"Vampire Kiss" (1988)

After watching a short clip of Nic Cage moments, I was instanly struck by his performance in "Vampire Kiss". It's so raw, passionate and speaks to me in so many ways. Actually it's none of that, he acts batshit insane and I love it! I couldn't even fathom how a movie could be built with these scenes in it. Why did he call out the alphabet in a fit of rage? Why did he run down the street yelling "I'm a Vampire" repeatedly? All I know is, he is the great Nicolas Cage and I got to see all his crazy antics.

Peter Loew (Cage) is a publishing executive who has been bossing his assistant during the day to find a file for which is urgent  or at least that is what he says. In the night he wonders the bar picking up one night stands. But one night he picks up someone who is more than he can handle. In the midst of passion, she bites him in the neck and he is now convinced that she was a vampire. Now Loew slowly losses his mind and turns into a vampire, or what that's what he thinks.

One of Cage's many lovers, but she stands out to be more than just his lover.

A lot of the entertainment from this movie comes from Cage's role as Loew. His eccentric and over the top performance fits Lowe's character just perfectly. There is so much to be enjoyed from Cage, at one moment he has his snobby accent on as he treats all the people he works with like the scum of the Earth. And the next moment he is sobbing profusely in a dark corner. A perfect example of bipolar disorder.

The funniest parts of the whole movie are Cage's reactions to everything. His facial expressions and his absurd decisions make this one of the funniest movies. Where be it his appetite for birds and roaches or his open eye gaze into your heart. There is never a dull or normal moment.

LOOK INTO MY EYES!

Now I thought Cage's role was weird but it wasn't enough to prepare me for this movie. There are many of times that I was thinking to myself, "what in the world is going on?" I could never tell, until the very end of course, what was real life and what was just going on  Loew's mind. Is he actually turning into a vampire? Is this all in his head? Just all weird moments that I never thought anyone would make a movie about.

A nice touch to the movie was how Loew's interpretations of a modern day vampire. More that Loew's believes he is a vampire, the crazier he forces himself to fit that role. He makes a coffin for himself to sleep in by flipping his sofa upside down and sleeping under it. He goes so far as even getting plastic fangs for when he needs to suck out blood. All these weird explanations make this movie slightly believable.

Oh god, he isn't going to.

At the end of the day I really enjoyed this movie. There really isn't much that tops a grade A performance from Nicolas Cage in an otherwise silly story in a movie. The movie won't awards for the polish, but what will impress the general public is Cage's unorthodox performance. And what really stands out is the basic plot of the movie, it isnt' what you normally expect in a vampire movie. Jim also saw this movie, and if you haven't already, read his review here.