Overlooked DVD of the Week: 'Innocent Blood'

In honor of Don Rickles' Emmy win, I've decided to choose one of my favorite forgotten Rickles performances for this weeks Overlooked DVD -- and it's from a genre movie, no less.

No, it isn't one of Rickles' Beach Party movies (though it was tempting to choose one of those). It's the 1992 horror/comedy Innocent Blood, about a vampire outbreak among a bunch of Pittsburgh mobsters. French actress Anne Parillaud stars as Marie, a vampire with a conscience who only feeds on gangsters and criminals. One night, she attacks Sal "The Shark" Macelli (a very funny Robert Loggia) but does not kill him, essentially leaving an unkillable vampire to run a crime family and turn everyone around him into more of the same. It's just as funny as it sounds.

Rickles plays Manny Bergman, Loggia's lawyer, and gets the most memorable scene in the movie (though I'd rather not say what that is). He's not really the usual Rickles here; he's a timid yes-man, going the whole movie without insulting anyone. But his very presence in the movie conjures up images of '60s nightclubs and back-room movers -- an era that guys like Sal "The Shark" spend their whole lives chasing.

Innocent Blood is also noteworthy because it's rare for a comedian to appear in a horror film (though because the movie was directed by John Landis, there's pretty much an equal mix of comedy and horror). And, wiith Halloween around the corner, it seemed to make sense to choose a horror movie this week. I can't really think of too many others besides Innocent Blood; there's Judah Friedlander in Feast...and...Eddie Murphy in Vampire in Brooklyn? Bill Maher in House II: The Second Story? Not really a horror movie. It's barely a movie.

Sadly, the only version of Innocent Blood floating around out there is an inexpensive but pretty lousy-looking Full Frame DVD. It's definitely worth checking out for the few bucks it sells for. Rickles' last scene alone should cover the cost. You'll know the one I'm talking about.

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