Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1985 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
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We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1985 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1985 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s Nov. 15, 1985, and we’re off to see Once Bitten.
Once Bitten
Apparently Nov. 1985 was the month for horror-themed comedies. You know, as opposed to coming out before Halloween.
Teenager Mark Kendall (Jim Carrey) has been trying to sleep with his girlfriend for years to no avail. Now, the Countess (Lauren Hutton) has set her sights on him as she needs to drink from a male virgin three times to maintain her beauty.
Compared to last week’s Transylvania 6-5000, Once Bitten is a masterpiece, but the bar is set extremely low. There is nothing especially outstanding here, and some of the humor is very much dated, but I still got a few chuckles from it.
My biggest laugh came from Mark’s friends–Jamie (Thomas Ballatore) and Russ (Skip Lackey)– while working at a fast food restaurant. There is a sight gag happening in the background of the scene about the “secret sauce” that gave me my best laugh of the film.
There is nothing special about this movie. It merely exists to exist.
1985 Movie Reviews will return on Nov. 22, 2025, with Bad Medicine, King Solomon’s Mines, One Magic Christmas, and White Nights.
