If you want to see a man completely committed to a role, Vampire’s Kiss has to be on your watchlist.
I first remember hearing about Vampire’s Kiss from a friend of mine in the late 80s. She had a dubbed VHS copy of it on a shelf in her parents’ house. She said it was some romantic comedy and her dad thought it was awful. From that day forward until today, that’s what I thought it was: a weird (and awful) romantic comedy. Somehow, I’d missed 35 years of reviews, memes, GIFs, and jokes about what is definitely not a romantic comedy. Vampire’s Kiss cannot be adequately labeled by any combination of genres. The best I can offer is that it’s a dark, satirical farce with horror elements. And even that doesn’t do it justice.
Plot-wise, the film revolves around one Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage). Working for a literary agent, he’s the personification of a yuppie. He dresses in fine suits, slicks his hair back, goes to clubs every night and makes a lot of money doing damn near nothing all day. He takes particular pleasure in hounding Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso,) a secretary for the firm. Giving her mundane and nearly impossible tasks, he takes pleasure in watching her toil under his thumb.
Out at a club, Peter meets Rachel (Jennifer Beals) and they share a night of passion. Peter believes that Rachel is a vampire and that she’s bitten him. Despite no evidence of a bite, Peter wears a bandage on his neck. Over the next few days, Peter begins to think he’s transforming into a vampire. His behavior gets more erratic. He avoids sunlight. He sleeps under his overturned couch. His harassment of Alva goes into overdrive. All of this provides Nicolas Cage the opportunity to launch into what has to be the most unusual performance I’ve ever seen.
Nicolas Cage has always had a reputation for being an actor who throws himself into his roles. He applies a technique he calls “Nouveau Shamanic” to his acting. If you want to see a man completely committed to a role, Vampire’s Kiss has to be on your watchlist. Cage transcends mere acting as Peter Loew. The rules go out the window. The final 40 minutes or so of the movie turned my opinion of the film from completely negative to overwhelmingly positive.
I approached the film thinking it’s a silly comedy. But as it progressed, I realized it’s not a silly comedy. It’s actually a rather heartbreaking account of a man who’s losing his sanity. What causes that breakdown, I will leave for you to decide. Cage’s transformation from one type of character to another is fascinating. His yuppie persona is a put-on just as much as his vampiric guise. But the character believes in one more than the other and attempts to make it real. He struggles with it. He embraces it. Sometime both in the same scene. The viewer has to be paying close attention to the level of subtle detail underneath Cage’s histrionic flailing. He’s in complete control while appearing completely out of control. My appreciation of Nicolas Cage’s acting doubled after viewing this film.
It’s too bad that the story itself is threadbare. Vampire’s Kiss succeeds only because it provides a showcase for Cage’s unbound talent. I can see why the film failed in its initial theatrical run as its marketing completely failed it. Now, with proper hindsight and the context of Cage’s later career, it can be assessed properly. What a crazy surprise.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
