Embrasse-moi, vampire

A man decends into madness. His madness distorts his reality to where he believes he is becoming a vampire. Not a vampire movie. Not really a dark comedy either. Cage did a great job but his accent was really bad. I felt at times his character was really cruel and there was no dark fun side to laugh at.

However, I gave it high marks because it was different and put a new twist on the whole madness thing. The acting (except for the accent) was good. My wife hated this one.

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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After an encounter with a neck-biter, a publishing executive (Nicolas Cage) thinks that he is turning into a vampire.

Okay, looking back from 2015, Nicolas Cage has had one of the most unusual careers in Hollywood. We know he can be a great actor, because we have seen "Adaptation", "Leaving Las Vegas" and others where he just stunned audiences with his portrayals. But we also know he has a habit of picking duds, and at this point he probably has more stinkers than winners.

And then there is "Vampire's Kiss", which is a bizarre blend of horror and comedy. It is never quite horror and never quite comedy, sort of existed in this world of nothing... and that just makes it more interesting. That weird accent (somewhere between rich guy and surfer dude). Wow.

Nicholas Cage is a terrific actor, and I have enjoyed his work in all the movies I've seen him in. That said, he does an outstanding job holding one's attention throughout this movie.

Nonetheless, this isn't a great movie. It goes in a few too many directions for it to remain coherent. It offends too many senses for it to be a good a comedy, and provides too few scares as a horror film.

One highlight, as others have mentioned, is with the fake vampire teeth. But the best part to that bit was the fact that he had to settle for the CHEAP teeth, because he didn't have $20 for the good ones! That really made me laugh!

My rating: 6

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.