Customer Reviews

Vampire's Kiss

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This movie is a must-see for those who appreciate black comedy done well, and superbly acted.

Cage carries the entire movie on his shoulders, and it's one of the rare times you'll see someone do that comedically with 100% success. His portrayal of Peter Loew, one of the weirdest characters in movie history, is truly a tour-de-force. There's a scene near the end that knocks me out every time: he carries on a delusional conversation with a wall, hallucinating other people and their reactions. The scene uses surrealism perfectly. Reminds me somewhat of Lindsay Anderson's classic films, like "If..." or "O Lucky Man", in which bizarre surrealism would often be injected into otherwise normal scenes - and it always worked because there were never any clear explanations for it written into the script. Viewers have to figure it out for themselves. (Although, as DVD commentary often reveals, usually the directors have no idea what it means either!) That's why I like well-done allegories - they require thought. Anyway, the part where Cage talks to the wall is a masterpiece. It's sidesplittingly funny as he mumbles his crazy responses to his own ghosts, yet sad and frightful at the same time, considering he's just killed a person and has blood all over his face and clothes. It works equally as well as he thereafter walks down the streets of New York with a wooden stake in his hand, screaming at his nonexistent girlfriend, while real sidewalkers (not extras) walk by, not even paying attention this babbling, insane man who is in fact Nicholas Cage performing what was perhaps the best scene of his career! This, as well as many of his other scenes in the film (such as his crazed recitation of the alphabet), were Oscar material in my opinion. It just doesn't get any better than that. His performance runs circles around Jack Nicholson's similar man-going-insane role in "The Shining". Jack, too, went over the top, but the difference is, he went way overboard, and too quickly, so it doesn't work. Compare Jack's phony-sounding "Here's Johnny!" remark at the height of his insanity to Nick's realistic rantings in the latter part of the film.

Unfortunately, too many people saw it as hammy overacting, and criticized this film. To them I say, "How good could YOU have done in this role?!" They missed the point. It IS overacting, but it was done intentionally and successfully, and to pull that off requires tremendous talent. To run down a street shouting "I'm a vampire!" over and over may not seem like Oscar material, but it's the hammy way he does it that actually makes it work. It, and the many scenes like it in which Cage goes WAY over the top, are signs of true comedic genius, which, sadly, seems to have remained unexplored as his career has gone on. Forget the infamous cockroach-eating scene, that's just incidental and not worthy of all the bad press it got. There are far too many treasures in the film to focus on that brief scene.

This movie was done when black comedies were not in fashion, and way too many people never 'got it'. This film won't work for people who demand the typical mainstream fodder. It works as both a comedy and an allegory (the allegory being vampirism for loneliness and alienation). There's barely a scene when Cage is not doing something very funny, especially in the scenes where he improvised totally nonscripted quirks for Peter Loew. But because there are some harsher scenes of murder, violence, mental torture, psychic sadism, and rape, viewers feel afraid to laugh - even though those darker parts are pretty tame. Primarily, this movie is a comedy. It's okay to laugh, because that's why Cage was jumping on desks, smashing furniture, and talking in a very affected accent - to make us laugh! That same weird accent that grates on some people's nerves just cracks me up. There's not too many movies you'll see where it's actually hilarious when a guy puts a gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger. That's just not funny, but Cage somehow made it humorous. (His strange cry of "boohoo" there is my favorite line in the movie).

The supporting cast is also superb; dedicated actors who gave spot-on performances, like Kasi Lemmons and Maria Conchita Alonso. When you see a quirky, unusual, well-made film like this, it's easy to realize just how bad the mainstream movies. It's not tired cliches and hackneyed jokes that are funny, it's the *delivery* of lines that aren't normally considered funny. Nick doesn't have a single 'joke' per se in this movie, yet he's hilarious every second.

