MovieChat Forums > Love at First Bite (1979) Discussion > Coincidence or Plagiarism?

Coincidence or Plagiarism?

posted 20 years ago by jonschaper
6 replies | jump to latest

The plot of "Love at First Bite" (1979) is exactly the same as the plot from "Guess What Happened to Count Dracula" (1970). In "Guess What Happened..", Dracula has moved to LA to escape the communists who have overrun Transylvannia (including his castle). He now dresses in modern 1970s swinger fashions and has several kooky assistants (instead of just one). He falls in love with Cynthia when she visits his restaurant. He bites her a couple of times without her knowledge, but other than that doesn't do anything evil and refuses to bite her a third time (thus turning her into a vampire) without first getting her permission. Meanwhile, her boyfriend begins to notice the changes in her and gets jealous, while a psychiatrist dismisses his fears that she is falling victim to a vampire. Finally, the old boyfriend confronts the vampire, but Cynthia has decided she prefers Dracula and volunteers to be bitten a third time and becomes a vampire.

Add a bit of Hollywood gloss and a car chase, replace an evil vampire rival with some stereotypical blacks for a tangential fight scene, and, voila, you've got Love at First Bite. And with the writer/director of "Guess What Happened..." dead (he was killed around 1971 or 1972) and the original film largely unknown, you don't have to worry about being sued. (Why not? It's an honoured tradition. Shakespeare would go a step further and copy lines word for word.) Of course it could just be a huge coincidence that the two films' plots are exactly the same given the limited number of plots around...

As for which movie is better: you laugh where you are supposed to when you watch "Love at First Bite", whereas despite its being a comedy, you laugh at "Guess What Happened..." for all the wrong reasons, but I personally find "Guess What Happened..." to be a far more entertaining film.

[–] BijouBob8mm 19 years ago

The writer/director of GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNT DRACULA also made a film called DOES DRACULA REALLY SUCK? (aka DRACULA AND THE BOYS), although I've yet to meet anyone who actually watched any of these. I vaguely recall seeing the poster for GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNT DRACULA at the drive-in as one of their upcoming features. I think it's now out on DVD from Something Weird/Image.

One gag in LOVE AT FIRST BITE, when the Star of David is used to try to repel Dracula, was a variation on a similar gag in Roman Polanski's THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (aka DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES): Someone tries to ward off a Jewish member of the undead with a crucifix, only to be told, "Oy, have YOU got the wrong vampire!"

[–] mushrom 19 years ago

There is one thing that I always laughed about during that scene.

According to the legends of Vampires, it is not a crucifix that holds them off, but any holy symbol. Therefore a Star Of David would be just as powerful as a cross.

[–] millsey72 (10666) 2 years ago

Yea that scene was very offensive to the Jewish community

[–] DarthAckbar (2181) 2 years ago

it was also considered a plot hole

[–] zboycoolcat 16 years ago

Star of David is also used in the book version of I Am Legend.

[–] rarpsl 15 years ago

"Star of David is also used in the book version of I Am Legend."

Please go back and check that book again. While it WAS used this was to hedge the hero's bets. He wore/used every holy symbol so there would be one that was the Vampire's warding holy symbol. Thus he used a cross and a star along with others (he would need a hammer pin I think against Norse Vampires for example). Some Mythos requires that the object be holy to the user while others require that it be hold to the vampire. In the user case, there needs to be faith in the symbol for it to be effective (good luck if you are an atheist as Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake comments at one point about carrying spares to give to cops when she goes rogue vampire hunting with them and having others pray for them [but not inform them]).