Love at First Bite (1979)

★ 5.9 1h 36m IMDb

Dracula and Renfield relocate to '70s era New York in search of Cindy Sondheim, the reincarnation of Dracula's one true love, Mina Harker. "Trouble adjusting" is a wild understatement for the Count as he battles Cindy's psychiatrist, Jeffrey Rosenberg, a descendant of Van Helsing, who may be in love with Cindy too.

Love at First Bite

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Cast

George Hamilton
George Hamilton as Count Vladimir Dracula Age 86 · Memphis, Tennessee, USA George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor. He began his film career in 1958 and although he has a substantial body of work in film and television he is, perhaps, most famous for...
Susan Saint James
Susan Saint James as Cindy Sondheim Age 79 · Los Angeles, California, USA Susan Saint James (born August 14, 1946) is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, especially the detective series McMillan &...
Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin as Dr. Jeffery Rosenberg / Van Helsing Age 87 · New York City, New York, USA Richard Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of productions, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), based on the novella (1959) by Philip Roth,...
Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn as Lieutenant Ferguson NYPD Died 1987 · Buffalo, New York, USA Dick Shawn (December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor. Way ahead of his time most say, it was extremely difficult indeed to know how to properly tap into this man's eclectic talents. S...
Arte Johnson
Arte Johnson as Mr. Renfield Died 2019 · Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA Arte was born in Michigan, which he made a start in before advancing into new works like California. As he started in California Arte went into comedy, acting & voice acting, which he voiced in variou...
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Hemsley as Reverend Mike Died 2012 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor, best known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons, Deac...

Audience Reviews

Wuchak 6/10 Sep 26, 2021
_**Dracula-in-the-modern-day parody with George Hamilton**_

The Communist regime in Romania forces Dracula from his castle (George Hamilton), so he and Renfield (Arte Johnson) fly to New York City to meet a model who has caught the Count’s eye (Susan Saint James). Richard Benjamin plays her therapist and Dick Shawn an officer that tries to help solve the vampire happenings.

“Love at First Bite” (1979) spoofs Dracula flicks and was AIP’s most successful film up to that point (an honor that would only last three months, after which “The Amityville Horror” took the crown). It surged Hamilton’s career and remains his most profitable movie.

If you like other classic monster satires, such as “The Vampire Happening” (1971) and “Young Frankenstein” (1974), you should appreciate this one. It puts Dracula in the modern day Big City and milks it for fun. While it’s rarely laugh-out-loud funny, it’s consistently amusing (or eye-rolling) in a quiet smirks kind of way. There are several cameos of celebs that were popular at the time.

Although it has been accused of being “racist,” it pokes fun of people across the board, whatever their skin color or socioeconomic status. For instance, the beginning makes fun of Romanian Communists followed by superstitious rural villagers (all white people).

The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Manhattan and The Langham Apartments, Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-

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