Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 23, 2015

Note: The scores above are averages for the two films in this double feature. See the individual reviews, linked below, for scores on each individual film.

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.

Complete coverage of the two films offered on this Blu-ray can be found by clicking on the following review links:

Vampire's Kiss Blu-ray review

High Spirits Blu-ray review

Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Assessments of the video quality of each film can be found by clicking on the review links above.

Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Assessments of the audio quality of each film can be found by clicking on the review links above.

Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplementary material for Vampire's Kiss can be found by clicking on that review link. High Spirits does not include any supplementary features.

Vampire's Kiss / High Spirits Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is one of the odder double features Scream Factory has released recently, one without a "slam dunk" feature making up for a less than stellar sibling. There's little doubt that High Spirits is overall the more effective piece in this two-fer, but that is perhaps damning with faint praise considering what a low bar is set by Vampire's Kiss. However, each of these films has a small but dedicated fan base, and those people should be generally well pleased with the presentation here, though there are occasional gaffes to be aware of.