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| Once Bitten |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 94 m |
| Public Rating: 8.40 (5 votes) |
Director: Howard Storm |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Comedy |
Year: 1985 |
| Writer(s): David Hines, Jeffrey Hause, Jonathan Roberts |
| Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn |
| Reviewed by: Brian Andrews |
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ONCE BITTEN
I could watch this movie over and over again. Not because it’s such a good movie, per se, but because it’s easy on the eyes, easy on the ears, and, perhaps most importantly, easy on the brain.
If you’ve seen one ‘teenager-turns-into-scary-monster’ movie, you’ve seen them all, so I won’t waste much time on the plot. In a nutshell, Lauren Hutton is The Countess, a several hundred year old vampiress who needs the blood of a virgin to maintain her youth and beauty. Enter Jim Carrey as said virgin who tries to thwart her attempts to win him over to the dark side. Place it all in a high school setting, add a virtuous girlfriend (Karen Kopins- whatever happened to her?) and two bumbling best friends, and…poof! You’ve got a ‘teenager-turns-into-scary-monster’ movie!
But, despite the inherent stupidity of the story, I continue to watch it. Maybe it’s because I like Jim Carrey, always have, and seeing him in an early performance has a certain nostalgic value. Maybe it’s because, as far as halfway witty scripts go in this genre, there are actually a few good one-liners and raunchy innuendos here, and most of the situations are actually pretty funny. But that, of course, owes a lot to the spirited and energetic cast and on-your-toes direction by Howard Storm. Maybe it’s because the movie is, not for nothing, an ‘80’s movie, and for everyone who is a member of my generation (I’m 27), ‘80’s movies are all too hard to resist. We like them because they’re happy, lively movies that remind us of our childhoods. Not that I can remember precisely when “Once Bitten” came out in the movie theaters, but I remember seeing it eventually as a kid and liking it.
It’s a shame this movie was made well before soundtrack sales became an integral part of a film’s ultimate success. This movie would’ve made a killing! Not only is the main theme music hum-worthy, but the rest of the songs are peppy, synthesized, catchy and totally ‘80’s!!! I love the dance sequence at the Halloween dance where Jim, Lauren, and Karen dance to “Hands Off”. A textbook ‘80’s movie moment.
As far as the supporting performers, Cleavon Little is a hoot as The Countess’s butler and cohort, Skip Lackey and Thomas Ballatore are just dorky enough to make Jim convincing as the hero and they serve their purposes as his loyal cronies just fine. That’s it really for the supporting players, I mean, don’t forget, this is an ‘80’s movie, so there are parents and teachers and various classmates sprinkled throughout. The Countess has her own loyal disciples as well, but they are not called on to do very much. They are fine and mostly just hang out in the background.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand why this film did not do well at the box office. I mean, it’s very stupid, the only big name (at the time) was Lauren Hutton and, while she’s a lovely girl, she is not exactly a box-office draw, and, well, let’s face it, how many ‘teenager-turns-into-scary-monster’ ’80’s movies can you name that did terrific box office? I can think of two off the top of my head: “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), but there the characters weren’t teenagers and it wasn’t an ‘80’s movie in the sense that it was a disposable comedy like “Once Bitten” or “My Mom’s a Werewolf” (1989), for example, and “Teen Wolf” (1985), but Michael J. Fox was a big name draw at the time. If this movie was made today, with all of the revenue streams we have now for making money from entertainment, this movie would definitely have been released straight-to-video, or at least made it’s debut as a made-for-cable movie.
But it’s fun nonetheless. Brainless, fluffy, sporadically funny. Your life will not change as a result of watching “Once Bitten,” but you may have an entertaining hour and a half.
Trivia bit: Keep an eye out for Megan Mullally (TV"s "Will & Grace") as Suzette, the girl at Halloween dance sign-in booth.
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