Director Report Card: John Landis (1992)

13. Innocent Blood

John Landis is associated with the horror genre, even to the point of appearing on both seasons of “Masters of Horror,” despite only directing a few films in the genre. I guess having the best werewolf movie of all time and the “Thriller” music video on your resume counts for a lot. After directing a comedy flop like “Oscar,” the latest in a line of underwhelming comedies, perhaps Landis wanted to shift gear back to the other genre he's known for. After a vampire flick called “Red Sleep,” meant to star Wayne Newton, fell through, Landis was offered a different vampire script called “Innocent Blood." While the resulting film had few fans in 1992, it's developed a small cult following since.

A sensual French vampire named Marie has recently taken up residence in the “Little Italy” neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Marie has a moral code, exclusively feeding on criminals and cleaning up her tracks after drinking their blood, so as not to spawn more vampires. As she's drinking the blood of mob boss Sal “The Shark” Macelli, she's interrupted. Soon, Sal has risen again as a vampire. Already vicious as a human, the mobster's bloodlust has only grown. He targets Joseph Gennaro, a cop who was undercover with the Macelli family until recently. Gennaro and Marie are forced to team up, in hopes of stopping the vampiric crime lord before he wrecks more havoc.

In certain European markets, “Innocent Blood” was re-titled “A French Vampire in America.” Landis was annoyed by the change but, somewhat inevitably, one can't help but compare the director's later vampire film to his earlier werewolf classic. Both are semi-comedic takes on classic horror concepts, placing gothic monsters in modern cities. Both play with the rules involving these legendary creatures. Both feature steamy love affairs, when not revolving around the monster movie mayhem. The two movies even have similar climaxes, the monster rampaging through a busy public square and causing a bus to crash. The two films are very different but, whether the director intended it or not, “Innocent Blood” definitely feels like a companion piece of sorts to “American Werewolf.”

Another thing “Innocent Blood” has in common with Landis' earlier creature feature is its practically atheistic approaches to the monsters. The film keeps some of the classic powers and weaknesses of vampires but discards others. Marie is repulsed by garlic and her offspring burst into flames in sunlight. Otherwise, most of the other classic vampire weaknesses are not present. Religious iconography have no effect on her. Stakes to the heart are not present, gunshots to the head and twisted necks being more common methods of dispatching the bloodsuckers. These vampires are more vulnerable to modern weapons, though they heal quickly. In fact, they're nearly indestructible. Marie's practicality involving her “meals,” blowing the heads off with a shotgun after she's done drinking, is another way “Innocent Blood” plays with the typical expectations of the vampire genre.

However, there's one pretty big difference between “American Werewolf” and “Innocent Blood.” Unlike Landis' earlier werewolf masterpiece, “Innocent Blood” is never scary. The film attempts to shock the audience, with multiple shots of vampires leaping into frame, brandishing their fangs. (A cheap trick otherwise known as a “jump scare.”) Despite the general lack of scares, “Innocent Blood” does summon a certain sort of fun house spookiness. The story has enough unexpected turns, throwing in more and more creature effects, to keep the audience guessing. The script seems to delight in figuring out more outrageous ways to undo the various vampires. “Innocent Blood” is a fun kind of horror movie, which is easy to enjoy.

“Innocent Blood” doesn't have Rick Baker creating its monster effects. Instead, Steve Johnson – a no less prolific though far less acclaimed effects man – provides the make-up. Johnson and his team does  a pretty good job. Throughout the film, the vampires flash large glowing eyes, an image on the borderland between looking cool and looking silly. The most impressive effects displays happen later in the film. “Innocent Blood's” take on a vampire bursting into films is especially inspired and grisly, the skin crackling like a burning leaf before the body collapses into ash. Later, this idea is expanded on when a vampire is set on fire... Only to stand around and talk for ten minutes, continuing to look like a fresh asteroid as he blazes away. In-between the copious spraying blood – clipped by several seconds to receive an R rating – and bloated corpses, “Innocent Blood” has enough cool creature effects to impress experienced monster fans.

