Product Description

Oscar® winner* Nicolas Cage is amazing (The New Yorker) in this outrageous, erotically charged thriller about a womanizing New York executive who becomes convinced that he's a vampire when one of his conquests bites his neck in the throes of passion. Jennifer Beals (Devil in a Blue Dress) sizzles as the femme fatale who sets Cage on his batty course in this darkly funny, lively, imaginative fantasy (Los Angeles Times)! *1995: Actor, Leaving Las Vegas

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17133 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-08-27
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast in this devious black comedy of a New York literary agent whose latest one-night stand lands him in bed with vampire Jennifer Beals, who takes a big, bloody bite out of his identity. The emotionally unstable executive develops an aversion to sunlight, a fear of crosses, and a sudden appetite for cockroaches (not to mention a sadistic pleasure in tormenting hapless secretary Maria Conchita Alonso), but is it a supernatural curse or schizophrenia? Vampire's Kiss (written by After Hours scribe Joseph Minion) walks a dangerous line between satire and psychosis, which Cage pushes to surreal levels with a manic, unhinged performance. "I'm a vampire!" he howls, shuffling down alleys and snapping his cheap plastic fangs, less a Dracula than a bug-eyed, psychotic Renfield. Both funny and unsettling, this is one of the most demented takes on the genre. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

A classic, and Cage's best performance
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.

A seminal film
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.

The only vampire film I ever really liked
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!