Dracula Bites the Big Apple

In 1979 Richard Wenk directed a bizarre short film by the name of Dracula Bites the Big Apple. It begins in sepia and a quote from Hamlet, but quickly moves into colour and disco as the titular Count boards a plane to New York to check out the “pulsating night life”. What follows is a blend of some very obvious gags, a handful of more imaginative ones, over-egged performances and an irresistible musical number revolving around a cover version of King Harvest’s Dancing in the Moonlight. Oh, and the owner of Studio 54, Steve Rubell, pops up in a cameo playing himself. It really is a genuine curiosity, an odd mix of comedy, horror, musical and love letter to New York which Wenk absolutely refuses to take seriously. Dracula Bites the Big Apple enabled Wenk seven years later to create the Grace Jones vehicle Vamp.