Innocent Blood (1992)

Innocent Blood could have easily been titled A French Vampire in America (and it was in foreign release), as it not only features that cultural displacement, but it is directed by the man who brought us An American Werewolf in London, the incomparable John Landis.

Usually, Landis handles comedies (and we could list the good ones off for hours...and try to forget about the bad ones). Even AWIL had a touch of melancholy humor to it. Innocent Blood, with a few exceptions, is straight horror flick, and a surprisingly enjoyable one at that.

Marie (Anne Parillaud) is a French vampire living a very comfortable existence in Pittsburgh. However, when she decides to have some Italian, she makes the very big mistake of picking mob boss Sal "The Shark" Macelli (Robert Loggia). A few very costly mistakes later, and Marie's got to deal with an undead crime kingpin and his gradually growing gang of blood-sucking wiseguys. Helping her out is undercover cop Joe Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia), who is at once disgusted and intrigued by this creature of the night whose become his reluctant partner.

The real reason to watch this movie is the outstanding cast. Parillaud and LaPaglia are both very good, but the real scene-stealer is Loggia. He really plays everything up, being the quintessential fangtastic don. His overacting comes to a fine point, a performance of detailed grandeur. Also, look for several directors in cameo bits, including Frank Oz, Sam Raimi, and Dario Argento.

For those of you with a decided interest in this, the movie features lots of blood, but more importantly, several elongated shots of Parillaud's physical assets (and may I add on a totally male chauvinist note...they are mighty fine assets).

Overall, this is a sexy, slightly campy horror romp that should prove to be more than money well spent at the rental store. Heck, if you want to avoid those nasty late charges (and they do creep up in a very malicious manner), the DVD is relatively cheap.