Off the wall black comedy about Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage), a literary agent in NYC. Peter, dissatisfied with the nature of his life, has an encounter with a one night stand, Rachel (Jennifer Beals). She bites him on the neck, and the increasingly unstable Peter believes that she is a vampire and just turned him into one. He makes life absolutely miserable for his flustered secretary Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso), while going about doing what he thinks a vampire's gotta do.
Joseph Minion ("After Hours") wrote the screenplay for this movie that, if nothing else, will go down in history for Cages' performance. We've seen him be prone to shameless overacting, but here his eccentricities reach one of their peaks (see also "Deadfall"). As other reviews have stated, though, there is more going on here than meets the eye; the movie isn't really to be taken literally. Yes, there's violence (the gore is courtesy of Ed French), and a few pointed teeth, but it's not too hard to reason that Peter is really manufacturing all of these nightmare scenarios in his head. A rather uncomfortable bit of business with Peters' office harassment of his poor secretary forms the major subplot.
Cage really is something to see, as he overturns his sofa, crawls beneath it, and turns it into a makeshift "coffin", shuns the sunlight, and is forced to buy ultra cheap plastic fangs. He's rarely been THIS unrestrained. He even affects a light, posh accent at times that is just downright silly. The supporting cast is fine (Elizabeth Ashley plays Peters' psychiatrist, Kasi Lemmons a potential girlfriend), and the ladies are all tantalizingly sexy. Now familiar faces like John Michael Higgins and David Hyde Pierce have small roles. The filmmaking isn't especially stylish but it's competent enough. (The photography is just gorgeous at times.)
"Vampire's Kiss" does generate some modest chuckles. It's kind of tough going at times, and really should have been shorter, but it makes for some decent entertainment.
Six out of 10.
Joseph Minion ("After Hours") wrote the screenplay for this movie that, if nothing else, will go down in history for Cages' performance. We've seen him be prone to shameless overacting, but here his eccentricities reach one of their peaks (see also "Deadfall"). As other reviews have stated, though, there is more going on here than meets the eye; the movie isn't really to be taken literally. Yes, there's violence (the gore is courtesy of Ed French), and a few pointed teeth, but it's not too hard to reason that Peter is really manufacturing all of these nightmare scenarios in his head. A rather uncomfortable bit of business with Peters' office harassment of his poor secretary forms the major subplot.
Cage really is something to see, as he overturns his sofa, crawls beneath it, and turns it into a makeshift "coffin", shuns the sunlight, and is forced to buy ultra cheap plastic fangs. He's rarely been THIS unrestrained. He even affects a light, posh accent at times that is just downright silly. The supporting cast is fine (Elizabeth Ashley plays Peters' psychiatrist, Kasi Lemmons a potential girlfriend), and the ladies are all tantalizingly sexy. Now familiar faces like John Michael Higgins and David Hyde Pierce have small roles. The filmmaking isn't especially stylish but it's competent enough. (The photography is just gorgeous at times.)
"Vampire's Kiss" does generate some modest chuckles. It's kind of tough going at times, and really should have been shorter, but it makes for some decent entertainment.
Six out of 10.