Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- darkly comic
- surreal
- unsettling
- cult movie night
- late night viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film imaginatively warped but incoherent, with Nicolas Cage's extreme performance overwhelming its dark-comic and allegorical ambitions.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Peter's reported vampire encounters and escalating hallucination-like experiences are never cleanly separated from his deteriorating mental state.
Peter's treatment of Alva and Jackie turns his self-absorbed professional and sexual entitlement into the engine of the black comedy.
Nicolas Cage's chaotic portrayal of Peter dominates the film as his personality disorder and vampire fixation intensify.
Publishing offices, nightclubs, therapists, and late-night encounters frame Peter's descent within 1980s metropolitan professional culture.
Films like Vampire's Kiss, and why
The Cable Guy
shares a psychologically unstable protagonist, grotesque dark comedy, and deliberately excessive performance style
The Hunger
combines vampiric imagery, erotic unease, black humor, and ambiguity between supernatural events and psychological disturbance
After Hours
matches the film's surreal descent into obsession, unreliable perception, and abrasive urban satire
Possession
similarly uses horror conventions as a vehicle for alienation, sexual anxiety, and unstable identity
Movie Details
- Director
- Robert Bierman
- Release Date
- 1989-06-02
- Runtime
- 104 min
- Rating
- 6.0 / 10 (512)
Cast
- Nicolas Cage
- María Conchita Alonso
- Jennifer Beals
- Elizabeth Ashley
- Kasi Lemmons
- Robert Lujan
- Jessica Lundy
- Johnny Walker
- Boris Lyoskin
- Michael Knowles
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Vampire's Kiss about?
- A self-absorbed publishing executive spirals into a lurid vampire delusion that may be supernatural, psychological, or both.
- What is Vampire's Kiss like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Vampire's Kiss as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Vampire's Kiss violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Vampire's Kiss as moderate.
- What did critics think of Vampire's Kiss?
- Critics broadly found the film imaginatively warped but incoherent, with Nicolas Cage's extreme performance overwhelming its dark-comic and allegorical ambitions.
- Which films are like Vampire's Kiss?
- Films with a similar feel include The Cable Guy, The Hunger, After Hours, and Possession.
- How long is Vampire's Kiss?
- Vampire's Kiss runs 104 minutes.
- Where can I watch Vampire's Kiss?
- In United States, Vampire's Kiss is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
