Love at First Bite

"Your favorite pain in the neck is about to bite your funny bone!"

1979 1h 36m EN

😐

6.0

MID

🍅

71%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.0TMDB · 117🍅71%Rotten Tomatoes●62Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 6,530

RomanceComedyHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Your favorite pain in the neck is about to bite your funny bone!”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stan Dragoti
Writers: Robert Kaufman, Mark Gindes
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

47 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stan Dragoti, shot by Edward Rosson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mort Fallick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

George Hamilton and Susan Saint James and Richard Benjamin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Your favorite pain in the neck is about to bite your funny bone!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0079489 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stan Dragoti directs. Edward Rosson behind the camera. Mort Fallick cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

147 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
3Directed by Stan Dragoti, shot by Edward Rosson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Mort Fallick shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5George Hamilton and Susan Saint James and Richard Benjamin carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Your favorite pain in the neck is about to bite your funny bone!".
7IMDB entry: tt0079489 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Edward Rosson
Editing: Mort Fallick
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $43,885,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Love at First Bite (1979)
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 62/100
IMDB rating: 6.1/10 · 6,530 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

3 wins & 4 nominations

Also by

Stan Dragoti

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-09-26
★ 6/10
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-

Production companies