This is a wonderfully funny film thanks to clever and irreverent writing, wonderful acting and a clever "fish out of water" treatment of the Dracula story. In particular, Arte Johnson was a standout as the over-the-top freak, Renfield, Richard Benjamin's equally over-the-top retooling of Von Helsing and George Hamilton finally found his film niche as the sexy but somehow hip vampire. When it comes to the writing, there are so many rapid-fire laughs that you can't help but laugh. Sadly, though, a few of the jokes are now considered "politically incorrect", so idiot do-gooders usually excise objectionable portions of the film--such as the bat wondering into the poor Hispanic tenement building, the African-American funeral and the gay bar scene. It's a darn shame that nowadays some on the far left (who USED to preach Free Speech and fought against banning books) now are the same ones who do this "to spare feelings". I would never want to deliberately offend anyone, but only the most joyless and thin-skinned will be strongly offended by this gentle spoof. I just don't get it, but because of this nonsense, I strongly recommend you watch this on videotape, DVD or if it's run on a pay channel like HBO or SHOWTIME. Clever, funny and captivating from hilarious start to hilarious finish.

I'm prejudiced. As soon as I see George Hamilton is in a film, I avoid it. My interest in a Dracula story, even a spoof, did cause me to watch this. Count Dracula has to vacate Transylvania and move to New York. There's a woman there he needs to hook up with. With all the people around, he has trouble finding her. Once he does, handsome and tanned as he is (how does a vampire get a tan?) she is resistant to a relationship (being a New York gal). She is also very aggressive sexually and this kind of turns him off (even the living dead like to have a girl play hard to get). Anyway, he is mistreated by rude New Yorkers and shoved aside along the way. When psychiatrist Richard Benjamin realizes he is a vampire, he tries to put a stop to things with this young woman. I guess if this movie has a strength, it allows people to come up with puns about blood and biting and other vampires stuff.

Affectionate spoof of the classic vampire story and most notably the Bela Lugosi film version, which benefits from a witty, intelligent script and some fine casting choices for the leads. However, the best thing about this film is the sense of harmless fun, and its extremely refreshing to see a modern movie with no swearing, violence, or sex scenes to ruin it for a family audience. Instead, what we get are plenty of one-liners which spoof those uttered by Lugosi (the best remembered being "Children of the night... shut up!") and excellent caricatured turns from the actors who really put themselves into the roles. In fact the only person who falls foul is the uninteresting Susan Saint James, whose boring character sits at odds with the rest of the film making you wonder why Dracula would go to all of the trouble bothering with her.

George Hamilton effortlessly slips into the role of the suave, sophisticated Count with his tongue-in-cheek portrayal, and he isn't afraid to gently mock the character's idiosyncrasies while doing it either. Easily acting opposite him is an over-the-top Richard Benjamin, playing a slightly mad and frenetic descendant of Van Helsing, whose various encounters and battles with Dracula prove to be the highlights of the movie. Lower down in the cast we have a nice performance from Dick Shawn as the world-weary cop caught up in the case, and a scene-stealing appearance by Arte Johnson as Renfield, who cracks me up every time with his Dwight Frye-inspired manic laughing. With a very light plot, amusing humour, and emphasis on fun and action over slow-paced romance, LOVE AT FIRST BITE is a fine watch for vampire lovers everywhere.