The second film in my Halloween series is the 1988 Nicolas Cage film, Vampire's Kiss. I teased this film as being the most insane film I have ever viewed. I should rephrase that statement. This film has the most insane acting I have ever seen. I'm still not totally sure if that is the right way to get my point across, so please examine the video evidence below, and you'll understand what I'm talking about.
Vampire's Kiss is about an already mental unstable literary agent, who after being bitten by a woman during a sexual encounter, believes himself to be turning into a vampire. He begins to act much more irrationally than he already was, and demands that his secretary locate a file from nearly 20 years ago. He becomes obsessed with his perceived transformation, and soon goes off the deep end.
The story is very well written, and features an extremely interesting concept. The exploration of a horror story in relation to someone already with extreme behavior is particularly engaging. You never quite know what is going on in relation to the tone. Is it a horror film, is it a thriller, or is it an exploration of mental instability. However, the execution is rather off. But, as I said I'll get to that.
Right now.
When you watch Nicolas Cage in this movie, one word comes to mind: WHAT!? He is wooden, hollow, and at one point LITERALLY chews the scenery. He is far to distracting, and too ridiculous for this film to pass itself off as anything other than an unintentional comedy. He puts on an accent that appears and disappears at random moments, and comes off as creepy, but not in the sense that the director most likely intended. It creates some of the most memorable scenes in Cage's career, merely due to the accidental hilarity behind them.
I have said it before, I'll say it once more, (BOOM rhyme) Nicolas Cage IS a good actor. Here, he clearly didn't have the right direction. If you want an example of good Nicolas Cage, I can personally recommend Matchstick Men, The Rock, Raising Arizona, National Treasure, Kick-Ass, and Leaving Las Vegas. Here, is not his best work, but it may be his funniest.
I'd say check this out. It doesn't work as the serious film it is trying to present itself as, but it will go down as a cult classic.
C+
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