This DVD is a real treat. It contains a few scenes that were not in the final cut, so although it's not advertised as being a 'director's cut', it really is. The commentary with Cage and the director is consistently funny and interesting. They noth chuckle frequently at Cage's antics. Cage reveals that most of what he was doing was either improvised before the cameras, or thought up in his hotel room the night before. The director imparts various tidbits about the filming. The one negative thing about the commentary is that the director talks nonstop throughout, rudely interrupting Cage constantly in mid sentence. I'd rather hear what Nick has to say, but he can barely get a word in as the director rambles on as each scene unfolds. Fortunately, Nick is a patient, polite person and the crosstalk is little.

I hope someday, perhaps with this release, and considering the commercial direction Cage's career has gone, the film will get the recognition it deserves.

I saw this first time in the movie theatre, and I got the feeling that most of the audience did not get it at all. After the film ended, one man said sarcastically: "I can't wait for the sequel!"
I think most people think it is comedy, due to Nick Cage's extreme acting. But... I don't think it really is. It is basically unclassifiable, and as such has a hard time in the market.

To me it was strange, and funny, and fascinating. I see it as a portrait of a man who is going mad. This is rare, and an extremely difficult thing to do, because we know so little about madness. And of course it is a very uncomfortable subject also.

Cage was just fantastic in this role.
Maria Alonso too, and so beautiful.
I recommend it, if you like to try different things.

I tend to view Nicolas Cage's film career as split somewhat down the middle. There is 'interesting and edgy young Nicolas Cage' who turned in odd--if not downright weird--performances in minor films. Sometimes these performances worked against the grain of the film, however, they were always riveting. Then there is 'mainstream Nicolas Cage' who, after winning his Academy Award, tended to make safer choices as a leading man or a heroic figure. Cage's work has always been solid and intelligent, but his acting choices have lost much of their original maverick appeal.

Cage plays Peter Loew, an elitist and pretentious literary agent at a publishing house. Loew fancies himself a ladies' man, but in fact leads a rather cold and lonely life. Loew also speaks with a strange and completely contrived accent, which he feels will make him more interesting to people. Unfortunately, most people only find this annoying--virtually guaranteeing Loew's inability to connect with anyone in a meaningful way. One night, after picking up a beautiful woman (Jennifer Beals), Loew brings her home for what turns out to be a rather violent sexual encounter. When the woman delivers a savage bite to his neck, Loew becomes convinced that she is a vampire and that he will now become a vampire as well. Thus begins Loew's spiral into madness.

Alva (played to perfection by Maria Conchita Alonso) is Loew's beleaguered and bullied secretary, who finds herself becoming the focus of Loew's escalating and alarmingly inappropriate behavior. He rages at her over the smallest error, verbally abusing her as no other boss has ever abused his secretary. He chases her down the hall, even following her into the ladies' bathroom. Even after Alva completes the petty Herculean task Loew had assigned her, he responds by telling her "It's too late," and then brutally assaulting her. (Possibly my favorite scene in the film is where Loew leaps up onto a table, points his finger at Alva in a wildly exaggerated gesture, and shouts "THERE YOU ARE!" while she cringes in absolute terror. Although there is nothing intrinsically funny about bullies or mental illness, Cage's over-the-top performance imbues the film with the surrealistic qualities of a Max Fleischer cartoon.)

As Loew completely unravels mentally, Cage still allows you to see glimpses of the frightened man behind the madness. Cage conveys Loew's complete despair at his inability to stop himself. In many ways, Loew is a distant cousin to Patrick Bateman, the psychotic protagonist in American Psycho. As Loew devolves into his paranoid fantasies and delusional behavior, he becomes increasingly dangerous to everyone around him.

Whether he is chasing couples down the street screaming "I'M A VAMPIRE!" or attacking and killing a girl in a night club with a pair of ludicrous novelty vampire teeth, this is Cage at his most bizarrely entertaining. I loved this darkly satirical tale of insanity, but I realize it is not for everyone. However, if you are up for a walk on the weird side, this film just might be a perfect fit.