Compared to Landis' last few films, which were all rather bland looking, “Innocent Blood” looks pretty cool too. Among the numerous director's cameos – by now a trademark onto itself – is Dario Argento. It seems Landis was taking a few cues from Dario, as several scenes are highlighted by bright colors. This is especially notable during a fun sequence where multiple vampires are introduced inside a room above a strip club. Landis creates a number of interesting looking shots, such a sequence where Marie climbs atop a chapel and leaps down onto Genreno's car. Or a point-of-view shot of her flying around a church. If nothing else, the comedy director was trying his best to make “Innocent Blood” look more distinctive than many of his later comedies.

“Innocent Blood” isn't as funny as “An American Werewolf in London” either. Which isn't to say the movie doesn't have some laughs. The contrast between tough guy gangster, wholly unprepared to handle their undead transformations, makes for some decent laughs. When Sal awakens in the morgue, he's thoroughly baffled. That confusion continues when the coroner chases after the corpse that just got up off the slab and walked away. Salvotore's newfound love of raw meat also tends to put his former cohorts off. If nothing else, Landis does a much better job of subverting the standard mobster image here than he did in “Oscar.”

The romantic subplot of “Innocent Blood” is definitely in the backseat through most of its run time. The only connection Marie and Genreno have at first is her refusal to eat him, due to his sad eyes. Yet eventually the two are thrown together by fate. It doesn't totally work until the two go back to her apartment. There's enough flirting, surprisingly cute flirting, in this scene to make the audience buy the love scene that follows... A love scene that was far steamier than I anticipated, even involving some light bondage. It may not be a love to last the ages but the physical connection between the two characters is strong enough that the audience is buys their relationship.

“Innocent Blood” is a star vehicle for Anne Parillaud, who was just coming off her break-out role in “Le Femme Nikita.” Parilaud is introduced in the nude but it's not just her exposed beauty that attracts the eye. Parillaud has the right quality necessary for a character like Marie. She is simultaneously a worldly immortal, who is cynical about people and has been alive for a very long time. Yet there's also something innocent about her, Marie having never quite lost her child-like sense of mischief. It's an unlikely combination and one that might've been hard to pull off. Parillaud's ability to balance sexuality, charm, and a wild animal-like instinct makes her perfect for the character.

As good as Parillaud is, she is not the performer that walks away with “Innocent Blood.” Robert Loggia plays Sal. In his first scene, he flies into a rage and beats a guy with a microwave oven. Loggia spends most of the rest of the movie riding that same unhinged note. Yet it's a note he's extremely good at riding. Loggia is sweaty, sneering, vulgar, and unerringly aggressive. And that's all before he becomes a vampire. After becoming one of the undead, Macelli's murderous impulses are totally unleashed, allowing Loggia to take this wild performance to even higher levels. His climatic monologue – performed while on fire! – really has to be seen to be believed.  “Innocent Blood” is fun over all but Loggia deserves a lot of credit for the movie being as entertaining as it is.

Being a story full of colorful gangsters, “Innocent Blood” fills its supporting cast out with beloved characters. Don Rickles gets a rare dramatic role, as Sal's put-upon lawyer. It's pretty interesting seeing the beloved insult comic so effectively playing a man overwhelmed by the craziness happening around him. Tough guy character actors like Chazz Palminteri and Kim Coates are well utilized as different gangster. I wish Luis Guzman and Angela Basset especially were giving a little more to do as some of the supporting cops. Even though he's basically the secondary lead, Anthony LaPaglia seems to fade into the background a bit. I also thought he was Treat Williams for about half of the movie.

Confirming that the director was pretty into this one, “Innocent Blood” is peppered with Landis' trademarks. Aside from Argento, Tom Savini, Sam Raimi and – of course! – Frank Oz all have cameos. Classic genre flicks like “Horror of Dracula” and “Phantom of the Rue Morgue” are glimpsed on TV. “See You Next Wednesday” also puts in a appearance on a background theater marquee. “Innocent Blood” flopped in 1992, continuing Landis' downward slide at the box office. Yet I'm not surprised some genre fans have come to the defense of this one. A fun mash-up of vampire flick and gangster picture, it's a gory and sexy creature thriller kept alive by an entertaining cast. [Grade: B]