''Innocent Blood'' (also known in some regions as ''A French Vampire in America'') is a 1992 American

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

film directed by

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

and written by Michael Wolk. The film stars

Anne Parillaud Anne Parillaud (; born 6 May 1960) is a French actress who has been active since 1977. She is best known internationally for playing the title character in Luc Besson's film '' La Femme Nikita''. Biography Parillaud was born in Paris. While in ...

as a beautiful French vampire who finds herself pitted against a gang of mobsters led by Salvatore Macelli (

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

) who eventually becomes a vampire and schemes to build a criminal syndicate of vampires. The film is set and was filmed around

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The "Little Italy" of Pittsburgh, a portion of the Bloomfield, Pittsburgh neighborhood, clustered around Liberty Avenue, is recognizable in many of the film's outdoor urban scenes. Actors

Tony Sirico Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. (; July 29, 1942 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in ''The Sopranos''. He also made numerous appearances in the films of Woody Allen. Early life S ...

and

David Proval David Aaron Proval (born May 20, 1942) is an American actor, known for his roles as Tony DeVienazo in the Martin Scorsese film '' Mean Streets'' (1973), Snooze in '' The Shawshank Redemption'' (1994), Siegfried in '' Four Rooms'' (1995) and as ...

have supporting parts as gangsters, foreshadowing their roles in ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

''. It also features early appearances by

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Pr ...

Angela Bassett Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress. She had her breakthrough with her portrayal of singer Tina Turner in the biopic ''What's Love Got to Do with It'' (1993), which garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

, and Chazz Palminteri. The film is notable for being a mixture of the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and

buddy cop Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...

genres. The film was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, earning only $5 million over its $20 million budget.

Plot

Marie is a

in modern

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, with a moral code that limits her bloodsucking to the criminal elements of society. After feasting on '' mafioso'' Tony Silva, she shoots him in the head with a shotgun to cover up the bite marks on his neck and to prevent him from coming back as a vampire. Undercover cop Joseph Gennaro visits the crime scene but is taken off his assignment of infiltrating the

crime family A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activ ...

of Salvatore "Sal the Shark" Macelli and put into protective custody by District Attorney Sinclair for being seen at the crime scene by the media. The next night, Marie seduces Sal, who takes her back to his mansion for "dinner". She is warded off when Sal serves

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s, and she tries to escape through the bathroom window but finds it barred up. Sal attempts to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

her but Marie overpowers him and drains his blood. Before she can finish him off, Sal's

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...

driver, Lenny intervenes and she is forced to flee. Gennaro investigates the scene and follows a trail of blood to a nearby church, where he finds and chases Marie. When Gennaro gets back to his car, Marie finds him and demands that he drive her to the

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...

where Sal was taken. Sal, now a vampire, awakens in the morgue and steals a car to drive to the home of his attorney, Manny Bergman, being seen by police and reporters in his escape. Outside the morgue, Gennaro leaves Marie with his colleagues Detectives Dave Finton and Steve Morales and goes to Bergman's house to pursue Sal. Marie escapes from custody and follows him. At Bergman's home, Sal drinks Bergman's blood and Gennaro is captured by Lenny and Jacko. The three mobsters take Gennaro to the docks and attempt to kill him using the

compactor A compactor is a machine or mechanism used to reduce the size of material such as waste material or bio mass through compaction. A trash compactor is often used by a home or business to reduce the volume of trash it produces. A baler-wrapper comp ...

of a garbage truck. Marie arrives, saves him and kills Sal's men but Sal manages to escape. Gennaro and Marie attempt to pursue him but the sun rises and Marie has to retreat into a motel. Sal hides in a meat factory that he owns. Bergman is transferred to a hospital but after becoming a vampire, he is burned alive when a nurse opens the window and lets the sunlight in. In the motel, Gennaro and Marie confess their feelings for each other and have sex. The next night, Sal travels to a

strip club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...

that he owns and begins turning his men into vampires like him. Gennaro and Marie begin searching Mafia hangouts for Sal. Finton and Morales track him down to the strip club but Sal's men kill Finton. Marie and Gennaro arrive in time to save Morales and kill Sal's men by shooting them in the head. They chase Sal out onto the street, where he causes a collision between a taxi and a bus. Gennaro kills him by igniting him with the leaking gas tank of the bus and then shooting him in the head. Marie can no longer handle being the monster she is, and attempts to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by the sunlight, stating that she "died a long time ago". Gennaro talks her out of it, telling her that he loves her. Gennaro books her into a nearby hotel and Marie states in a voiceover that he "made erfeel alive" and decides to make him a vampire.

