10 Best Horror Movies Set In New York

Nicolas Cage rarely goes a year without unleashing another crazed performance on the world, as recently proved in Longlegs. Having said that, arguably his Cagiest performance was in one of the actor's earliest works.

That would be in 1988's Vampire Kiss, where Cage plays literary agent Peter Loew, who's more focused on tormenting his secretary than closing deals. After he's bitten by a woman at a nightclub, Peter becomes convinced he's turning into a vampire, causing his life to descend into complete chaos.

Nobody can be truly prepared for Cage's performance here, even after seeing all the memes, and the Con Air star delivers the simplest lines in a way no human being has ever spoken before, overacting like his life depends on it, wailing on the street, aggressively chanting the ABCs, and gobbling up cockroaches. It may be over-the-top, but this approach serves the story well, since there's never a moment when anyone doubts this guy is totally off his rocker.

Although it's not conventionally scary, every scene involving Peter's secretary is hair-raising as it's only a matter of time before Cage's character finds another creative way to utterly humiliate her. Peter Loew may be a monster, but Nic Cage's portrayal is surprisingly sympathetic and it's genuinely sad to see him consumed by his dwindling sanity and unexplained neuroses.