Excellent but underrated film

As Good As It Gets

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

If one seeks out this 80s movie for the presence of Jim Carrey (in his first major role), they should be advised that they won't be subjected to much of his trademark wackiness, improvisation, and body contorting, face making shtick. It *is* there, but most of the time Carrey performs with a good deal of restraint. He is likable, as is the cast in general, but overall there are no comedy fireworks here. At best, this is a decent lightweight diversion, with scattered chuckles and some energy here and there; there's an impressive dance sequence with Carrey and his co-stars Lauren Hutton and Karen Kopins showing off their moves.Carrey plays Mark Kendall, an 18 year old who of course is frustrated by the fact that his hottie girlfriend Robin (Kopins) isn't ready to go all the way. The virginal Mark is thus easy prey for a hot-to-trot vampiress (ever glamorous Hutton) who must feast on the blood of a virgin - a rare commodity in the L.A. of the 1980s - three times before a certain date. Mark starts to exhibit the traits of being a vampire so it's up to Robin and Marks' two buddies, Jamie (Thomas Ballatore) and Russ (Skip Lackey) to figure out what's up and put an end to Huttons' plans.Horror fans can at least take note of the presence of familiar faces from genre fare of the period, including actors from three "Friday the 13th" franchise entries: Stuart Charno (Part 2), Carey More (The Final Chapter), and Dominick Brascia (A New Beginning). Also appearing are the late, great Cleavon Little who makes the most of a clichéd role (as Huttons' gay chauffeur / butler / faithful companion), Megan Mullally ('Will & Grace'), and Peter Elbling ("Phantom of the Paradise") as a weirdly accented, helpful bookseller.Other than the aforementioned dance sequence (in which both Hutton and Kopins show off some mighty fine legs), there's nothing here that's really memorable, but people may find that this kills time painlessly enough.Six out of 10.

at the beginning of the movie, the "degenerates from downstairs" mention that the only virgin they can find is an ll year old boy. the countess immediately grimaces and says, "don't be gross."also, the dance fight scene doesn't take place at a halloween dance. it takes place at a PRE HALLOWEEN BOP. there are signs all over the movie proclaiming it as PRE halloween. during the actual scene, there's a huge sign on stage announcing that all the students are at a PRE halloween bop. you may have missed it.my biggest complaint was the use of fire to hold off the vampires. if the vampires are so deathly afraid of fire, why would they light so many candles and torches all around them? :)

The Countess has a problem. She is a 400 year old vampire who will cease to look young unless she is able to feed on a virgin three times before Holloween, a week away. She sends Sebastian, her servant and all of her lesser vampires out to find one. Finding a virgin is difficult in Los Angeles. Mark has a problem. He wants to 'do it' with Robin in the worst way, but she wants to wait. Jamie and Russ, Mark's goofy friends convince him to go to a Hollywood pick up spot where Mark meets the Countess, on the prowl. Robin's not going to understand. This Is Early Jim Carrey At His Best. The Funniest Part To Me Is The Shower Scene Could That Go More Wrong. 4.9 Is Severely Underrating It. The Other Part That Was Funny Was The...How To Put This Simple...The Hopping Coffin...That Sounds Worse Than What It Was. Jim Carrey Was Hysterical Even In 1985. To Me This Is A Comedy That Was Ahead Of Its Time.

Exploiting the typical male teen's desperate attempt to lose his virginity, 'Once Bitten' is a light comedy from the teen horror comedy catalog of the 1980s, though not as funny as say, 'My Best Friend is a Vampire,' nor as satirical as 'My Boyfriend's Back' (a 90s comedy). In part, the comedy is never too adventurous with comedic quips, and instead, carries with it for some parts in the movie, a rather unnecessarily serious mood.Lauren Hutton plays the sleek, voluptuous Countess, a vampire desperate for virgin blood in order to sustain her youth. Lucky for her, she is conveniently on the prowl at a Hollywood night club the same time that high school teen Mark Kendall (Jim Carrey) and his two buddies arrive for a guys night out. Mark might think he's about to lose his virginity, but instead, finds himself in a whole lot of trouble once he falls into the seductive clutches of the Countess. He displays all the symptoms of a vampire: irritability, pale complexion, a sudden lust for rare meat, and a newfound love for all-black attire. But, his "first time" with the Countess will by no means his last as she follows him around town and haunts his dreams (I guess, they're really light male teen eroticism) as she intends to complete whatever vampire ritual will sustain her youth permanently.It's a nice comedy, worth of a lazy noon viewing, and particularly for fans of the cult horror comedy. But, as far as vampires and desperate teen virgins go, I would highly recommend 'My Best Friend is a Vampire.'