LegendaryFang56
CONTAINS SPOILERS8/10 2 years ago
_"I never misfiled anything! Not once! Not one time!"_
This film is my 'entering into the world of Nicolas Cage' moment, and it was fantastic. I feel like this film is one of his best ones to watch first. Sure, there isn't much of a story, just a setting and basic narrative details to revolve everything else around. But "everything else" is more than enough. Nic's fantastic and absurd (in a good way) acting is entertaining; everything about it, from his British-esque accent (which also sounded like Trump at times) to his body language, to the way he delivered lines. And even the seemingly shoddy/inconsistent writing and editing seem to "work" in a weird way, elevating this film's entertainment more than it already was.
What stood out the most was how similar this film felt to _American Psycho_. The main similarity is the atmosphere and the sense of confusion, especially by the end. It makes you start questioning everything. Was everything real, or was mostly everything real? Was everything not real? Or were some things not real? Why do kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch? That was somewhat the case with _American Psycho_, but that film was easier to understand, while this one was more confusing, which could be due to the writing and editing. My interpretation is that [spoiler] she was a vampire and was using him, which is why she discarded him, but also because he was a failure, not cut out for the vampire life, hence: "Peter, you are so pathetic." and "You disgust me." [/spoiler] I think she has a bit of a degradation domme (and even a praise domme, both receiving and giving) within her, whether intentional in that way or not; she has fun toying with him/seeing him suffer.
Besides the pure entertainment Nic delivered, Jennifer Beals was the second-best thing, and she wasn't in this film enough! Not only was her performance captivating: but more importantly, she was alluring and seductive. And very hot. More-more importantly, her outfits were on-point, especially the black stockings and heels, but mainly the former. That's one of the hottest looks for a woman, and if you disagree, you're wrong. Yes, it's, more or less, my strongest kink that's borderline a fetish. Yes, I'm probably a little creepy for mentioning this.
The scenes with Peter and Alva were great. And interestingly enough, those scenes were the only resemblance of a story with the near film-long plotline/running gag of finding the contract, other than the underlying vampiric, losing-your-mind narrative. María Conchita Alonso's acting performance was also good. I thought her performance was "serious," while Nic was being Nic, and Jennifer's performance was slow and seductive. All three were in their respective worlds, making each performance seem to be in three different films, all in the same one. I feel like that must've added some distinction to the film.
And the score by Colin Towns sounded appropriate for this film, although maybe it was too "intricate" or too loud. I don't know how to explain it. It seemed to start gnawing away at me, becoming irritable. I also felt it sounded reminiscent of scores in more old-timey films than this one, like _Nosferatu_. Like silent films or black-and-white films. The primary cue that kept playing made me think of tailing, someone tailed, as well.
Unfortunately, this film was a box office flop, but more importantly, it's unfortunate that people back in 1989 when this film was released couldn't realize that this is cinema; that's a criminal offense for the ages. I thought it was pretty entertaining, despite the confusion it created, and I feel like I lucked out with my decision for this to be my first Nicolas Cage film; it must be one of his best ones, a classic. What a film. What a fantastic/extravagant performance by him.
