Review of Vampire's Kiss (1989) by Hindénbörg E — 27 Mar 2008

For the first 20 minutes I was almost entirely certain that this movie was going to be horrendous. The 80's cheesiness was almost too much to bare and at first Nicholas Cage's acting seems really atrocious (think Keanu Reeves) and feel like a major crutch...

But as the film goes on things become much better. No longer does Cage's weird/over-the-top performance become a distraction-- it enhances the film. The way it works is surprisingly perfect. I really can't imagine anyone else delivering that "Oh, by the way, I raped someone last night." line any better than Cage does here. It's so perfectly deadpan. Even though it's almost 20 years old the humor, for the most part, is still great.

The first half of the film is tough-going, but if you stick with it the payoff is enormous. The last act is so great (although I really hate when Jennifer Beals shows up at the end).

Bret Easton Ellis would probably deny it, but he probably ripped this movie off for "American Psycho." From the mean-spirited humor, to the satire of 80's decadence, to the ambiguity... Hell... Cage practically IS Patrick Bateman. The similarities are pretty astounding.