Vampire's Kiss

This was one of the first 5 DVDs a friend of mine bought, and so I was curious about his choice. It turns out that 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.

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

You're read in other reviews that this is a film about a man going crazy, and that his insanity takes of the form of believing that he's a vampire. What I haven't heard anyone talk about is the place that his misogyny plays in that… 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 and kills them… and is cursed by this. In this movie, Nic cage HATES women, and a lot of discomfort comes from how horrible he is to them. I thought it was also ingenious how 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 it's 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 that is probably 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 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… but overall definitely worth watching.

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. That's it.

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Vampire's Kiss is a pretty original dark comedy/horror film starring Nicolas Cage in one of his best performances. Cage is an executive in NYC that throughout the course of the movie is convinced he is a vampire. Cage's character is on a rapid downward spiral to complete insanity. Whether loneliness or too much stress is a factor, it is never specified. I have no idea what types of drugs Cage was taking, but he is totally bonkers in this film. Maria Conchita Alonso is his office assistant and doormat of which his abuse towards her escalates throughout the course of the film. Once Cage is convinced he is a vampire, he embraces his destiny. He has an aversion to sunlight and sleeps under his couch upside down like it is a coffin. He even bought some three dollar fangs in the local occult store. Now that's commitment to the lifestyle! Combine George A Romero's Martin with American Psycho if you want to get an idea of the style of Vampire's Kiss. Anyway you slice it this is one freaky deaky film and it works due to Cage's wild, eccentric and absolutely unhinged and explosive performance. If you are looking for something dark, offbeat, but well done this is one you won't want to miss.

Okay, so Nicolas Cage eats a real cockroach. So the majority of the people who've seen this film don't understand the plotline. So black comedy is new to a late eighties audience. These points are minimal considering the great lengths to which the filmmakers go to to reveal the downfall of a hideous relationship between two people. A relationship gone so wrong that the male has to commit himself to therapy and conversely...murder.

Imagine a relationship wherein the woman was so soul sucking, so evil in her ways that you now feel as if she has sucked you dry - literally and figuratively - you are left as nothing but (in this case) a shell of a man - a walking corpse, yearning for the life's blood that she has stolen from you through your very own veins!

Cage gives the performance of his career and should have received an Oscar as the twisted, quintessential jilted lover who now desperately tries to recapture the joy of his most passionate and influential relationship by revisiting the empty, vampiretic bar hopping lifestyle where he found her - working his way through subsequent women, then just as unsatisfactorily moving his way through rape, suicidal tendencies and ultimately, murder.

It's tone is unforgiving alternating comedy and tragedy, confusing us as to whether he is really a vampire or just thinks he is. By flipping from his therapeutic sessions to his bitter and pathetic reality we see just how badly his male ego has taken rejection.

Here is a film where the simple plotline of a man being bitten by a vampire and believing he has become one becomes one where we see a man disintegrating before us, sliding into madness because he is forced to face his empty life.

His obsessive attention to detail, penchant for house bugs, absence of reflection in the mirror and avoidance of sunlight all match the prerequisites for vampirism, but his clumsy attempts at finding another woman and to fill the void that is left by a woman put so far onto a pedestal he cannot reach are overshadowed.

This is not a film for the feint of heart but for anyone who has ever been screwed over by a woman they have loved (or imagined they did) this is a welcome little cult revelation that makes them laugh and brood at the same time.

After reading so many comments who put this film down, I just had to write something to its defence. True: the film is confusing in many ways; you get confused what is real and what is not for example. But some of the hilarious scenes in this movie is more than worth it. In one of his most remarkable, over-the-top performances, Nicolas Cage transforms from an up-tight snob to a complete lunatic. This is one of the most original and unconventional movies I have ever seen. Those of you who want predictable Hollywood movies should steer away; for the rest of you this can be an enjoyable experience!

This movie is NOT about vampires; there isn't a single vampire in it. Instead, it is about a man (played by Cage) who loses his mind and begins to think he is a vampire after an unsatisfying series of one-night stands that make him feel empty. It's a metaphor about relationships, and this is one fantastic black comedy. Check it out and thank me later.