Directed by: Stan Dragoti
Starring: George Hamilton, Susan Saint James, Richard Benjamin, Dick Shawn, Arte Johnson, Sherman Hemsley
Count Dracula may be the most sane person in Love at First Bite. He sucks blood and can turn into a bat sure, but he is also head over heels in love with a New York fashion model named Cindy (Saint James) in a touching, almost adolescent way. After being forced out of his Transylvania castle by a Romanian government that wants to convert his castle to a gymnastics training center, he and his insect-eating assistant Renfield (Johnson) travel to New York to seek out Cindy. "Without me, this place will be as exciting as Bucharest on a Monday night," he says as he departs his castle forever. Burn!
George Hamilton plays Dracula with panache and class; and mostly as the straight man. He is true to himself as he navigates a world even he thinks is odd...late 1970's New York City. Winning Cindy's hand (and neck) won't be easy. He has to dodge her psychiatrist/sometime boyfriend Dr. Jeffrey Rosenberg (Benjamin), who has lineage to the famed vampire hunter Van Helsing and is convinced that Cindy's new suitor is indeed a vampire. Cindy doesn't believe it, and apparently she has never seen a Count Dracula movie before. Count Dracula used to scare people, but by the late 1970's, society has seen enough to be frightened of a caped guy with fangs. New Yorkers just think he's wearing a costume and don't even do a double take when he talks about eternal life and sucking blood.
The biggest laughs belong to Benjamin, who is so gung ho to get rid of the count that he wears garlic necklaces and shoots Drac with three silver bullets in a crowded restaurant. Dracula politely tells Jeffrey, "My dear Dr. Rosenberg, that is for a werewolf," Jeffrey is stunned, and is soon carted off to the funny farm still obsessed with bringing down the vampire. Between the Count and Jeffrey, Cindy's choice seems rather easy: Find another guy.
Love at First Bite doesn't make the mistake of assuming that seeing Count Dracula dance with Cindy on a disco floor is inherently funny. It earns its laughs through some inspired comedy that doesn't reek of desperation, plus a few gags which wouldn't play well today. If you're a vampire and you need a supply of blood to survive while wooing Cindy, what is the first thing you do? Knock over a blood bank, of course. Love at First Bite manages to adhere to the traditions of a Dracula movie while successfully kidding them at the same time. It is a delicate balancing act, but it works and it's pretty damn funny.
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