventional.

"It's a little more graphic -- humans on humans; humans on bongs; humans on hunchbacks -- there's definitely a little romance going on there," Cavanaugh said with a snicker. "People are in love with different things in this movie. It's got it all."

"Transylmania" follows a group of American college students who travel abroad to Romania for a semester of studies and partying at a centuries-old castle known as Razvan University. Little do they know they're the first group of students there since the so-called "American Exchange Student Massacre of 1996" -- and they're about to discover that the bizarre legends of vampires and otherworldly creatures connected with Razvan are quite real.

Cavanaugh plays Pete, who is a stoner buddy with Wang (Paul H. Kim). Both are college student imports from National Lampoon's second "Dorm Daze" movie.

"Wang and I are 'Harold and Kumar' types. We enjoy smoking a lot of marijuana," Cavanaugh cracked. "We smuggle some on our trip which is very painful, but worth the effort. We're more about partying and having a good time as opposed to learning the cultural aspects of Romania."

While "Transylmania" is a spoof, Cavanaugh is careful to point out that he and his co-stars aren't out to parody pop culture, a la the "Scary Movie" and "Epic," "Date" or "Superhero Movie"-types. Instead, he said, "Transylmania" is going after a genre as a whole, and he hopes that audiences find the approach refreshing.

"We're not specifically spoofing specific movies, quotes, scenes or situations. We're more going after the world that the horror and vampire movies are in," Cavanaugh explained. "It's like a combination of 'American Pie' and 'Twilight' -- it takes place in the vampire world, and these college kids get caught up in the craziness. It also has a 'Shaun of the Dead' feel in that it makes fun of how gross some things are, but not winking at the camera while it's doing it. Plus there's a swashbuckling element to it and there's some slapstick-y fighting. It's fun on a number of different levels."

"Transylmania" is an independent movie being distributed by Full Circle Releasing, and Cavanaugh said he's jazzed about the lengths brothers and co-directors David and Scott Hillenbrand ("National Lampoon's Dorm Daze") have gone to get the film in front of audiences.

"They have been just clawing tooth and nail to get this thing out there. I'm so proud of them, after seeing how hard they've pushed for this," Cavanaugh said. "They've been literally flying to different locations of theaters to make sure the trailer was being spliced in with other trailers. It's so hard to get an independent movie trailer to show before other movies in actual theaters. They've been going crazy and I love it."

Cavanaugh already knows what it's like to be riding on a little engine that could as a cast member of AMC's "Mad Men," the hit cable show that's managed to knock out the Big Four networks the last two years for the top drama prize at the Emmys. He's not only thrilled about the success of the show, but the fact that his role as "Smitty" Smith, one of the two youthful, aspiring copywriters in the firm, continues to grow.

"It's like hitting the guest star lottery," Cavanaugh enthused. "I was literally penned to do the first episode of season two as just a one-time guest star. But I think (creator and writer) Matt Weiner, who is in the writing room for all of the episodes, kind of fell for these characters -- these goofy, lovable new guys who represent the where the basic, '60s mindset is heading in that world."