Innocent Blood

Innocent Blood

Credits
Title:	Innocent Blood
Directed by:	John Landis
Written by:	Michael Wolk
Produced by:	Jonathan Sheinberg; Leslie Belzberg; Lee Rich; Michael Wolk
Music by:	Ira Newborn
Cinematography:	Mac Ahlberg
Edited by:	Dale Beldin
Production
Production:	Warner Bros.
Released:	September 25th, 1992
Rating:	R
Running time:	112 min.
Country:	USA
Language:	English
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Innocent Blood is an American feature film of the vampire fiction subgenre of horror. It was directed by John Landis with a screenplay written by Michael Wolk. It was produced by Warner Bros. and premiered in the United States on September 25th, 1992. The film stars Anne Parillaud as a French vampire who comes to the United States and gets embroiled in affairs of the mob working out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Co-starring in the film is Anthony LaPaglia as the love interest, Detective Joseph Gennaro, along with Robert Loggia as the central antagonist Salvatore "Sal the Shark" Macelli.

Plot[]

Marie is a vampire in modern Pittsburgh, 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 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 mussels, and she tries to escape through the bathroom window but finds it barred up. Sal attempts to rape her but Marie overpowers him and drains his blood. Before she can finish him off, Sal's limousine 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 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 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 passionate sex.

The next night, Sal travels to a strip club 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 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 [her] feel alive" and decides to make him a vampire.

Cast[]

Actor

Role

Anne Parillaud

Marie

David Proval

Lenny

Rocco Sisto

Gilly

Chazz Palminteri

Tony Silva

Anthony LaPaglia

Joe Gennaro

Robert Loggia

Sal "The Shark" Macelli

Tony Sirico

Jacko

Tony Lip

Frank

Kim Coates

Ray

Marshall Bell

Marsh

Leo Burmester

Dave Flinton

Rohn Thomas

Coroner

Angela Bassett

U.S. attorney Sinclair

Luis Guzmán

Morales

Don Rickles

Emmanuel "Manny" Bergman

Tom Savini

News photographer

Gil Cates, Jr.

Dog Boy

Charlie Gomorra

Gorilla

Lamont Arnold

Morgue desk man

Yancey Arias

Coroner's assistant

Frank Oz

Pathologist

Pitty Jennings

Reporter

David Early

Reporter

Forrest J. Ackerman

Stolen car man

Elaine Kagan

Frannie Bergman

Michael Ritchie

Night watchman

Bernard Hocke

Motel clerk

Sam Raimi

Roma Meats man

Dario Argento

Paramedic

Marina Durell

Nurse

Harry Goins

Orderly

Steve Johnson

Orderly

Linnea Quigley

Nurse

Michael Wolk

Surgeon

Russ Cochran

Panhandler

Teri Weigel

Melody Lounge dancer

Lisa Ann Baker

Melody Lounge dancer

Christina Jiménez

Melody Lounge dancer

Christina Bowers

Melody Lounge dancer

Kim Currow

Melody Lounge dancer

Christina Diaz

Melody Lounge dancer

Kim Melton

Melody Lounge dancer

Robin Place

Melody Lounge dancer

Regina Poole

Melody Lounge dancer

Tracy Rolen

Melody Lounge dancer

Tammy Ulm

Melody Lounge dancer

Katrina Witt

Melody Lounge dancer

Mraibe Zolli

Melody Lounge dancer

Ron Roth

Gus

Vic Noto

Tommy

Jerry Lyden

Vinnie

Rick Avery

Cab driver

Bob Minor

Bus driver

Notes & Trivia[]

The tagline for this film is "For generations the Mafia preyed on the innocent. Tonight someone is preying on them."
Principal shooting on Innocent Blood began on January 13th, 1992 and lasted until April 7th, 1992. The movie was shot on-location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Notable locations include the Amore Motel, the David McCullough Bridge, West End Overlook Park, and the East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
Filming on Innocent Blood began on the same day as principal shooting for Pet Sematary Two, which is also a horror film.
Innocent Blood was screened in the United Kingdom at the Dead by Dawn Horror Film Festival on January 16th, 1993.
At its widest release, Innocent Blood was screened in 1,326 movie theaters. It had been in release for a total of fourteen weeks (98 days).
Innocent Blood grossed $1,857,658 over its opening weekend. It grossed $4,943,279 over its entire domestic run. The film did not have an international release. It came in at number 8 at the box office over its opening weekend and was beat out by The Last of the Mohicans (premiere) and Mr. Saturday Night (premiere), as well as Sneakers, Captain Ron, Singles, School Ties and Sarafina!, all of which had already been in release.
Innocent Blood was released on Blu-ray by Warner Bros. as part of the Warner Archive Collection on September 19th, 2017. It was also included in the Horror Thrillers: 4-Film Collection blu-ray along with Body Snatchers, The Hunger and Wolfen.
On the Internet Movie Database, Innocent Blood has a user score of 6.2 out of 10 based on more than 10,000 ratings.
On Metacritic, this film holds a Metascore of 44 out of 100 based on twenty critic reviews. It has a user score of 7.0 based on four user ratings.
On the movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Innocent Blood holds a 38% "Rotten" rating on the Tomatometer based on twenty-four reviews. It has an audience score of 45% based on more than 5,000 ratings.
On Letterboxd, Innocent Blood holds a weighted average of 3.06 out of 5 based on 4,468 ratings.
Director John Landis is also known for directing the 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. That film also deals with the "stranger in a strange land" trope in relation to monsters, except in Innocent Blood, the subject is a vampire rather than a werewolf. Despite this similarity in theme, Innocent Blood never gained the recognition that An American Werewolf in London has.
Actress Regan Kerwin, who plays one of the Melody Lounge dancers, is credited as Regina Poole in this film.

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