Love At First Bite/Once Bitten (Blu-ray)

Love At First Bite/Once Bitten (Blu-ray)

love first bite once bitten bluShout Factory has recently released two Blu-ray packages featuring two movies that might be good for Valentine’s Day, but frankly they might be best for Halloween. Looking at these four films they generally fall into the broad category of “horror/comedy/romance” though that’s a pretty loose. This one features two movies that fall more into the comedy/romance category – both vampiric comedies that are definitely played up for laughs.

As a package this is certainly worth looking at picking up. On their one each of these movies are… decent and fun, but not necessarily ones that would be a first (or maybe even second) choice for placement in a home collection. As a value package Shout Factory knows that fans of these movies will welcome what is on offer and at an affordable price they are enticing enough.

Love At First Bite stars George “the tannest man in Hollywood” Hamilton as Dracula, kicked out of Transylvania and looking for a new base of operations. New York City is very different. He is joined by Arte Johnson as his servant Renfield, portrayed over the top to the point where it almost grounds Hamilton as Dracula. This was meant, in 1979, to be a silly film, made rather cheaply and with little pretension. It shows. Everybody is having fun. You should too.

Adding to the fun is Richard Benjamin, Sherman Helmsley, Susan  Saint James, Barry Gordon, and several other recognizable names and faces. Things work out in the end, as you might expect, this is a sort of romantic comedy, with emphasis on comedy.

I had not seen Love At First bite until it arrived on this Blu-ray. I sort of knew what to expect because I do remember when it was released, and it was a major hit. I enjoyed it enough for what it is, a fun light-hearted spoof of a genre that, at the time, didn’t have much humor in it.

Once Bitten was released in 1985 and I did see that one when it came out, and have not seen it since until this Blu-ray. In many ways I had forgotten about the film. It was a hit when it was released, though it would be several more years before the lead actor would find fame – Jim Carrey.

Yes, Jim Carrey, who broke through to stardom 5 years later on “In Living Color” was the male lead in Once Bitten, his first. Here he stars as Mark, a student who is one of the only virgins “of age” – something increasingly rare. This means The Countess, portrayed by Lauren Hutton, who must drink the blood of a virgin three times before Halloween, is in danger of losing her youthful appearance.

The film could have been a great social commentary on promiscuity or vanity, but instead goes for generic laughs. It also could have easily been a teen sex comedy (think Porky’s) but it plays things “safe” which is a shame. Really, the biggest problem with the film is that it sort of sits there without doing anything with the material.

No real special features to speak of, which is a shame. I know it would have cost money to record an audio commentary, but I’m sure Shout Factory could have scared up (ha) somebody to talk about both films for cheap. Still, for the price, that we’re getting both films at all on Blu-ray, well, that’s sort of the special feature right there.