Innocent Blood

Sure there’s boobies and Robert Logggia devouring every single moment he is on screen but this really needed a helicopter ... oh

Seems about right for a Landis comedy-horror. It does ok with both aspects, but they mix surprisingly little outside of the gory action moments. It's very high concept "A mob film with a twist, they're vampires!" and feels a bit manufactured and thin because of it, but it works well enough at being entertaining.

Splits the difference between American Werewolf in London and Into The Night, where an unusual couple in a nocturnal urban landscape get caught in an escalating conflict. The idea of vampire gangsters was a good one, and it's attractively shot, but Wolk's script lacks focus, and the two leads were badly miscast; LaPaglia is nondescript while Parillaud's heavy accent just gets in the way. Logia, however, chews scenery with such manic relish and humour that it's a shame the rest doesn't deliver.

As ridiculous and dumb as Innocent Blood is, there's definitely some campy fun on display, and I got a few laughs out of it. Which is more than I can say for Landis' American Werewolf in London.

Viewed October 25, 2021. John Landis’ gangster vampire movie; a leisurely stroll through some strange humor and stranger eroticism. The combo works primarily because the gangster part of the equation is authentic—the supporting parts are perfectly cast (Chazz Palmintieri, some future Sopranos actors, etc.) and the tone of the dialogue is just right.

It's all decently paced with a nice mix of comedy and horror to make for a very watchable movie. But it suffers from a lack of focus. The movie starts with some monologues from Parillaud about her method of chosing her victims, but this is lost quickly and the movie becomes less and less interesting in her. Instead in the second half Landis seems more interested in the idea of "mobster as vampires". Robert Loggia steals the movie as the mob boss, chewing every scene he is in.

Serviceable vampire movie that was far more focused on the mob boss than the actual vampire. What was her motivation? The movie begins with some self-doubt on her part but then it all gives way to a contrived romance. I appreciate the references to other vampire movies but none of that really paid off. Fav scene: mob boss waking up in the morgue and stumbling around, then gets chased by the deputy coroner in view of the press, then the coroner chases after them and shrugs.

Since it's absolutely impossible for me to take vampire movies seriously on any level, playing the genre for laughs seems to be the only possible approach... if one absolutely must watch a vampire movie at all, that is.

There are a couple of great jokes, and seeing Robert Loggia biting pieces off the scenery is a joy to be had, but this really does not live up to the qualities of An American Werewolf In London and has far too many flaws as a film by its own.

funny somehow

I really wish John Landis would grow up. The nonstop cameos and inside jokes are fun, but it seems like their chief purpose is to cloak how nonsatisfying and nonintriguing the story and characters are. The worst part is that these are probably the most fragile and killable vampires in screen history

An excellent cast, a dark sense of humor, and great atmosphere help make this consistently entertaining, but the mix of comedy and horror never quite gel the way they did in American Werewolf in London.