Asia Argento stars as Violaine Charlier in this 'vampire' thriller. Antonio (Guillaume Canet) is a mooch, living off his wealthier and more successful friends for everything he needs and wants. To make some extra money, he's hired by a rich businessman (Jean-Marie Winling) to track down the supposed vampire Jordan (Orazio Massaro). Moving place to place in search, Antonio meets Violaine, Jordan's sister. From there, the trouble only escalates into a new high for Antonio.
Sadly, the DVD cover was more interesting than the actual film. I know, that's not uncommon, but the sexy Asia Argento wearing a cut-up latex outfit with some S&M-looking people behind her? That screams "BUY ME." Luckily, I picked it up for only a few dollars, and Asia did look particularly good. She's about the only reason to bother with this. While the premise is good and the French truly know how to make a great vampire movie. . . this simply did not work. There was, at most, ten minutes of vampires in the entire film, and the majority of it was made up Guillaume Canet's character mooching and Asia Argento's character being hot. It wasn't poorly made, just nothing special. Not entirely intriguing and I had to fight to keep attention numerous times. There's very little, if any, horror elements to the film, and it's more of a dramedy than anything else. Very little mystery, very few thrills, and nothing really great about it. Unless you're a die-hard Asia Argento fan, I wouldn't bother with this one.
Final verdict: 5.5/10.
Plot summary
Antoine is a social wannabe who drops an elusive aristocrat's name to get into an exclusive party. The name - Jordan - gets him whisked by two burly bodyguards into the office of the host, von Bulow, who won't accept Antoine's admission of lying, gives him $100,000, and promises $900,000 more when led to Jordan. Enticed by the money, Antoine, with the help of his friend Étienne, begins his search. He follows trails through Paris's night scene, gets beaten up and bitten, and meets Jordan's sister, Violaine. After a surreal night, he's hooked on her charms but leery of continuing his pursuit of Jordan. Von Bulow insists. Can he find Jordan, get his reward, and attract Violaine?
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Movie Reviews
Could've been great, but failed.
A Simple, Yet Fun, Vampire Mystery.
In Antoine de Caunes' Love Bites, we find ourselves following Antoine (Guillaume Canet),a night owl who has a habit of dropping peoples' names to get into the city's best clubs.
One night, he uses the name of a mysterious and elusive fellow night owl- who seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time- to crash an aristocratic gathering.
But things don't go as planned. He finds himself being whisked into the office of the party's host- a man named Von Brulow. Despite admitting that he lied to get in, Von Brulow believes that Antoine is the man he needs to find the man he's looking for- the aforementioned mysterious and elusive Jordan.
Antoine is handed half a million francs and told that he will receive another half a million when his task has been completed. In reality, he has no idea what is going on, or what he's going to do...but he knows that he is not in a position to decline the "job" offer...and it does pay well.
With only his small time hustler friend Etienne to rely upon for help (and even then, only when it is in his self interest),Antoine finds himself thrust into the underground world of dive bars, dog fighting, and fetish clubs....as he goes in search of the mythological Jordan.
More a conman than a PI, Antoine does manage to uncover some information about the man. Mainly, that he has a sister named Violaine (Asia Argento). And that, together, they may or may not be two of the last remaining Vampires- whose father demanded they bare a child together upon his deathbed, to ensure the survival of the race and return of their powers.
He learns, however, that Violaine denied her father's dying request and has rejected the advances from her brother.
When the two eventually meet, Antoine instantly becomes infatuated by her deviant, lustful beauty. Though, it's unclear whether she feels the same way, or is just manipulating him for her own ends.
As he delves deeper and deeper into this world- driven, now, by an insatiable curiosity- things become darker, as he gets closer to the truth...or possibly just death.
You'll have to watch to see how it plays out.
All-in-all this is an entertaining little vampire flick, with a sexy lingerie clad Asia Argento, that manages to hold your attention throughout. It's by no means one of the best vampire films of all time or anything, but it's made well and certainly worth a watch. 6 out of 10.
Not bad, not good. Lacks some real teeth
This film has atmosphere, no doubt. But something is missing, I'm not so sure what. Guillaume Canet does not convince as a tough guy who goes from bar to bar. He's got a face too pretty and doesn't look like a party animal. Asia Argento however is perfect. Sure, her role is more physical, she has not much to speak in French. I knew a girl with exactly the same Italian accent, sounds nice by the way. The whole movie is nice to look at, but somehow, you don't get too much involved. The end could have been more dramatic.