Love at First Bite [1979] George Hamilton

Love at First Bite (1979)



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079489/




Love at First Bite is a 1979 comedy horror film directed by Stan Dragoti and written by Robert Kaufman, using characters originally created by Bram Stoker. It stars George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin and Arte Johnson. The original music score was composed by Charles Bernstein. The film's tagline is: "Your favorite pain in the neck is about to bite your funny bone!"





George Hamilton ... Count Vladimir Dracula

Susan Saint James ... Cindy Sondheim

Richard Benjamin ... Dr. Jeffery Rosenberg / Van Helsing

Dick Shawn ... Lieutenant Ferguson NYPD

Arte Johnson ... Mr. Renfield

Sherman Hemsley ... Reverend Mike

Isabel Sanford ... Judge R. Thomas

Barry Gordon ... Flashlight Vendor

Ronnie Schell ... Guy in Elevator

Bob Basso ... T.V. Repairman in Elevator

Bryan O'Byrne ... Priest in Elevator

Michael Pataki ... Mobster in Elevator

Hazel Shermet ... Mrs. Knockwurst (Lady in Elevator)

Stanley Brock ... Erwin Newman (Cab Driver)

Danny Dayton ... Billy, first bellboy



1979 was the year of the vampire: Werner Herzog's 'Nosferatu,' John Badham's 'Dracula,' Tobe Hooper's 'Salem's Lot' on TV, and this very late-'70s spoof with George Hamilton as the legendary (and, fortunately for all spoofmeisters, public-domain) bloodsucker.



Evicted from his Transylvania castle, Dracula moves to New York with his servant Renfield (a role Arte Johnson was born to play). He spots a beautiful, jaded model (Susan Saint James, looking fab in Oscar de la Renta) and decides to make her his wife; the only complication is her bumbling ex (Richard Benjamin), a descendant of Van Helsing.



Love at First Bite has moments (such as when Benjamin waves a Star of David at Dracula — an inversion of a gag in The Fearless Vampire Killers), but it's resolutely mainstream; its humor sticks largely to sitcom-level jokes about Jews, sex, drugs, and the Dracula legend. (Most of the Dracula gags had been around for decades in humor mags like Mad.) Worst of all, the filmmakers throw in a gratuitous disco scene wherein Dracula boogies to the horrid "I Love the Night Life" (in an accidental mercy, the song is absent from the DVD, replaced by "The Man That I Love"; fans of the original soundtrack have been up in arms about this).



Still, Hamilton is suavely funny (he's noted for one performance — this one), and the supporting cast is game. With its TV stars (including both Jeffersons, Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) and TV jokes, this may be the most 'respectable' movie AIP ever released.



Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA



1980 Won Saturn Award Best Actor George Hamilton

1980 Won Saturn Award Best Make-Up William Tuttle

1980 Won Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor Arte Johnson

1980 Nominated Saturn Award Best Actress Susan Saint James

1980 Nominated Saturn Award Best Horror Film

1980 Nominated Saturn Award Best Writing Robert Kaufman



Golden Globes, USA



1980 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy George Hamilton