Movie review of Vampire's Kiss

Horrorphile

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Vimu Subscription

Horrorphile - August 2007

Vampire's Kiss

August 3rd 2007 02:11

Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage), a Manhattanite publishing executive, is visited and bitten by an apparent vampire and starts to exhibit erratic and obnoxious behavior. As he tries to come to terms with his strange affliction he begins to alienate those around him, in particular his secretary Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso), whom he constantly harasses. The vampire, Rachel (Jennifer Beals), continues to hound and seduce him and drink his blood, and as his madness deepens, it becomes apparent some of the events he is experiencing may be hallucinations.

Vampire’s Kiss (1989) is a weird little movie and brilliant. The screenplay was written by Joseph Minion, who also penned another exceptionally clever tale of urban paranoia: Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Directed by Robert Bierman, it is the blackest of comedies (any comedy that deals with schizophrenia, sexual assault, and murder, is most definitely of a darker hue!) It also features one of the most mannered performances in Nicolas Cage’s career, and one which has polarized viewers.

Nicolas Cage is literary prick Peter Leow

The movie is a deeply entrenched big city flick, it's quintessential NYC. The camera caresses the cityscape affectionately, almost obsessively. The opening establishing montage slyly focuses on the city’s spired skyscrapers; the Empire, the Chrysler, and other art deco inverted architectural “fangs”. There’s the constant bustle and seething flow of the traffic, both human and vehicular. The city is a breathing, pulsating beast in Vampire’s Kiss, and Peter Loew, is but a worker ant, embroiled in its ruthless churn.

Jennifer Beals as Rachel the vamp

He is a lonely man, but he enjoys the night life. He escapes the humdrum by descending into the glamorous bars and nightclubs (the movie actually shot on location in some of Manhattan’s renowned 80s hotspots, such as The Tunnel and Mondo Cane Blues Bar), and it is at Mondo Cane that he picks up Jackie (Kasi Lemmons). The two make out drunkenly back at Loew’s apartment, until a bat flies in through an open window and they flee the pad.

Vampire's Kiss Nic Cage and Elizabeth Ashley

Peter Leow with his shrink (Elizabeth Ashley)

A few nights later while Loew is having drinks with colleagues he meets Rachel. He invites her back to his place (bad idea, but he’s none the wiser) and they neck furiously. Well, Rachel necks Peter. The next morning Peter brings coffee into the bedroom, but Rachel is not there. Has Peter imagined her?

Damn, have I become that ugly?!

There is a subtle play at work here, a sub-text about the stress of modern city life, and the vampire’s curse becomes a metaphor. Of course, in New York City, any kind of outlandish public behaviour is barely frowned upon, people simply watch you with bemused expressions, or ignore you entirely. Loew’s increasingly odd mannerisms seem to be an extension of his own inherently pretentious personality. In fact Loew even semi-maintains a deliberately stylized, poncy Continental-American accent which is hilarious.

Vampire's Kiss Nic Cage and Jennifer Beals

Dream of me angel, dream of me

Cage, known for his method acting (he had his eye teeth removed during the filming of Birdy after his character returns from Vietnam), actually chows down on a large live cockroach in one of the film’s many memorable moments! “Seduction. Romance. Murder. The things one does for love.” Yup, and that includes cocky-munching.

Vampire’s Kiss has garnered a cult following, partially due to Cage’s over-the-top performance. Self-styled critics of the movie have missed the point entirely when they rubbish Cage’s accent, or his silly wide-eyed expressions and loud diatribes. One of the movie’s themes is mental illness, but it’s tackled with tongue-in-cheek, which can be contentious, but it's handled with a lean, muscular intent by the writer and director respectively.

Loew visits his psychiatrist Dr. Glaser (Elizabeth Ashley) regularly and this provides the movie with a sub-plot which anchors Loew’s mental instability. He discloses his desire to meet the right woman and his frustrations with work. But Loew is on a downward spiral and there will always be collateral damage in a city as densely populated as NYC. His shrink humours him, and in the movie’s pivotal meeting between them Loew begins to see the light … however for a vampire this is not good. Dawn is rising ... Loew must swiftly return to his makeshift sofa-coffin.

Look into my eyes

Vampire’s Kiss gets better with each viewing (just as any cult film does). For the first time I noticed cult new wave New Yorker outfit ESG performing their legendary underground hit Moody in one of the nightclub scenes. There is much to relish with amusement: no mobile phones, no personal computers, lots of smoking; these all add a notable date stamp to the movie. Much of the peripheral action is very funny, such as the mime artists outside Loew’s brownstone and the elderly woman cussing in the office bathrooms.

