6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
After an encounter with a neck-biter, a publishing executive thinks that he's turning into a vampire.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Beals, Maria Conchita Alonso, Elizabeth Ashley, Kasi LemmonsHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Note: This film is currently available as part of the double feature Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits.
There are various kinds of overacting, and two of them are on display in the odd combination of two films from 1988 that have little other
than
their year of genesis in common, Vampire's Kiss and High Spirits. Nicolas Cage is the hyperbolically inclined
performer of the former, while Peter O’Toole indulges in his patented brand of late career scenery chewing in the second. The difference in
techniques makes for an interesting study in contrasts and, not so coincidentally, enjoyment. Cage, an actor who is an acquired taste for
many,
is seemingly content to eschew any semblance of realism, or at least what any rational person would describe as realism, in his
portrayal of unhinged literary agent Peter Loew, a guy who only becomes more deranged once he becomes convinced he’s been
“turned” into a vampire. O’Toole, who at this point in his long film career, was often content to coast on charisma and a certain winking
hamminess, plays forlorn castle owner Peter Plunkett in the early Neil Jordan effort High Spirits (not to be confused with the musical
version of Coward’s Blithe Spirit). Plunkett, like many landed gentry witnessing a sea change in society and economy (see Downton Abbey) decides on a
scheme to save his ramshackle fortress by advertising it as haunted, hoping to bring in a lucrative tourist trade. Of course, the joke turns
out
to be that Plunkett’s abode really is haunted. Both Cage and O'Toole are completely self indulgent in their respective films, but while
watching Cage is something like not being able to avert one's eyes from a horrific train wreck, there's a simple exuberant silliness emanating
from O'Toole that at least makes his focus pulling tolerable.
Vampire's Kiss is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a surprisingly solid presentation for a cult film of somewhat dubious standing among some snootier sorts. The elements do show occasional wear and tear, with small scratches, bits of dirt and minus density popping up, but colors have weathered the intervening years quite well, and black levels are solid and convincing. There are some darker sequences where detail is at minimal levels and shadow detail is negligible, but the more brightly lit moments offer good detail and a commendably organic appearance.
Vampire's Kiss' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track offers capable support for the film's often risible dialogue, as well as the various grunts and groans Cage emits as his character devolves into madness. The film's score, which perhaps surprisingly does not consist of ubiquitous source cues, sounds clear if dated.
By the time Cage's character is hallucinating on a Manhattan street, delivering a patently bizarre monologue in an equally outré accent that combines Valley Boy with high falutin' intellectual, all while holding a large wooden stake (and you can guess what's going to happen with that implement), and while apparent real New Yorkers walk by only tangentially disturbed by arrest worthy overacting, it's impossible not to kind of love this film for its absolutely wacky (and tacky) awfulness. There's actually a really interesting premise here which is just wasted by an inexperienced director and an out of control lead actor. For fans of this film (and they do exist, evidently), technical merits are generally very good to excellent.
(Still not reliable for this title)
20th Anniversary Edition
1991
1981
1997
2008
2011
1988
Warner Archive Collection
1967
Includes "Drácula"
1931
1931
Collector's Edition
1970
1936
2002
1988
Collector's Edition
1960
2019
The Legend of Blood Castle | Standard Edition | Ceremonia sangrienta
1973
1973
Schock / Beyond the Door II
1977
2013
Collector's Edition
1963