![]() ![]() ![]() Running Gag: Rosenberg can never get his vampire lore straight."I think they're from the government (.) They're wearing shoes." Since this movie sides with Romanticism, it shows Enlightenment as dry, dull, and passionless. After that, Van Helsing represents Enlightenment. It's first represented by the Count (Romanticism) being driven from his home by the government (Enlightenment). Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: The central conflict of the story.The original song was restored for the twin-pack DVD paired with Once Bitten. Re-Release Soundtrack: The scene where Dracula and Cindy dance was initially set to the highly-appropriate Alicia Bridges song "I Love The Nightlife," but a generic disco tune called " The Man That I Love " replaced it in home-video releases.The Renfield / Sycophantic Servant: "Whatever Master wants, Master gets!".This is completely enforced thanks to the disco dancing, Jive Turkey supporting characters, Dirty Commies as Romanian government flacks, cheerfully-unprotected sex and Roots references. Present Day: At time of release, this was a comedy about Dracula dealing with the modern world.James is okay in the female lead role here but almost all the. Brooks must have been inspired watching this film. ![]() Pocket Protector: How Dracula survived getting staked by the original Van Helsing. Love at First Bite (1979) Despite the '70s sleaze and feel to it, this is still a classic comedy with many laugh-out-loud scenes, similar to the Dracula spoof Mel Brooks put out in the '90s (Dracula: Dead And Loving It).Eaten Alive: Lampshaded by Renfield on the flight to New York.ĭracula: Children of the night.Dracula: Played by, of all people, George Hamilton.Disco: What's the best place for a vampire to explore Manhattan nightlife in The '70s? Why, at Studio 54, of course.Cursed with Awesome: Dracula's general attitude towards life.Cardiovascular Love: The Heart Symbol "O" in the "Love" of the title.The Cameo: Isabel Sanford and Sherman Helmsley ( The Jeffersons) play a judge and a preacher, respectively, albeit in separate scenes.Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Rosenberg knows how to pick locks using a credit card.He really shouldn't have drunk the water.Black Dude Dies First: The only corpse in sight, and he dies before the movie even starts.Black Cloak: As noted, considered a selling point with the ladies.Big Blackout: New York City suffers one of these during the climax.Badass Cape: Lampshaded at the end, when Rosenberg and the detective agree to take turns wearing it to impress women.Hamilton has tried to get a sequel made on numerous occasions, but the concept remains deep in Development Hell. Much, much better than it probably sounds, this film provided the role of a lifetime for Hamilton, while the rest of the cast turn in excellent performances as well. Assisting Rosenberg is skeptical NYPD detective Lt. While trying to win her heart, Drac must fend off bumbling assassination attempts from Jeffery Rosenberg ( Richard Benjamin), Cindy's long-suffering therapist and quasi-boyfriend, who happens to be "Fritz" Van Helsing's grandson. Particularly cheerful little ending which adds pep! Always to be remembered for the disco sequence and I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE which still conjures up for me so vividly those dance-floor scenes.Decades before anyone even conceived of the first sparkly vampire, we had a Disco Dracula in this 1979 comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti and starring George Hamilton as the tannest Count Dracula ever to appear on screen.Īfter getting evicted from his ancestral home by the Communist Romanian government, the world-weary Count travels with his bug-eating assistant Renfield (Arte Johnson) to New York City to find his soulmate, currently reincarnated as flaky fashion model Cindy Sondheim ( Susan Saint James). The film never really aims to be anything more than what it is - a lightweight romantic comedy with bite, and this becomes it well. The interplay between Hamilton and Benjamin is often priceless. Hamilton as suave and out-of-the-20th-century-loop Count Vladimir Dracula, Susan St James in what was inarguably her best screen role as NY super model Cindy Sondheim, and ever-funny Richard Benjamin as Dr Jeffrey Rosenberg.a distant relation of Dr Van Helsing no less! Both are in love with Cindy who is torn every which way emotionally, even allowing for her understandable concern as to the restrictive life of a bat in general. The strength of the film lies in its principals. Totally watchable and entertaining flick (which is somewhat MORE than can be said for Hamilton's follow-up, ZORRO THE GAY BLADE). Seems a couple of generations earlier - a real throwback to 50's and 60's "family" movies. Love at First Bite is a 1979 American comedy horror film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by Robert Kaufman, using characters originally created by Bram. Quite incredible this was made the same year as ALIEN. ![]()
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