I have some great memories of the eighties as a child and teenager. A lot of Nostalgia that we see today comes from a great time many find in their lives during the time of the decade called the eighties. A lot of the eighties films were already concepts that Hollywood borrowed from the ideas of films from the Fifties and just added new effects that had been designed for eighty's films. Teen comedies started being all the rage in the 1980's and thank you John Hughes. People pitched films like this "it's a cross between Sixteen candles and Dracula" and you get films like Once Bitten.
Once Bitten came at a time when Jim Carrey thought he was on the rise . He was on the Duck Factory and performing at various Comedy Clubs. He recently moved to Hollywood and it looked like things were looking up for the young comedian. Once Bitten was released in 1985 .Carrey past the audition for Once Bitten with flying colors and thus filming began. We really think in an interview from the popular Entertainment shows of that era that this film was to be Jim Carrey's Break out film. Once Jim Carrey became a household name this filmed was forgotten. I found the film later in a VHS release. I never heard of Once Bitten and I doubt it played in the theater close to where I live at the time of it's release. You can watch The trailer for Once Bitten and it looks like it would a be pretty good film the trailer was edited right. They should of did the same for editing for the film. Once bitten falls into the category of other Vampire Comedy Films in that it fails miserably in the comedy department. It is now a just a Phenomenon or legend that you are told about of how Jim Carrey started his film career. You can watch Once Bitten free on YouTube.
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| Critic Rita Kempley |
When Once Bitten was released in November of 1985 the film was a Financial success but it was torn apart by critics and in this case I cannot blame them for tearing Once Bitten apart. The plot is dumb it revolves around The Countess played by Model Lauren Hutton who is looking for a virgin male so she can stay young but she must find a virgin to bite three times. She must find that virgin before Halloween so we the audience might be interested. The big "comedy" of the film is that she cannot find a Virgin in Los Angeles because no young male is a Virgin in Los Angeles unless Heaven forbid they might have to go to the "suburbs". I guess no One Plays Dungeon and Dragons in LA in 1985? The Film was directed by a Television director Howard Storm and it shows. The Timing of comedy is really slow in the film. The film does get a couple of laughs from me when Karen Kopins delivers a couple of lines of comedy in the film. Kopin's timing is perfect in the scenes at the house of the Countess unfortunately Jim Carrey seems to be not the "Unleashed" Jim Carrey we knew in his prime. Kopins is obviously a better dancer than Jim Carrey and many as well as I find her dance scene very stunning and good. Dance scenes in Teen Comedies were snuck in so music from the Soundtrack was heard and people would go buy the Soundtrack. The film picks up around 45 minutes into the film but for many people they have just given up on the interest in the film by this time. I cannot discredit the writers they went after the interest and wallets of both male and female audiences and probably pinned a decent date night film and this is what it is. Once Bitten is a date night film from the eighties. I usually put the blame that a film like this was bad because it was a Canadian film but this was a Hollywood film. I cannot blame a regional gap on why the audience are bored by this film. I think the problem was more of a generational gap were an older director who thought this is the way Teenager's of the eighties acted like. I like how the film ended and when I first watched the film this was the most memorable part of the film I remeber. I am talking about the conclusion of the film I thought it was a clever ending for a film that lacked bite. The film is not edgy enough to tackle an edgy subject like teenage sexual pressure and love.
If you want to see an early film with Jim Carrey in it then this film is for you. I think sex and Vampirism with edge had already been done and this film does not give the teeth it needs or the fangs to keep your interest.
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