Love at First Bite

Count Dracula has spent centuries in his Transylvanian castle, but his unlife there comes to an end when local officials decide to seize the estate and turn it into a training facility for athletes. Tired of the surroundings and the stale blood served by his servant Renfield, the count leaves for New York, drawn by magazine photographs of a model named Cindy Sondheim. He becomes convinced she carries the soul of his lost love, Mina Harker. Renfield accompanies him, and the count's adjustment to the modern city proves difficult. Cindy's psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffery Rosenberg, is a descendant of Van Helsing who wants to destroy the vampire, and he is also romantically interested in her.

The film is a comedy starring George Hamilton as the count, with Susan Saint James as Cindy, Richard Benjamin as the doctor, Arte Johnson as Renfield, Dick Shawn as a police lieutenant and Sherman Hemsley as a reverend. Stan Dragoti directed from a screenplay by Robert Kaufman, and it was the first feature he directed, followed by Mr. Mom (1983), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), She's Out of Control (1989) and Necessary Roughness (1991).

Released in April 1979, Love at First Bite grossed 44 million dollars worldwide on a modest production. Its ratings are moderate and steady: 6.1 out of 10 on IMDb from around 6,900 votes, and 6 out of 10 on TMDB from over a hundred votes. A critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from 24 reviews places it close to those audience scores.