Genre Research #3

Genre Research: Once Bitten

     The 1985 Film, “Once Bitten”, is a true blue ‘80s movie about what would happen if a vampire needed the blood of virgins to keep her youthful appearance… in L.A. during the 1980s. True to form, this movie highlights one such situation, after the protagonist (Jim Carrey in his first major acting role as Michael) goes with some of his high school friends to a bar is picked up and bite by a 400 year old vampire. He has no knowledge of this happening so he goes to school and interacts with people, all while exhibiting his new, freakish habits. I was not able to find the opening minutes of the movie, but did watch a clip toward the end to get a feel for the picture. In this clip, the characters are at a school Halloween dance and Michael’s girlfriend confronts the vampire countess in a glorious 1980’s dance off. This is largely used to get back possession of Michael, but it is humorous none the less. The song “Hands Off” plays as a nod to the on the screen situation. The wide shot is used to capture the bout between characters, individual dancing, and a pan of Michael staring at the countess. However, the mid-shot is used to show character expressions as well. Editing wise, the shot reverse shot is used to keep track of the dancing between the two. It should be noted there is an iconic Jim Carrey moment where he plays air guitar with his leg as the guitar. The film had a budget of 3.2 million dollars and produced about $10 million in the U.S., and critically the movie was average. It was definitely an envelope pusher given the subjects of sex with a teen movie at the time.