Day 20 of my 31 Days of Vampire Movies feature takes us back to the Disco Era, baby!
Love at First Bite begins with our Dracula, played by the tannest man who ever lived, George Hamilton, eschewing stodgy old Transylvania for the swinging nightlife of New York City in pursuit of his newest love, Cindy Sondheim. Shenanigans ensue as Dracula woos Cindy, a thoroughly modern woman who has all the baggage of a thoroughly modern woman: she wants a career, a family, and a purpose in life. She also has a neurotic psychiatrist who happens to be her on again/off again lover. He’s also the descendant of none other than Abraham Van Helsing.
This movie was a staple back in the 80s when Superstation TBS was one of the powerhouses of TV. It usually went back to back with either a Vincent Price movie or a Hammer flick, and it made a great day for baby Zevon. This was one of my favorite movies, even though the irony of having the one of the tannest men of all time play Dracula flew right past me.
But, sadly, I must now acknowledge the elephant in the room: this movie is a product of it’s time, and holy shit, it is racist as all hell. I loved this movie when I was a kid. I remember sitting in the floor and watching it on our big console TV, and loving it so much, especially the ending where Cindy got to fly off into the night with her vampire and be the Queen of the Night she was always meant to be, when so many ladies in vampire movies ended up staked and decapitated for some bullshit morality lesson. It was probably almost two decades before I watched the movie again, and wow. So much of the racism flew right over my head when I was a kid. I sat there, an adult, with my mouth hanging open in places, stunned that so much racist stuff made it into the movie. It was eye-opening, to say the least.
Are the funny parts funny? Hell, yes. When the movie plays up the vampire cliches and buffoonery of its main characters, its a riot. But that doesn’t excuse the rest of it, which serve no real purpose and could have been jettisoned without a problem. If you decide to watch this one, keep in mind it’s going to be hellaciously uncomfortable in places. I still like the movie, but I can’t in good conscience recommend it without giant caveats.