Vampire’s Kiss, 1988.
Directed by Robert Bierman.
Starring Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Ashley.
SYNOPSIS:
After falling in love with a mysterious woman, a literary agent starts to believe that he is turning into a vampire.
We’ve entered the final four of this year’s October Horrors, and to mark the occasion, we’re spending time with one of the greatest actors ever; Nicolas Cage. And I’ll fight anyone who disagrees with me on that.
While he has had some issues in recent years, Cage has been enjoying a resurgence with a string of critically acclaimed performances that rank as some of his finest. However, for today’s entry, we’re going all the way back to his early years to look at the film that, arguably, cemented him as one of the most unique and legendary acting talents in cinema history; the cult horror black comedy Vampire’s Kiss.
It’s hard to talk about this film in much the same way I’ve talked about others in this series. I could try to talk about the direction, setting, story and all the other technical details and how well they do or don’t work. However, with Vampire’s Kiss, the discourse around the film is almost entirely centred on Nicolas Cage.
As literary agent Peter Loew, Cage’s performance is like a hurricane. It starts off somewhat modestly (emphasis on “somewhat”) before soon gaining in speed and power to the point that Cage is acting with such ferocious passion that it threatens to obliterate everything around him. This is not merely a scenery-chewing performance, this is swallowing the set whole and asking for seconds. Taking inspiration from German Expressionist acting styles, Cage’s delivery and mannerisms are highly physical in nature, and they are never subtle. The actor often gesticulating wildly, forcefully pointing at others, leaping up onto desks or charging through the halls like some kind of deranged monkey on speed.
Cage’s performance is one of such apocalyptic lunacy that it’s damn near impossible to discuss it without just listing some of the insane shit he does. So let’s do that. There is his running through the streets screaming, “I’M A VAMPIRE!!! I’M A VAMPIRE!!!!”. There is his loud and passionate recitation of the alphabet, growing in volume and physicality as he approaches Z. There is his eating a live cockroach, which honestly made me feel physically ill. We have him moving through a nightclub wearing rubber fangs and perfectly mimicking the stiff body language and eye movements of Max Schreck from Nosferatu. And then there is the sight of a dishevelled, blood-soaked Cage wandering the streets of New York and asking real passers-by, unaware they are being filmed, to stake him through the heart while they try to run away from this obvious lunatic.
Then, there is perhaps the most iconic image of the film and, arguably, one of the most iconic images of Cage’s career, and it is among the funniest and most frightening things I’ve seen all month. The scene in which he coldly and ruthlessly reminds his assistant that she is “the lowest on the pole” and that she has to do her worthless job or he’ll fire her. It’s a tense scene in which Cage’s quietly menacing delivery is rendered nightmarish by his increasingly wide-eyed, staring, grinning face.
While it could be argued that Cage overacts a tad (a tad, HA!), his performance, while making for a wholly unsympathetic and frankly loathsome piece of shit character, is done with such passion and dedication that you can’t help but admire him. In the end, it’s Cage’s performance that makes the film, and it’s the reason why it has lingered as a cult favourite in the years since its release.
If there are any issues with Cage’s performance, it’s that it is so all-consuming that it leaves everyone else in the dust. However, that’s not to say there are no bright spots, with Jennifer Beals as the mysterious Rachel, who may or may not be a vampire, making a good effort at a similarly cartoonish performance, although opting for a more subtle approach that is still highly entertaining.
Perhaps the most underrated performance is Maria Conchita Alonsa as Peter’s long-suffering assistant Alva. Alonsa gives a much quieter turn than her volcanic co-star, projecting an air of vulnerability that makes for a highly sympathetic character who you just want to see stand up to her horrible boss. The actress truly making you feel for her as she struggles in her miserable quest to find that damn “Der Spiegel contract” that soon comes to ruin her life. I also have to give credit to Alonsa’s skill as a straight woman to Cage’s madness, with her straight-faced earnestness serving to make Cage’s antics all the funnier and scarier.
How much one enjoys Cage’s madness will depend on personal tastes, with some viewers likely to find the film a never-ending feast of his particular brand of full power, capital “A” acting, while others might find it increasingly tiring for the same reason. I personally adored Cage’s performance (can’t you tell?), with his outrageous antics rarely falling flat and almost always managing to raise at least a chuckle. Although the scenes of sexual assault and murder are where things take an unnecessarily dark turn, with these uncomfortable but thankfully short moments feeling severely out of place in what is otherwise an often silly film.
Vampire’s Kiss is one that fans of Nicolas Cage will adore, with the man acting with every fibre of his being and cementing himself as among our finest and most unique actors. While Cage’s performance overshadows everything else about the film, his ferociously dedicated portrayal of a loathsome yuppie going insane ensure that Vampire’s Kiss is well worth a look to see the master at his manic best.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
