So in some regions (dunno where) this movie is referred to as ‘A French Vampire in America’. Are we seeing the connection yet? Yes, this is a horror comedy directed by John Landis, but no this is not a sequel or prequel to his classic ‘An American Werewolf in London’. But let’s be honest here, that ‘French Vampire’ title is way better than ‘Innocent Blood‘. That doesn’t tell you anything, very bland. I like ‘A Vampire in Pittsburgh’.
Marie (Anne Parillaud) is a vampire in the (then) present day of the early 90’s. We know little of her background, how she became a vampire, where she comes from etc…All we know is she only feeds on criminals. She is currently in Pittsburgh where there just so happens to be a very strong mafia presence, she’s in luck. Marie begins to feed on a random Italian American gangster which causes a stir. The aftermath of this results in undercover cop Joe Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia) being put into the witness protection program. Eventually, Marie feeds on mafioso boss Salvatore ‘Sal the Shark’ Macelli (Robert Loggia), but she is unable to kill him completely. This leads to bigger problems with Sal becoming a vampire himself and then starting to turn all his men. Marie must find and kill Sal but needs the assistance of Joe.
So the plot is thin on the ground, it’s pretty weak. Marie fudges up whilst feeding and causes a shitstorm. Remarkable considering she’s supposedly a very old and experienced vampire, you’d think she would be able to do this kind of thing blindfolded. But I guess everyone makes mistakes, even the undead. From there on out it’s simply about Sal trying to cope with being a vampire, and then realizing he can turn all his men. In the meantime, Marie must find Sal and stop this. But with all her supernatural powers you’d think that would be relatively easy. It begs the question, why do we need LaPaglia’s character? OK he’s a love interest, I get it, but she essentially doesn’t need the guy. What can he offer her?
Interestingly this movie isn’t set in New York, even though it wants to be. I mean let’s be real here, this movie is so rammed full of cliched Italian American mafia themes that it is unreal. Almost every cliche in the stereotype book is used here from the black limos, the sharp suits, slick back hair, mullets, the chewing of toothpicks, the silly mafia names nicknames, the black leather coats, and the cold-looking city streets filled with plumes of smoke from the drain grates. Heck, they even go as far as using Frank Sinatra tunes in initial scenes. Not only that, I think Landis cast almost every actor around at the time with either an Italian American last name, heritage, or simply looks like a mobster (you know what I mean). Indeed many of these actors have gone on to become household names in mafia/gangster roles.
Worth noting, cameos for Sam Raimi, Dario Argento, Frank Oz, Angela Bassett, Chazz Palminteri, and Tom Savini. Although it is also worth noting that Savini did not do the special effects here, that honor goes to Steve Johnson (‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘The Abyss’).
Lets talk about those special effects, how do they compare to Landis’ classic lycanthrope movie? Well, there is much less emphasis on the vampires and their fangs in this, but a lot of emphasis on the blood. There is a lot of claret on show in this movie, mainly gushing from victims’ necks as they get torn open. Indeed the effects on neck wounds are quite grisly and wonderful. Nice big chunks missing with ripped flesh dangling. Often the victim’s clothes are drenched in wet blood, sodden, and dirty. Loggia spends most of the movie virtually head to toe in wet and dried blood. I’d go as far as to say Landis goes a tad overboard with the blood because it becomes less shocking the more you see.
As for the vampires, we never see any fangs believe it or not. The entire emphasis is on the eyes of these supernatural killers. Johnson used special highly reflective contact lenses that change color. It is a startling look that grabs your attention. Some of the vampires have red eyes, yellow eyes, and sky blue eyes; whilst Marie seems to have eyes that change color, not sure why though. The only issue I had with this is the fact they are contacts (clearly very thick) and on most of the actors, the pupil was slightly off-center in one eye. It kinda made all the vampires look a bit simple looking, or like they had strabismus.
Another early effect was a point-of-view flyby effect where the camera simply moves around a space to simulate the vampire flying. Quite a bit of wirework to simulate the strength of the vampires, lifting people up high, etc…The vampire’s roar or scream sounded very familiar to me, I’m sure it’s the same sound effect used for the werewolf howl in ‘American Werewolf in London’. Again it’s used very effectively, a quick cut to the vampire’s face with a loud blast of the howl, really makes you jump.
The best effects sequence in the movie has to be the death of recently bitten Manny Bergman (Don Rickles). Whilst in hospital this character is accidentally exposed to sunlight…and you all know what happens next. Well, this is the money shot here folks. A slow painful looking death as Bergman’s body cracks and breaks up in front of the doctors. The medical staff try to help him but his body crumbles and deteriorates in their hands. One shot of a nurse accidentally pulling off his crispy smoldering arm, only to then drop it and watch it break apart into a mess of black glowing ash, is incredible (for the time).
To be utterly honest not a great deal of interest happens for the most part in this movie (effects aside). Once Joe realizes what Marie is he goes after her (ignoring his boss of course). Marie has all manner of powers but somehow Joe is still able to find and catch her. But did she want to be caught huh? This eventually leads to the inevitable sex scene between the man and the vampire. By this time you will have realized that Anne Parillaud is not shy about showing off her entire self (very European, very French). Although the sex scene shows us how Marie must control herself (something Joe is always concerned about), it’s of little importance. A little spice in the movie, gratuitous nudity.
Landis goes for broke with this one, he loves to throw out old beloved conventions. Like I said no fangs here, but lots of glowing eyes (although no explanation as to why different vampires have different colour eyes). Vampires do have reflections in this movie, but still garlic makes them sick. A bullet to the head is enough to kill a vampire, as is snapping its neck. No mention of stakes through the heart or crosses though. They can still climb up walls, fly, and have incredible strength. Lastly and most interestingly no one uses the word vampire in the movie (I think).
Loggia is enjoying himself here as he chews up the scenery big time. He may not have the physique of a vampire but he certainly has the bark and snarl that’s for sure. Loggia makes Frank Langella in ‘Masters of the Universe look positively bland in comparison. In the scene where Sal had to rape and abuse Marie, he fecking went for it! As for the other main leads, Parillaud is as adorable as Marie. Like I said she’s not shy about getting it all out for the camera and she’s very fit looking to boot. Bit of an issue trying to understand her accent at times but she does convey the shy quiet vampire nicely. You do truly believe she is a centuries-old Gallic beauty; a siren that has been seducing immoral men over the ages. On the other hand, LaPaglia is…fine. You could stick any guy with that Italian American look in that role, the character is kinda pointless.
Ultimately I do think Landis went too far with the blood factor in this one and loses a real sense of dread and spookiness. His werewolf movie had blood but nowhere near as much as this, plus ‘Werewolf in London’ was eerie as fuck; it was genuinely scary. This movie loses any real sense of scare factor with all these stereotypical mafia bozos running around shooting at everything. Yes, there are some good shocks and thrills but the comedy spoils it, it’s too hammy, too dumb basically. The movie is a horror comedy and Landis does hit his targets well, it is a fun flick for horror fans to enjoy. I just feel this is too much of a homage to other things, too many cameos maybe, too many winks and nods, not gritty and dark enough. It’s a hard one to call because the cast is great and the old-school effects are superb.
I do heartily recommend this as I’m pretty sure many will not have even heard of it (it is a forgotten gem). The bottom line, it doesn’t quite satisfy your vampire needs/requirements, it ticks some boxes but misses others. But overall it’s still a top John Landis horror comedy and easily better than what you get these days. Shame about the end credits song, totally out of place methinks.