Love at First Bite vs. The Dracula We Know and Loathe

First watching the movie "Love at First Bite", right away I found it to be not the typical Dracula story I'm used to. Besides the humorous Count and story, I noticed a difference in the way he is portrayed physically. For example, in the story, he is an old man with white hair, long finger nails, and not a man one would particularly see as attractive. In the movie, played by Hamilton, he is attractive, has dark hair, slim, and the male stereotypical " tall, dark, and handsome".

Another difference I found was the reasoning behind Dracula's sudden move from his home in Transylvania to the city. In the novel, he goes to London to "start an army of the undead" and create as many as he can of himself. In the movie, the Count goes to find the woman he loves, which is Mina. And too that he was evicted from his castle. So the film ultimately took the traditional vampire and turned him into the modern day lover in search of his one true love and forever soul mate. Where does that look familiar? Oh yes, in modern films and shows such as Twilight, TruBlood, and Vampire Diaries just to name a few. Granted, the film's humorous spins and parodies helped this all well know theme to be bearable, however, I could still see myself being sucked into the idea of Dracula being that hopeless romantic when in fact his character was meant to be this creature and beast incapable of feeling true love or compassion.

 

The final interesting piece that I wanted to put my focus on was the relationship with Mina. In the story, she is seen as this damsel in distress, a fragile woman with really no sexual identity. She is what the Victorian ideal woman stood for. In the movie however, she is sexual and flaunting it. The way Dracula brings her under his spell is by dancing with her dances such as the tango and salsa. Then biting her. For one, Mina is definitely sexualized and goes against the traditional "damsel in distress" and weak female. She smokes, drinks, and dances. She goes into how erotic and exciting it felt when he bit her. Now, this is not to say that in the novel the women admitted how "dream-like" it was when he bit them, but they didn't overtly admit their excitement or yearning for it as the movie character had done.

 



 Overall, I enjoyed this version of the classic Dracula theme because it put a humorous spin on what would rather be a serious story. It made the characters attractive as well as over sexualize the male and female roles. It clearly mocked the sexual theme in the original story as well as make Dracula a less-threatening being and more of the man you wouldn't mind hanging out with for a day. He is non-threatening, funny, and charming. Mina, on the other hand, is this vixen who isn't afraid to have a good time and say what's on her mind. She, again, goes against the typical Victorian woman is pure, obedient, and serves as a mother. She's sexual and represents that woman you wouldn't want to take home to mom.