Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		1.5

Once Bitten Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 9, 2015

Note: This film is currently available in the double feature Love at First Bite / Once Bitten.

There’s probably little doubt that the overwhelming critical and box office success of Mel Brooks’ lunatic Young Frankenstein made bean counters in Hollywood sit up and take notice. Hollywood is after all Ground Zero for imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, and so it’s no wonder that other creatives decided to take a stab at satirizing various horror outings. What’s a bit surprising is how long it took. Brooks’ send up of the most iconic man made “monster” of all time appeared in 1974, but it wasn’t until five years later in 1979 that another Universal horror legend got the same treatment, with Dracula being played for (supposed) laughs in Love at First Bite. There’s a bit less of a through line to 1985’s Once Bitten, a film that might be thought of as a quasi-parody of Dracula’s Daughter, since it revolves around a female vampire. Unfortunately neither of these films had what made Young Frankenstein so memorable—namely, Mel Brooks and an unparalleled cast of comedy heavyweights. Love at First Bite is the better of the two films in this Blu-ray double feature, but it hasn’t aged particularly well (unlike its subject blood sucker), seeming a bit more pointlessly manic now in hindsight than it probably did upon its original release, when it was unexpectedly popular with audiences and at least some critics. The less said about Once Bitten, the better, for it’s a tired, unfunny enterprise that has gained whatever small cachet it ultimately achieved due largely to the fact that it offered Jim Carrey one of the first major roles of his film career.

Once Bitten is a pretty resolutely smarmy take on the horror movie, with a juvenile (supposed) high school element that seems more reminiscent at times of similarly unfunny raunch fests like Losin’ It or Porky's. The vampire in this film is the ageless Countess (Lauren Hutton) who, according to an overstuffed mythology that is shoehorned into the proceedings, must drink of a virgin’s blood three times before Halloween each year in order to continue looking youthful. That ultimately puts her on a quest to suck the blood of dunderheaded virgin Mark Kendall (Jim Carrey), a high school guy who’s been striking out with his girlfriend Robin (Karen Kopins) and is therefore amenable to the Countess’ come hither stance.

The film’s one stab at socially relevant comedy—namely that the poor Countess and her sycophantic assistant Sebastian (Cleavon Little) have a hard time actually finding a virgin in Los Angeles—is about as clever as this film ever gets. Hutton, an obviously gorgeous woman who never quite mastered the art of screen acting, is kind of like a walking, talking mannequin throughout the film, and about as lifelike. Carrey is not quite the mugging freak that he became a bit later in his film career, and actually manages to invest Mark with a bit of sweetness and appropriate consternation.

But Once Bitten is just spectacularly unfunny most of the time, trading on supposed double entendres to work up fitful humor. The film finally devolves into what is more or less a teenaged sex farce, and it’s notable that the film pretty much jettisons the vampire angle in its closing moments to give the audience what it probably came for in the first place, namely high school kids getting it on while the world and the Countess go to hell in a handbasket.

Once Bitten Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Once Bitten is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While this transfer shares some of the issues seen in its double feature sibling Love At First Bite with regard to grain management, Once Bitten's much brighter palette helps to overcome some clumpy, unnatural looking grain to deliver decent detail. The film's palette pops quite nicely throughout this presentation, with reds and blues offering excellent vividness. Clarity is generally commendable, though a lot of the film is pretty soft looking.

Once Bitten Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once Bitten's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track has a few bursts of energy like the scene in the club where Carrey meets Hutton, but overall the soundtrack is relegated to serving up this film's idea of scintillating banter, which it does perfectly well. Fidelity is fine throughout and there are no issues of any kind to report.

Once Bitten Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (480p; 00:57)

Once Bitten Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Carrey fans may get a kick out of seeing this early role for the actor, one where he's relatively tamped down, leaving the mugging to old pros like Cleavon Little instead. But the writing here is tired, hackneyed and (worst of all) not very funny. Technical merits are okay if uninspiring for those considering a purchase.