{"id":5767,"date":"2008-07-10T09:24:08","date_gmt":"2008-07-10T16:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5767"},"modified":"2022-07-02T17:14:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-03T00:14:45","slug":"love-at-first-bite-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5767","title":{"rendered":"Love at First Bite (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;m going out for a bite to drink.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/Love-at-First-Bite-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/Love-at-First-Bite-Poster-195x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"195\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/Love-at-First-Bite-Poster-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/Love-at-First-Bite-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/Love-at-First-Bite-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen Count Dracula (George Hamilton) and his loyal servant (Arte Johnson) are kicked out of their Transylvanian castle, they head to New York City, where Dracula hopes to woo a famous model (Susan Saint James) into becoming his eternal bride. Little does he know, however, that Cindy (Saint James) is dating a psychiatrist (Richard Benjamin) whose grandfather was the vampire-hunter Van Helsing, and who is determined to complete the job his famed ancestor never finished.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cat-and-Mouse<\/li>\n<li>George Hamilton Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>New York City<\/li>\n<li>Richard Benjamin Films<\/li>\n<li>Satires and Spoofs<\/li>\n<li>Vampires<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAn enormous hit when it was released, this &#8220;wacked out spoof of [the] Dracula myth&#8221; remains a reasonably enjoyable comedic venture despite its uneven script. It&#8217;s primarily remembered today for providing &#8220;suave and slick&#8221; George Hamilton with his breakthrough role as a comedic actor (who knew that Hamilton&#8217;s impersonation of Count Vladimir Dracula as a lonely, smitten vampire would be so successful?). While I&#8217;m not a fan of Arte Johnson&#8217;s annoying impersonation of &#8220;the insect-eating Renfield&#8221; (Dracula&#8217;s servant), fine performances are given by Saint James as the object of Dracula&#8217;s desire (she&#8217;s a unique combination of cynical, &#8220;oddball&#8221; New Yorker and vulnerable romantic), and Benjamin as Dracula&#8217;s modern-day nemesis, whose repeated (failed) attempts to kill Hamilton are quite amusing. Ultimately, it&#8217;s the lead actors &#8212; who are &#8220;better than Bob Kaufman&#8217;s script&#8221; &#8212; who make this comedy worth checking out; even when the jokes fall flat (and they do &#8212; again and again), we&#8217;re kept in eager suspense about the outcome of this most unusual love triangle, one with very real consequences at stake. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> In his feminizing make-up, Hamilton looks uncannily at times like&#8230; Sandra Bullock (!). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>George Hamilton as Count Dracula<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/love-first-bite-hamilton.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/love-first-bite-hamilton.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5769\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Richard Benjamin as Dr. Rosenberg (nee Van Helsing)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/love-first-bite-benjamin.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/love-first-bite-benjamin.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5770\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Susan Saint James as Cindy Sondheim<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/love-first-bite-saint-james.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/love-first-bite-saint-james.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5771\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply for George Hamilton&#8217;s comedic &#8220;breakthrough&#8221; performance. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079489\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1979\/04\/13\/archives\/screen-love-at-first-bite-draculas-plaza-suitefullblooded-humor.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/horror\/love-at-first-bite-1979.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=230&#038;aff=1346890D6CF&#038;oref=slogin\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/love-bite\/review\/104751\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/love-at-first-bite-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going out for a bite to drink.&#8221; Synopsis: When Count Dracula (George Hamilton) and his loyal servant (Arte Johnson) are kicked out of their Transylvanian castle, they head to New York City, where Dracula hopes to woo a famous model (Susan Saint James) into becoming his eternal bride. Little does he know, however, that Cindy (Saint James) is dating a psychiatrist (Richard Benjamin) whose grandfather was the vampire-hunter Van Helsing, and who is determined to complete the job his&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5767\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5767"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85155,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5767\/revisions\/85155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}