Vampire's Kiss
| Vampire's Kiss | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Bierman |
| Produced by | John Daly Derek Gibson Barry Shils Barbara Zitwer |
| Written by | Joseph Minion |
| Starring | Nicolas Cage María Conchita Alonso Jennifer Beals Elizabeth Ashley |
| Music by | Colin Towns |
| Cinematography | Stefan Czapsky |
| Editing by | Angus Newton |
| Distributed by | Hemdale Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | June 2, 1989 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 103 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English German |
| Budget | $2,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $725,131 |
- Not to be confused with the SNES remake Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, which has this as a subtitle in Europe and Oceania.
Vampire's Kiss is a 1989 American dark comedy/psychological horror film. It was written by Joseph Minion, who also penned Martin Scorsese's darkly humorous After Hours, and stars actors Nicolas Cage, María Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Ashley.
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[edit] Plot summary
Vampire's Kiss is the story of Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage), a driven yuppie literary agent, who is slowly and inexorably going insane.
Loew plays the consummate businessman by day, and club hops by night, with little in his life of any importance but one night stands and the pursuit of money and prestige.
As the film opens, Loew tells his therapist (Ashley), whom he sees frequently, about his latest sexual conquest. During these sessions at the psychiatrist's office, the viewer is first introduced to Loew's declining mental health through a series of increasingly bizarre rants that eventually begin to scare even his psychiatrist.
Early in the film, Loew meets Rachel (Jennifer Beals) at a night club, and takes her home. It is never made clear whether the entire encounter with Rachel is real or solely a figment of Loew's deranged mind, but she pins him down, reveals vampiric fangs, and feeds on him. At home, Loew's fits of rage gradually reduce his apartment to shambles. Throughout the movie the apartment's decline mirrors the protagonist's own increasingly chaotic mental state. In one scene, perhaps the film's most infamous, Loew catches and eats a cockroach in his apartment. Soon thererafter, Loew begins to believe that he is changing into a vampire. He stares into a bathroom mirror and fails to see his reflection; he wears dark sunglasses during the day; and, when his "fangs" fail to develop, he purchases a pair of cheap plastic vampire teeth and uses them to attack a woman at a nightclub. All the while, his sexy vampire girlfriend, Rachel (possibly) visits him nightly to feed on his blood.
A subplot concerns a secretary working at Loew's office, Alva Restrepo (María Conchita Alonso). Loew torments her by forcing her to search through an enormous file for a 1963 contract. When she fails to find the contract, he at first browbeats and humiliates her, then visits her home when she calls in sick to avoid him, and finally attacks and attempts to rape her. The movie spends some time showing a small slice of the lives of the working poor immigrant through Alva's character.
Towards the finale of the movie, Loew has a brief, ambiguous encounter with Rachel in a dance club: she admits to knowing him, but gives the impression they've not been in contact for a long period. He accuses her of being a vampire, and is expelled from the club. By the film's conclusion, Loew is so far gone he is one of New York City's walking crazies; wandering the streets in a blood-spattered business suit, talking to himself, and using his now disastrous apartment as a vampire's cave where he hides from the sun by crawling under an upturned sofa. Loew may have murdered someone the night before, and he may have raped his secretary. However, he mentions both "achievements" to his therapist, who is not really present, in a hallucinatory exchange. Loew has by this time become so deranged that it's difficult for the viewer to separate fantasy from reality. Alva, however, also believes she's been raped, and the film ends with Loew's fitting yet curiously pitiful death at the hands of Alva's brother.
[edit] Critical reception
Critical responses have been mixed, but mostly positive, with a 68% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com,[1] with many critics praising Cage's unhinged performance.
[edit] Allusions
- Loew's fireplace, with a small clock placed on top, is reminiscent of the one in René Magritte's painting La Durée Poignardée or Time Transfixed.
- The band Say Hi To Your Mom referenced the movie in their song "Poor Pete is A Bit Self-Conscious" on the album Ferocious Mopes.
- The band in the opening scene is ESG. All of the individual band members appear in the cast list as "Band Member", except for Leroy Glover, who failed to sign a release form on the day of the shoot.
[edit] Cast
- Nicolas Cage as Peter Loew
- María Conchita Alonso as Alva Restrepo
- Jennifer Beals as Rachel
- Elizabeth Ashley as Dr. Glaser
- Kasi Lemmons as Jackie
- Bob Lujan as Emilio
- Jessica Lundy as Sharon
- Johnny Walker as Donald
- Boris Leskin as Fantasy Cabbie
- Michael Knowles as Andrew
- John Michael Higgins as Ed
- Jodie Markell as Joke Girl
- Marc Coppola as Joke Guy
- David Hyde Pierce as Theater Guy (as David Pierce)
- Amy Stiller as Theater Girl
- Helen Lloyd Breed as Secretary in Ladies Room
- Sol Echeverría as Alva's Mother
- Jill Gatsby as Victim Girl
- Rex Robbins as Sidney Langdon
- Robert Dorfman as Editor #3
- William De Acutis as Editor #2
- David Holbrook as Editor #1
- Yanni Sfinias as Cursing Cabbie (as Yanni Sfinnias)
- Rogerio Triandade as Dr. Glazer's Lover
- Robyn Knoll as Friday Secretary
- Jorgen Schiott as Coffin Bystander
- Christopher Sluka as Hanger Out
- Stephen Chen as Fang Vendor
- Jennifer Butt as Marriage Girl #2
- Jennifer Spinner as Marriage Girl #1
- Paul Sansone as Waiter
- Cheryl Henry as Judy
- Herschel Rosen as Man in Diner
- Phil Ballou as Black Crooner
- Reggie Rock Bythewood as Church Bystander (scenes deleted)
- Mark Oates as Apache Dancer
- John Epperson as Apache Dancer
- Jerry Rector as Larry
- Pamela Dean Kelly as Bar Girl
- Jonathon Gentry as Boy
- Renee Scroggins as Band Member
- Helen Scroggins as Band Member
- Valerie Jean Scroggins as Band Member
- David Miles as Band Member
- Jacques Sandulescu as Ukrainian (as Jacques Sandlescu)
- Scott Pastore as Bouncer (uncredited)
- Debbie Rochon as Bar Girl #2 (uncredited)
[edit] References
- The Internet Movie Database (2006). Vampires Kiss (1988). Retrieved February 9, 2006.
- Amazon.com (2006). Vampires Kiss (1989). Retrieved February 9, 2006.