Cast

as Marie *

as Salvatore "Sal the Shark" Macelli *

as Detective Joseph Gennaro *

Don Rickles Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958) with Clark Gable, Carl Reiner's '' Enter La ...

as Manny Bergman * Elaine Kagan as Frannie Bergman *

as Lenny *

Rocco Sisto Rocco Sisto (born February 18, 1953) is an Italian-American stage, film, television and voice actor. Early life Sisto was born on February 18, 1953 in Bari, Italy, and moved to Addison, Illinois at an unknown age. He attended and graduated Addis ...

as Gilly * Chazz Palminteri as Tony Silva *

Kim Coates Kim F. Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian–American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in the lead ...

as Ray *

Marshall Bell Archibald Marshall Bell (born September 28, 1942) is an American character actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. He is known for roles in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' (1985), '' Stand by M ...

as Detective Marsh *

Linnea Quigley Barbara Linnea Quigley (born May 27, 1958) is an American actress, film producer, model, singer, and author. She is best known as a B-movie actress, and is often referred to as a " scream queen" due to her frequent appearances in low-budget horro ...

as Nurse Nancy Smith *

as Jacko *

Tony Lip Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr. (July 30, 1930 – January 4, 2013), better known by his stage name Tony Lip, was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of crime boss Carmine Lupertazzi in the HBO series, ''The Sopranos''. Lip ...

as Frank *

Luis Guzmán Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor. His career spans over 40 years and includes a number of films and television series. He has appeared in the Paul Thomas Anderson films ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Magnolia'' (1999) an ...

as Detective Steve Morales *

as U.S. Attorney Barbara Sinclair *

Leo Burmester Bernard Leo Burmester (February 1, 1945 – June 28, 2007) was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and '' Lone Star'' (1996), and also for directors such as John Schl ...

as Detective Dave Finton * Rohn Thomas as Coroner *

Frank Oz Frank Oz (born Frank Richard Oznowicz; May 25, 1944) is an American actor, puppeteer, and filmmaker. He began his career as a puppeteer, performing the Muppet characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle in ''The Muppet Show ...

as Pathologist *

Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin'' ...

as News Photographer *

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...

as Roma Meats Man * Forrest J. Ackerman as Stolen Car Man *

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film critic, critic. His influential work in the horror film, horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ...

as Paramedic *

Yancey Arias Yancey Arias (born June 27, 1971) is an American actor. He played Miguel Cadena in the NBC series '' Kingpin'' and Gabriel Williams in the FX series ''Thief''. Life and career Arias's mother, Miriam, is Puerto Rican and his father, Tony, is Col ...

as Coroner's assistant * Ron Roth as Gus * Vic Noto as Tommy * Jerry Lyden as Vinnie

Production

The film began as a script by Mick and Richard Christian Matheson called ''Red Sleep''.

had a deal at

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

to make it. He wrote it with

Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...

and "it was pretty wild," said Landis. "The premise was basically that Las Vegas is a city that is run by vampires." They turned it into the studio, who did not like it. Then they offered another vampire script, ''Innocent Blood'' by Michael Wolk. Landis said "I really liked it. I was given tremendous freedom by the studio to make it, although it was rather low budget. It was very risky, which I think perhaps contributed to the fact that it didn’t do well." Landis cast

off the back of '' La Femme Nikita'' "because Marie had to be beautiful and sexy and very sympathetic. Anne had been a ballerina, so she had this amazing physicality." Landis said preview audiences had trouble understanding her French accent but he refused to dub her. Landis said he described the film as "a Hammer film as if it was directed by Scorsese". The film was shot in Pittsburgh, beginning on January 13, 1992; Landis originally intended to set the film in New York and shoot most of it in Philadelphia for New York but when he saw Pittsburgh, he decided to film there. Filming wrapped on April 7, 1992. Landis previewed the film, then made about 15–20 minutes of cuts based on the preview and handed in the cut. The MPAA wanted to give the film an NC-17 rating so two more minutes were cut out to get an R.

Release

Box office

''Innocent Blood'' opened on September 25, 1992, and grossed $1,857,658 in its opening weekend, earning the #7 spot at the box office. By the end of its run, the film had grossed $4,943,279 domestically.

Home media

Several versions were released for home viewing, which were generally cut to some extent, censored for nudity and gore. The US (region 1)

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release is the shortest, and is also in

pan and scan Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown in fullscreen proportions of a standard-definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus ...

4:3 ratio, whereas the original film was widescreen. The most complete DVD version is the German release, entitled ''Bloody Marie: Eine Frau Mit Biss'' which is 28 seconds longer and in widescreen format. The widescreen version was eventually released on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

on September 19, 2017. HMV Store's have released it on Blu-Ray on their Premium Collection label (May 2020) in the UK with four art cards & fold out poster.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it currently holds a 38% score based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's consensus reads, "Awkward tonal shifts and a sluggish pace plague ''Innocent Blood'' -- a horror comedy with anemic scares and laughs".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Innocent Blood 1992 films 1992 crime films 1992 horror films 1992 romantic comedy films 1990s black comedy films 1990s comedy horror films 1990s crime comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s vigilante films American black comedy films American comedy horror films American crime comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic horror films American splatter films American vampire films American vigilante films Crime horror films Films directed by John Landis Films scored by Ira Newborn Films set in Pittsburgh Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Films shot in Pennsylvania Mafia comedy films Vampire comedy films Warner Bros. films 1990s American films