This is a wacky film that tries really hard to appease its teenage target audience and it succeeds more often than not. There's no staking or onscreen bloodshed and no vampires burst into flames in the sunlight. Once Bitten is a harmless comedy that skirts the edge of being naughty long enough to garner a PG-13 rating for language, but never gets too heavy with the material. The Countess schemes with her familiar, Sebastian, to win Mark's precious bodily fluids, but there is enough comic bumbling that viewers may wonder why she doesn't simply settle for one of his equally virginal friends. Her biggest obstacle is finding a virgin in contemporary Los Angeles! She runs into Mark and his goofy friends at a bar and is determined to add him to her family of fellow vampires, but his heart belongs to a traditional “good girl” named Robin. Lauren Hutton stars as the vampire Countess who, in order to maintain her youthful appearance, is in need of a triple shot of virgin blood before the stroke of midnight on Halloween. It sounds an awful lot like Fright Night, but I'm actually talking about Once Bitten, the first starring vehicle for Jim Carrey. What was the name of that fun vampire movie from 1985? The one with the dopey high school guy who can't get laid by his conservative girlfriend and he meets a vampire with a homosexual familiar and none of his friends believe him? It's got that scene where they go to a club filled with all the rockin' synth pop music and at some point there's a dance-off with a vampire. Written by David Hines, Jeffrey Hause and Jonathan Roberts Mel Brooks would later mine the legend with Dracula - Dead and Loving It (1995), but score far fewer laughs. Mom) and Screenwriter Robert Kaufman ( Freebie and the Bean), create a film stacked with jokes both subtle and not so subtle that is still entertaining after more than thirty-five years. By taking Dracula out of his element and throwing him into the New York city night life, Director Stan Dragoti ( Mr. Bite plays the material straight for the most part and the laughs come from placing the classical figure in contemporary situations. Mel Brooks had successfully tackled similar content years before with Young Frankenstein (1974), but audiences were still a year away from Airplane! (1980), a film that influenced almost every comedy that followed for decades to come. Love at First Bite was released during a weird time for movie comedies. Dick Shawn ( The Producers) is particularly fun as Lieutenant Ferguson, a cop trying to understand these shenanigans, and quirky character actor Michael Pataki ( Graduation Day) turns up briefly as a gangster. Sherman Hemsley and his The Jeffersons co-star Isabel Sanford appear as a reverend and a judge, respectively. Arte Johnson ( Evil Toons) brings a particular style of comic timing to the role of Renfield, a character that actually benefits from over-the-top interpretation. His best scenes find him paired with Hamilton, whose Dracula is also socially awkward. Jeffrey Rosenberg, a man out of his league with both women and vampires. Richard Benjamin ( Saturday the 14th) is a lot of fun here as Dr. Susan Saint James ( How to Beat the High Co$t of Living) is particularly engaging as Cindy, the fast-paced modern woman who has Dracula smitten. His comic timing and ability to keep a straight face in ludicrous situations are impressive and he treats the material seriously, which really works. George Hamilton ( Zorro, the Gay Blade) is both sexy and funny as the fish-out-of-water version of Dracula. Hindering the count's intentions of securing Cindy as a bride is her ex-boyfriend/ therapist Jeffrey, who also happens to be a descendent of Dracula's legendary nemesis, Van Helsing. Fashion model Cindy Sondheim is the object of the count's obsession and he goes out of his way to spend time with her. His trusty familiar, Renfield, navigates the particulars of air travel and hotel accommodations, but is at a loss when it comes to women and modern lifestyles. Unfortunately, Dracula is not ready for the social challenges of the twentieth century and is subjected to countless indignities as he makes his way through the Big Apple. When Count Dracula's castle and property are seized by Transylvanian bureaucrats, he has no choice but to seek new lodging, and so heeds the siren call of Lady Liberty.
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