Vampire’s Kiss
USA | 1989 | Directed by Robert Bierman
Logline: A Manhattanite publishing executive is visited and bitten by an apparent vampire, a woman he previously slept with, and starts to exhibit erratic and obnoxious behavior.
One typical night while Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage) is having drinks with colleagues he meets sexy Rachel (Jennifer Beals). He invites her back to his place (bad idea, but he’s none the wiser) and they neck furiously. To be precise, it’s Rachel who necks Peter. The next morning Peter brings her coffee, but Rachel isn’t there. Has Peter imagined her?
Vampire’s Kiss is a weird little movie and brilliant. The screenplay is by Joseph Minion, who also penned another blackly comic, sly tale of urban paranoia: Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Any comedy that deals with schizophrenia, sexual assault, and murder, is most definitely of a darker hue, and right up my twisted little alley! The movie also features one of the most mannered performances in Nicolas Cage’s career (that fake pretentious accent is ingenious!), and one which has polarised viewers over the years, thus lending itself to the cult of personality.
The movie caresses the Big Apple affectionately, even obsessively; the opening establishing montage slyly focuses on the city’s spired skyscrapers; the Empire, the Chrysler, and other inverted architectural “fangs”. There is a sub-text at play about the stresses of modern city life, which the vampire’s curse uses metaphorically. Rachel’s vamp is very much the femme fatale, and New York City seems to encourage any kind of outlandish public behaviour, or at the least it is ignored by the locals, so Lowe’s slide into madness is water off his therapist’s back.
It is Loew’s targeting of his work colleague Alva (Maria Conchita Alonzo) – “Am I getting tha-roo to you Alva!” – that laces the tale with genuine discomfort, and Loew’s fantasy world colliding with reality that provides the movie with much of its inspired satire. Along with the corporate realm, the classic vampirism elements are mercilessly teased and manipulated; the bat in Loew’s apartment, the sun hurting his eyes, his ruthless arrogance at work, and his desire to act subversively at night whilst dressed in a suit and tie.
The copper-tinged sensibilities of this corrupt bloodsucker are an acquired taste, but as with all cult movies, it gets better with each viewing. But there is much to relish, especially some of the eccentric asides; the mime artists outside Loew’s brownstone, the elderly woman cussing in the office bathrooms, Loew using his upturned sofa as a “coffin”, Loew pulling faces as he runs amuck with plastic fangs, and of course, Cage’s haircut and his method acting (he actually chows down on a real cockroach!)
Not only is Vampire’s Kiss one of my favourite vampire movies, but I firmly stake that it is also one of the most bitingly-funny comedies of the 80s.
TRAILER:
Ah, now you are delving into my territory. I’d all but forgotten this little gem. Something I will have to rectify by revisiting it as I remember enjoying it immensely. It is a strange film which appeals to me as I am strange myself
Cheryl said this on April 24, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Hey Cheryl, I was anticipating your comment
It’s curious how many people haven’t actually heard of this movie. I love my black comedies, and this one is definitely lurking in the shadows. Have you seen Scorsese’s After Hours, which is written by the same screenwriter? Yes it is a strange film, but then like you, I’m a little strange too. I’ll be delving into your territory again, don’t you worry 
Bruno said this on April 25, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Hi Bruno,
This is my favourite Nicolas cage film…it’s American Psycho over a decade early.
John Doe
John Doe said this on July 17, 2009 at 7:10 pm