This is probably one of the most hilarious and satirical black comedies I own. Even though it is from the late eighties, it's a timeless gem, and when I need a good laugh, it's there. Just like New Yorker character yuppie literary genius, Peter says, "It never goes away".
Mind you, this is not a vampire movie, but a satirical view on a lonely young man that has "everything" falling apart. It all begins when he's getting ready to go to work and cuts himself shaving, and somehow he distortedly begins to think sex vixen Jennifer Beals who's supposedly a vampire bit him. From that point on it's a steady downward spiral of peculiar and weird scenarios to come; his personality becomes more erratic and his actions unpredictable and bizarre to say the least. He begins showing up to work in a suit, but no socks, becomes photophobic, and begins picking on his Cuban secretary played by Maria Conchita Alonso.
One of my favorite scenes is when he is at the psychiatrist office and he is standing on the ledge of the high-rise window holding a wooden stick, and he tells her he's going to go out there and find real love. The infamous scene when he eats the cockroach is a little disturbing, but you know they paid him good money to do so, but that's a good one too. I don't want to give the movie away since you must see it.
At times while watching the movie, or at least the first time, you wonder what's real and what isn't, and it's a pit perturbing however at the end you can figure it out.
Vampire's kiss is a satire about psychosis, and as you see, it doesn't care if you have a prestigious job or if you're a genius.
Every time I see a N. Cage movie I think of Peter, because there has to be just a little bit of him in there somewhere.

This is the all-time best vampire movie ever made! Why? Because I generally can't stand vampire movies. This is not about vampires at all; its a psychological analysis of one man's descent into complete insanity. The vampire bit is just there to remind us that he has lost his marbles.

As the lead guy who goes insane, Cage is incredible! He starts out a sophisticated and eccentric book editor. By the end of the movie he's a blubbering and foaming maniac. His conversation with the cement stairway railing endpost on the streets of New York is one of the funniest and strangest scenes ever. He's hit rock bottom!

The fun of the movie is not bats or coffins or pretty girls being stylishly seduced by his vampire coolness. The fun is watching Cage slowly and completely lose his mind. Although his character really believes he's a vampire and gives it the old "college try", his pathetic effort fails moronically and laughably. Obviously, his character never read an Anne Rice novel.

Cage is not a sympathetic character and in the end he gets exactly what he wants and justly deserves.

Cages' acting is wonderful! But, if you like vampire movies, you will not like this movie. My daughter's friend hated it! But, she sat through the whole thing.

If you're a goth person and like to dress up as a vampire or for some stupid reason you think you're somehow related to Count Dracula, you will also hate this movie. But, it is you who should watch it. Maybe you will learn something about the way normal people view you knuckleheads!

This movie is terribly misunderstood by those who have little understanding of the human psyche. Cage portrays a narcissist who desperately seeks love but equally fears it and cannot achieve it without disassociating from reality and creating a fantasy.
Although the movie is hilarious, it's equally disturbing as the viewer observes Cage's character developing from narcissist into psychopath and ultimately, a murderer. Apparently, he knows he has issues and attempts to desperately seek help from an egocentric psychiatrist.
Long and short; the movie is brilliant, Cage is brilliant and I must say it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. I'll never grow tired of watching it.
Definitely a movie for anyone who studies Psychology!

I saw this movie years ago. It is, perhaps, the funniest, most bizarre film I have ever seen. I like it despite Nicholas Cage, who I dislike as an actor to an extreme. He is hysterical in Vampire Kiss. The most memorable scene in any movie ever is when he is running down the street screaming "I'm a vampire!". The way he torments his secretary is pure sadism at its best (or worst). If you haven't seen it before give it a try, but keep an open mind. It was never as popular as it should be, but I think that's because most people just don't get it.

this movie is 2nd to none in its genre.completely over the top performance by mr.cage.he IS the movie.first off,what i mean by ''lover of lines''is that is what i am.the only other movie with more reciteable lines is ''mean streets''an early rob denero,harv keitel movie.back to vamp kiss.i would catagorize this as being a black comedy/horror.cage plays peter lowe,literary agent bored with his life.until that is he meets seductive jennifer beals.this meeting changes his life forever.after his night of passion with beals ,he is convinced he has been changed into a vampire.much chaos and mayhem ensues with maria conchita alonso getting the brunt of it.watching nic cages tranformation is pure magic.i dont think this movie got the kudos it deserved however,siskle and/or ebert gave it thumbs up.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS.im not sure what happened to the director,he did an amazing job.i could have sworn he would have made more off the wall movies.this is in the vein of 5 corners,heathers,something wild,after hours,et al funny movies NOT listed as comedy.once again,I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE!!!!

