Love at First Bite (1979)

That was an excellent one.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Affectionate spoof of the classic vampire story and most notably the Bela Lugosi film version, which benefits from a witty, intelligent script and some fine casting choices for the leads. However, the best thing about this film is the sense of harmless fun, and its extremely refreshing to see a modern movie with no swearing, violence, or sex scenes to ruin it for a family audience. Instead, what we get are plenty of one-liners which spoof those uttered by Lugosi (the best remembered being "Children of the night... shut up!") and excellent caricatured turns from the actors who really put themselves into the roles. In fact the only person who falls foul is the uninteresting Susan Saint James, whose boring character sits at odds with the rest of the film making you wonder why Dracula would go to all of the trouble bothering with her.George Hamilton effortlessly slips into the role of the suave, sophisticated Count with his tongue-in-cheek portrayal, and he isn't afraid to gently mock the character's idiosyncrasies while doing it either. Easily acting opposite him is an over-the-top Richard Benjamin, playing a slightly mad and frenetic descendant of Van Helsing, whose various encounters and battles with Dracula prove to be the highlights of the movie. Lower down in the cast we have a nice performance from Dick Shawn as the world-weary cop caught up in the case, and a scene-stealing appearance by Arte Johnson as Renfield, who cracks me up every time with his Dwight Frye-inspired manic laughing. With a very light plot, amusing humour, and emphasis on fun and action over slow-paced romance, LOVE AT FIRST BITE is a fine watch for vampire lovers everywhere.

Strains of disco/organ music accompany the first glimpse we see of Castle Dracula, with lightening and plenty of dry ice; the children of the night providing harmonies to Dracula's organ playing is dismissed with a curt 'Shut up!' Dracula's slave Renfield chuckles a very Dwight Frye-sounding chuckle. It is clear from the outset, this is a light-hearted homage by a production team clearly in love with vampiric cinema.The mighty George Hamilton, perma-tanned and pearly of tooth is perfect in the role of The Count. His delivery is more reminiscent of Bela Lugosi's accent even than Martin Landau's award winning performance. Hamilton is more talented than he is often given credit for, I think.One of those words that doesn't really mean anything, 'schmaltzy', seems to describe the worst excesses of this; the greatest crime is its dated-ness. Comedy is notoriously difficult because it is so subjective, but at its heart 'Love at First Bite' is a well observed (even Hamilton sauntering down a street in downtown New York is reminiscent of Bela Lugosi's sojourn down the streets of Universal's 'London' from the 1931 classic), surprisingly well-played comedy, in which Count Dracula's long lost love is Cindy Sondheim (Susan Saint James), a famous fashion model. The Count's journey to find her takes him through various modern day nightmares; his bewilderment when encountering disco music for the first time is entirely understandable. Equally, his crumpled expression when Sondheim sees him initially and assumes he is a waiter is a highlight. Sondheim's psychiatrist Jeffrey Rosenberg (Richard Benjamin) is The Count's protagonist, and it is telling he is viewed as the befuddled 'bad guy.' Rosenberg is a distant relative of Van Helsing. Michael Pataki, who fleetingly played Dracula in 'Zoltan, Hound of Dracula' the year before, appears in a brief scene in a lift.As the film goes on, the various homages to earlier Dracula projects give way to more knockabout comedy fare. Just when the joke is in danger of wearing thin with a car chase, Sondheim finally decides to become a vampire and the two bats are last seen wobbling towards Jamaica, where The Count's coffin has mistakenly been taken.

George Hamilton is the only Dracula with style and a tan. Seriously, there is no seriousness in this hip update on the Count that just won't die. Now he lives in New York, after being evicted from his own castle in Transylvania. Inconceivable! And, George Hamilton plays Dracula to the hilt. It would be easy to say that George Hamilton is the whole show, making Dracula a three-dimensional character and relate-able to the viewers, but he is not. Arte Johnson is equally fantastic as his eccentric and offbeat sidekick, Renfield, and his laugh is too much. He can really get into character and the viewer senses he is enjoying himself a lot in his role. Equally great is Richard Benjamin as a psychiatrist who has loved patient Susan Saint James for years and has proposed to her, but she does not love him and has turned him down repeatedly. When she meets Dracula and falls for him and Dracula gives Benjamin a run for his money for her affection, Benjamin goes ballistic. Benjamin is so good at dead-pan delivery, by that I mean he says his unbelievable lines with so much conviction and seriousness, as to really get you to believe him. Susan Saint James is good too, but with three excellent over-the-top performances by Hamilton, Johnson, and Benjamin, she is left in the dust and is kind of boring in comparison to the other much-animated actors. Three great performances like these in a movie like this is rare and they make "Love at First Bite" a must-see for Movie Comedies 101. Cameos by "The Jeffersons" Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford are a hoot, too. But does she really want to be one of the un-dead forever? With George Hamilton, she might begin to live!

this is a pretty good send up of the Dracula lore. the basic premise is that Dracula ends up being evicted from his castle in Transylvania and decides to relocate to New York to be with his true love,even if she doesn't know it.the most amusing aspect of this movie is George Hamilton as the count.George Hamilton is a perpetually tanned person and in the movie,he is also tanned.picture Count Dracula,who is supposed to be deathly pale with a dark tan.that's a pretty funny picture.then,we have the count in New York who is like a fish out of water.there are some some very funny lines in this movie,mainly owing to the count not being familiar with the language and customs of a modern city.Susan Saint James plays the love interest Cindy Sondheim and is quite funny in her role.the character of Renfield is also very funny,but it is Richard Benjamin as the count's rival for Cindy's affections and adversary who steals the show with his scenes.the humour in this movie is not the tears streaming down your face kind.it's more droll and wry,but it works.the movie moves at good clip and maintains interest throughout.i especially liked how the actors manage to have a deadpan delivery for their silly lines.basically,i liked this movie quite a bit.it's certainly worth 90 minutes to 2 hours of time.i give "Love at First Bite" a 7/10