On ne mord que deux fois

Lauren Hutton is a vampire simply named "The Countess" who must bite a virgin three times per year (ending on Halloween) in order to retain her youth and beauty. However, living in California in the mid-1980s, it's becoming impossible to find a virgin.

This is a horror comedy that's not exactly atmospheric, thrilling or suspenseful (it's also completely free of gore), and not exactly hilarious. Rather, it's just a very lighthearted, mostly enjoyable film that happens to be about vampires, although it's primarily interesting for a one of the earliest, pre-fame appearances of Jim Carrey, and for nostalgia, as Once Bitten is firmly mired in mid-1980s pop culture.

The biggest flaw is that the mythology behind the film is not very well explained or followed. The Countess finds Mark Kendall (Carrey) fairly easily, but we're not shown her and her clan looking very hard until just before Halloween--they had all year. We're never told if the clan has to follow the same rules. It doesn't seem so in the end, but why not? It's never very clear why The Countess can't just go after, say, an eleven year old. When things are getting down to the wire near the climax of the film, there are other virgins around, but The Countess just ignores them as potential drinking fountains of youth. It seems like maybe she has to bite the same person, rather than three potentially different people, three times, but that's never directly stated. How long does it have to be between bites? Why couldn't she just bite the one person twice, then bite someone else three times within a few hours?

Although I don't usually like to try to apply real world logic to films, in this case, I couldn't help it. Once Bitten isn't meant solely as a comedy, and there is a long sequence during the climax that should be as suspenseful as it is humorous. But the suspense was gone, because all I could think of where the questions above instead. To make it worse, the timeline of the film gets a bit muddled, and we lose any sense of when Halloween night is actually occurring. At one point, during a Halloween dance, that seems like that should be Halloween night, but then it seems like Halloween should be over already at a later point. At that later point, it seems like the dance must have been on a different, earlier day. That this crucial fact for suspense in the film isn't clear is a problem. Once Bitten suffers from sloppy scriptwriting and sloppy direction from Howard Storm, whose resume shows that he's much more comfortable with half-hour television sitcoms.

But if one can overlook some of those flaws, Once Bitten is worth at least one viewing. Carrey's performance is good. He easily shows why he became a star in later films. His transformation over the course of the film is great, and a scene with Carrey in full vampire make-up and clothing makes one long to see a serious vampire film with him as a star. I also liked the ice cream truck and took it as a nod to Phantasm (1979). There are enough comic moments that most viewers will at least be occasionally smiling, if not laughing out loud. A scene where Mark's friends are trying to check him for evidence of vampirism is a standout, as is much of the material where Mark and his friends interact. Carrey's scenes with his parents are even better, but there are too few of them. Both Hutton and Karen Kopins (as Mark's girlfriend, Robin) are sensuous. The Countess' vampire clan is severely underused, but they are okay when they do appear. And even the obligatory mid-80s music video/dance scene is mostly tolerable.

I also enjoyed the subtext that sex is a means of protection from evil, rather than something dangerous to be avoided. Robin's attitude about Mark's relationships was also a nice change of pace.

This is definitely a film that needs to be approached with lowered expectations, but in the right mood, you just might enjoy it.

starring: Lauren Hutton, Jim Carrey, Karen Kopins, Thomas Ballatore, and Skip Lackey.

plot: The sexy vampire, Countess (Lauren Hutton) needs to drink the blood of a virgin three times before Halloween. Mark (Jim Carrey) is bored in his relationship with his girlfriend Robin (Karen Kopins) because she doesn't want to have sex. So Mark takes his two buddies Jamie (Thomas Ballatore) and Russ (Skip Lackey) to Hollywood to find some chicks to have a one night stand with. Mark meets Countess and she gets him drunk, he thinks he's having a one night stand but she drinks his blood once. When Mark, Jamie, and Russ go back to town Countess follows them. She finds Mark and drinks his blood a second time, then she starts following him to get a third. Soon, Robin, Jamie, and Russ find out that he is slowly turning into a vampire. Then, Mark is captured on the night before Halloween. Will Robin, Jamie, and Russ save Mark in time?

This comedy/horror about a sexy vampire searching for a virgin is fun to watch! This movie is hilarious and well written, and has lots of fun cheesy 80's music.

This is a pretty bad 80's teen sex comedy with a vampire slant. It ‘s main attraction is an early appearance by Jim Carrey before he became a big star. Unfortunately the filmmakers seem unwilling to take advantage of his comic talents, forcing him to play it straight most of the time… What makes this even worse are the rich opportunities for him to exploit his particular brand of silliness in a movie with this premise… I mean, Jim Carrey turning into a vampire… that has potential., but for the most part, that potential is untapped.

However there are a few places where Carrey is allowed to showcase his comic abilities, and his talent is apparent… Particularly in a VERY ridiculous dance scene that has to rank right up there as one of the silliest (or stupidest) dance scenes I have ever encountered. This sequence is so crazy that I would almost recommend the movie based purely on the dance scene.

The rest of the movie is mostly bland and not so enjoyable… Lauren Hutton is a looker, but her part is pretty weak here. Carrey's two nerdy friends are supposed to provide most of the comic relief, but they aren't very funny. The story moves along very predictably and there is little or no urgency. It's not the kind of movie that makes you want to turn off the TV, but it's pretty forgettable.

Still…. It does have the dance scene, and there is a certain 80's nostalgia factor. It's worth watching if you catch it on TV and you have some time to kill.

A vampire Countess (Lauren Hutton) needs to drink the blood of a virgin in order to keep her eternal beauty. It seems that all is hopeless, until she bumps into Mark Kendall (Jim Carrey).

While "Fright Night" is often considered a modern classic by horror fans, this film -- which came out around the same time -- is probably not as well known. And why not? The humor is decent and a young Jim Carrey (with exquisite dance scene) makes this historically important in some small way.

I should say something about the film's treatment of homosexuality. However, I am unsure of what to write. The film seems to have some anti-gay bias (especially with the shower scene), but maybe that is a misunderstanding. Indeed, it might just be presenting what might have been a realistic response from teenage boys in the 1980s...

A Hilarious 80's teen sex comedy!

Jim Carrey hasn't been as funny in a film since. He manages to get plenty of laughs with his performance without going over the top the way he tends to do today. My favorite part is where Robin and the Countess have a dance-off over Mark at the Halloween dance to the very appropriate and silly song "Hands Off, He belongs to me"! And though slightly homophobic by today's standards were the comments by Carrey's sidekicks, "We're Rump Rangers", and the "Fags in the Shower" exclamations however, it all seemed in good fun.

Karen Kopins was really good as Mark's long-suffering girlfriend and held her own well against Carrey. She should've had a better career. I really miss the 80's teen movie genre, and the lighthearted take these films had on a generation.

A must see on Halloween if you're looking to lighten the load from the usual slasher films that always get shown.