Once Bitten

Director - Howard Storm (Kenan and Kel)
Starring - Lauren Hutton (Nip/Tuck), Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura), and Karen Kopins (Troop Beverly Hills)
Release Date - 1985
Genre - Comedy/Horror
Tagline - "Mark Kendall just found out that his one night stand has been around for centuries" and "A one-night stand with eternal complications"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection)
Favorite Quote - "Sebastien, get out of the closet"  "I came out of the closet centuries ago"

Rating (out of 5):

     This is another film from my childhood that I think is a crime that it is not well known, or is forgotten.  When I was in third and fourth grade, me and my cousin would watch Ace Ventura and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls all the time.  So if any of you have really been reading my blog then you know that if I really like a movie I start looking at other movies with the same cast and directors.  So naturally I watched as many Jim Carrey movies I could find.  When the local video store was going out of business I found this little gem on VHS for fifty cents and grabbed it.  I never did watch that VHS but I did find a DVD copy at Big Lots and grabbed it.

     The film follows The Countess (Hutton), a vampire who, in order to keep her youthful appearance, must feed on the blood of a virgin three times before Halloween.  However, this is not an easy thing to do in this time and age of debauchery.  We then meet Mark Kendall (Carrey), one of the few virgins in a world of filth.  Mark has been trying to plow his girlfriend Robin (Kopins), but she just will not put out.  Sexually frustrated, Mark and his two friends, Jamie and Russ, head off to Hollywood and try their luck at scoring.  It was the 80's and it was called "scoring" during that decade.  The three visit a bar and The Countess puts her moves on him and convinces him to go back to her mansion.  After undressing him, she bites the main artery on the inside of his leg.  He passes out and when she wakes him she is able to convince him that they did have sex.  He thanks her and leaves.  The next day at school Jamie and Russ make him spill the beans about what happened.  Robin over hears and the couple have a fight before going their own ways.  Mark is also acting weird.  Sleeping longer than he usually did and wearing sunglasses constantly.  He even drinks the blood from raw meat that his mother had poured in a glass to throw away.  After making up with Robin, he visits her at work.  She works for a clothing store and while there he decides to try on a pair of leather pants.  While in the fitting room, The Countess appears and takes her second transfusion.  Mark collapses and while Robin is helping him up, The Countess is able to sneak out undetected.  Mark begins to act even more strange.  He begins to wear only black clothing and hisses at a group of kids.  That night Mark and Robin decide to go to a Halloween party at their school where Robin and The Countess have a very spectacular 80's dance off scene.  It is clear that Mark's love lies with Robin, so The Countess kidnaps her as a way to lure Mark back in to her mansion so she can get her third transfusion.  Mark, Jamie, and Russ go to the mansion to save Robin, however, The Countess uses her powers to hypnotize him.  Robin is able to use her love, and the bribe of sex, to break the trance and the group flee for their lives while The Countess, and all the virgins she has turned in to vampires, give chase.  While cornered, Robin and Mark use one of the vampire's coffin and have sex.  Because he is not a virgin anymore and it is midnight on Halloween, she transforms in to her true age while Robin and Mark head back for round two.

     I love 80's vampire movies made for the masses instead of the horror fans.  They are cliched, dated, and mediocre...and I love it.  Movies like Rockula, My Best Friend is a Vampire, Once Bitten, and so on, are entertaining, at least for the first viewing.  However, unlike Rockula, this movie does have a replay value and never gets old.  The story is nothing original, nor special, but with the cast, this film is able to pass as entertaining.  The actors did their job very well and Jim Carrey is not the normal goofball that everyone has grown accustomed to like in his later movies.  He is funny and does have his moments, but for the most part, he is serious throughout most of the film.  There really is no special effects in this film, just white body paint and fake fangs.  I am not gonna get too in depth with this film I just wanted to make a post about it because it is a shame that this film is not more known and forgotten with time.  The reason I gave this film a 3 and not higher is because I think it would have been a true classic if the filmmakers would have made it a little more darker in tone and story.  Please check this one out.