Have fangs, snarrrrl, GRRRRR!

While the female support actors, Beals, Alonzo, Ashley, Lemmons, all deliver solid performances, it is Cage who commands the film and most of the movie’s sense of humour – “Am I getting through to you Alva!” – with his silly haircut, ridiculous face-pulling, and those plastic fangs! While fans of Nicolas Cage need to take it with a grain of salt, the non-fans should probably stay well away. I champion his performance in Vampire’s Kiss up there with his best work; Raising Arizona, Birdy, Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation. And I stake Vampire’s Kiss as one of the best comedies of the 80s.

I hoped to find more of the funnier clips from the movie, but enjoy the black satin bite:

Vote

Subscribe to this blog

Email this post to a friend

Go to the Orble Film Channel

Start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

[ Previous - Horror QUIZ #15: Is This Really a Movie Title?! ]

[ Next - Strange Behaviour (Dead Kids) ]

Comments

11 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

August 3rd 2007 02:19

Film & TV on DVD

Fantastic review of a brilliant film Bryn,
I love the part where Nick with false fangs runs down the street yelling "Im a vampire, Im a vampire" - Agreed it is one of cage's (Coppolla') finest screen characters....essential viewing

Ahead of its time in many ways I find the humour and tone echo American Psycho for detached 80's social commentary.

Comment by Bryn

August 3rd 2007 02:57

Horrorphile

Hey JD, great to see you first up here! Yeah, the movie has aged like a fine red wine!!
And indeed, it totally pre-echoes American Psycho ...
I so wanted to find a clip of the scene where Cage is talking to his shrink on the payphone still with the fangs in his mouth ... fucking hilarious!
cheers mate!

Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner

August 3rd 2007 03:10

Bryn,

Wow! I've never even heard of this one, and I thought I owned all the vampire flicks...

LOL

I swear between you and JD, the two of you are gonna bankrupt me buying DVD's!

LOL

Most excellent review...

Take care,

Nick

Comment by Bryn

August 3rd 2007 03:56

Horrorphile

Nick, so glad to know I'm damaging your wallet in the all the right places! LOL
Yes, Vampire's Kiss is amost different take ... but such a riotiously inventive one!
Cheers for the props!

Comment by David

August 3rd 2007 04:13

Bryn,

Excellent review.

This is my favourite Nicholas Cage film. (It's the only film I like him in).

How Loew can you get?

My favourite scenes are when Alva pulls a sickie, and Mr Loew cabs his way over to her place, and drags her back to work via a brief stop at the garage her brother is working at.

David ...

Comment by KylieW

August 3rd 2007 04:20

Celebrity Obsession

Bryn,

This film and Raising Arizona were the only films I ever liked Nicolas Cage in for the longest time....well until he had a career resurgence after The Rock. Then he did quite a few good flicks.

Just read the comment that you were looking for a clip of him on the phone to his shrink. That was a hilarious scene.

Great review as always

Kylie

Comment by Bryn

August 3rd 2007 05:06

Horrorphile

David, thought this would tickle your fancy ... Have you seen Scorsese's After Hours?

Kylie, Cage has had a haphazard career, but he's so much more interesting to watch on screen than many of his contemporaries ...

Comment by D. Armenta

August 4th 2007 00:39

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan

I loved "After Hours"--for some reason this one slid under my radar..I missed all new movies from 1985-1989 and have to go by recommendations.

Since I know we like the same stuff, I'm off to get it!

P.S.--I've always liked Cage, even over-the-top drama-queen Cage..he does it so well, and you can see the laugh in his eye when he's playing it up:

"Chrissie, get me the big knife!! I'm gonna cut my heart out right now!!"

Comment by Bryn

August 4th 2007 07:40

Horrorphile

Armenta, which movie is that quote from ...??

Comment by Cibbuano

August 7th 2007 23:43

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

you've mentioned this before, and it sounds great...

Comment by Bryn

August 8th 2007 02:25

Horrorphile

Cibby, yeah it is ... Nic Cage not only chews the scenery, he devours it.

[ Previous - Horror QUIZ #15: Is This Really a Movie Title?! ]

[ Next - Strange Behaviour (Dead Kids) ]

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.

CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag

Home Page (optional)

Comments

Notify me of replies

Notify extra people about this comment

Is this a private comment?

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this comment

One per line max of 30

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this private comment thread. Only the people in this list will be able to see or reply to your comment.

One per line max of 30

Your Name
(for the email going out to the above list, it can be different to your Orble Tag)

Your Email Address

(optional)

(required for reply notification)

Submit

August 2008

20 Posts

July 2008

23 Posts

June 2008

23 Posts