This was one of the first five DVDs a friend of mine bought after he got a player, and so I was curious about his choice. The things he chooses may not be perfect, but are invariably very interesting, as it turned out with this one. The only thing I knew about this movie beforehand was that it's supposed to be a 'comedy,' and that Nicholas Cage eats a cockroach in it. So it was hard for me to understand why someone would be so passionate about what seemed like a goofy 80s comedy, but it turns out that this film is much more than that.

Nicholas Cage, back when he was young and adventurous and before he fully committed himself to his strict "Bad Movies Only" policy, plays a socially retarded man with serious issues toward woman and more than a little inadequacy as he slowly descends into utter insanity. Interestingly, the way he conceives of his problem is that really he is turning into a vampire.

The opening photography is wonderful, silhouetted spires and gothic details of Manhattan against a blood red sky, that seem to reveal the city as a place of dark supernatural horrors within the regular city we know, which was a great start.

I was surprised in reading the reviews on the IMDb that no one talks about the place that misogyny plays in Cage's dementia... he's lonely and isolated and sees women as objects, so as he goes insane he thinks he's a vampire, someone who picks up young women, rapes [bites] and kills them... and is cursed by this. In this movie, the main character HATES women, and a lot of the audience's discomfort comes from how horrible he is to them. I thought it was also ingenious how all the women; his therapist, the imaginary vampire woman, the woman he jilts near the beginning, and his secretary all look vaguely alike. The director could easily have thrown in a bit of psychoanalytic depth by having a photo of the character's mother looking similar as well.

There are things in this movie that are vaguely funny on their own, but in the context of the movie are not really funny at all. I mean yeah, people do goofy things as they are mentally breaking apart, but is that funny? All the actors do a great job, but I love the therapist, who seems so engaged and curious. I like how Cage's character assumes the movements of movie vampires, because in his lunacy movie vampires are probably exactly what he is imitating.

There are only two problems I think the film has. The film goes out of its way to show how Alva, the abused secretary, needs her job and is not supported by her family, but Cage's behavior is SO over the top that ANYONE would know that she has a lot of reason to go to the police. That she remains so passive is a little frustrating and unrealistic to the point where it detracts from the film.

The big problem, I think, is that ramping up so quickly to high insanity in the first hour, there's really nowhere for the film to go in it's last 45 minutes. The scenes of Cage humiliating his secretary become repetitive, as do other aspects, tarnishing what started out exceedingly well.

I was shocked to learn that this was the director's first full feature, as it is very assured and well-done. I would love to have a chat with the writer to know HOW this idea came to him and what he thought about it. It's too bad this movie didn't do better, but I expect it's because it is such a difficult concept to get across on a poster. Anyway, worth seeking out.

Peter Loew is the tormented protagonist of Vampire's Kiss, the 1988 cult classic from director Robert Bierman that combines quirky comedy with Kafkaesque neo-noir. Loew is a Philly-born literary agent in the foreign-distribution division of an unnamed Manhattan publishing house, who's obsessed about an old contract. Despite his yuppified money and status, he simply wants to be loved and to experience a long-lasting relationship. Prince of the one-night stand, perhaps, but he doesn't want to become the Prince of Darkness! He isn't searching for an eternal bond.

The irony of Vampire's Kiss is that Loew desires love - and sees a therapist for help with that emotion - but is too shallow. Each time, he winds up only boasting to his therapist (portrayed by Elizabeth Ashley) about his nighttime sexual exploits. Therefore, love eludes him. For example, he's seen engaging in a promising romantic relationship with an attractive, culture-loving woman (portrayed by Kasi Lemmons, a decade before she transitioned from acting to brilliant directing), but moments after getting very amorous, he becomes transfixed and turned on by a bat that is circling the room. Paradoxically, while it takes deep puncture wounds from a vampire to render him immune to love's salvation, those very bites turn him batty.

Nicolas Cage as Peter Loew is a sight to behold, and he eerily embodies his eccentric, vulnerable character. From his spazzed-out gesticulations and manic speech delivery to his bizarre spurts of rage, Cage's Loew is a case study of the lack of meaningful human connection and its contribution to escalating insanity. The setup of Vampire's Kiss presents him as a man who's antisocial, arrogant, stingy and misogynistic down to the bone, and only in the light of day can the deep bites inflicted upon him blind his superficial view of women and of life in general.

Jennifer Beals deserves special mention for sinking her fangs into a delectable role. Vamping it up for the camera, a post-Flashdance Beals portrays a bloodthirsty barfly (make that "barbat") who manipulates Loew into her object of desire. Obsessive and bicuspid, she alters his destiny in measured erotic doses that are at turns gratifying and gross to watch.

An absorbing subplot in Vampire's Kiss concerns sexual harassment. How the movie delves into the issue is not only disturbing but also disarming. The protagonist's predatory behavior with his secretary, portrayed by the versatile actress Maria Conchita Alonso, is delivered in an absurdly repetitious and hilarious manner. I've read reviews that indicate Alonso's character, Alva, was raped by Cage's Loew, but after watching Vampire's Kiss too many times to admit here, I totally disagree. Loew tore off her clothing, and, yes, that was violent. However, considering how depersonalized and despairing he becomes as the film further develops, I believe that he was trying to provoke an assisted suicide.

I also don't believe that the storyline involving the worksite tension between Loew and Alva is a distracting subplot. That storyline runs parallel to Loew's descent into utter derangement, and his repetitious - and abusive - demand to see the contract is a device that writer Joseph Minion employs to reveal Loew's expanding insanity. For comparison, recall how Jack Nicholson's writer in The Shining gradually slipped into madness by having to repeatedly stop composing the beginning of his novel because his wife continually interrupted his concentration. In that sense, Loew's loss of patience with Alva's incompetence (i.e., it's not as though the "contract" doesn't exist) and its violent consequences are similar to the Nicholas character's verbal abuse of his wife, to whom he frighteningly demands, "Give me the bat, Wendy."

In Vampire's Kiss, prior to Loew developing his supernatural condition, he was behaving erratically at the office. Now, however, his actions -- and the film's humor - veer deeper into dark territory, to the point that the viewer isn't so sure whether to laugh or turn sympathetic. For example, he starts wearing shades by day inside the workplace, performs an existential monologue in front of mirrors in the men's restroom, and -- after he grows impatient waiting for his fangs to develop -- purchases a set of plastic fangs in Chinatown instead of expensive fiberglass prosthetics. After fully accepting his new bad-boy image, he forces his new identity on anyone willing to notice. In one scene in a diner, he disparages a patron who is bragging to her girlfriend about a hansom cab marriage proposal. In another scene he runs through the streets of Manhattan, lisping through fake fangs and yelling at the top of his lungs: "I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire! I'm a vampire!"

However, being a vampire isn't all that it's hyped to be. Sure, he's got the '80s metrosexual look and a job in a skyscraper, but he's afraid of flying - that is, of fully living his life. He's so emasculated that he can't manage to metamorphose into a bat. Later on, he carries a big stick but doesn't have the level of testosterone required to work it. What remains human about him is a tortured being reduced to chasing cockroaches in his brownstone apartment and pigeons on the sidewalk in order to satiate his newfound appetite.

As Loew's character transforms more dramatically with the plot, he finds that the greatest conflict is within himself because no matter how hard he tries to fit into society, he fails. That his fake, plastic fangs don't fit comfortably into his mouth was a brilliant metaphor. Fated to be alienated, ever the outsider, he learns what it really means to be a vampire.

When modern life sucks, a vampire's kiss leads to eternal suffering.


P.S. For those who are nostalgic for New York City's 1980s club scene, you'll want to pay attention to the band jamming at the beginning of Vampire's Kiss. It's the minimalist funk band ESG performing "Moody," which is not only a classic dance song but also a "puntastic" clue to Peter Loew's inevitable journey into madness.