Peter Loew [Nicholas Cage] is a successful business executive but he's having difficulty with his personal relationships and so he consults with a psychologist, Dr Glaser [Elizabeth Ashley]. Then Loew meets Rachel [Jennifer Beals], a vampire. As Loew becomes more and more dependent on Rachel's 'kisses', it appears that he is turning into a vampire, too. The sun hurts his eyes, he eats a bug, he sleeps under his overturned couch, and the sight of a cross makes him cringe. He harrasses his secretary Alva [Maria Conchita Alonso] mercilessly, and when he rapes her and she shoots him with her gun (with blanks), Loew is certain that he is now a vampire. He buys plastic teeth, eats a pigeon, and goes to a disco where he murders a girl and drinks her blood. But when he sees Rachel, she spurns him.
Now the story splits into two parts--Lowe's reality and his fantasy. In his fantasy, Loew visits Dr Glaser who absolves him of rape and murder. In reality, Loew is standing on a street corner, blood on his shirt, talking to a cornerstone. In his fantasy, Loew goes home with his new girlfriend, has a fight with her and crawls under his couch-coffin. In reality, Alva's brother comes looking for him. In fantasy, Loew holds a stake to his chest. In reality, Alva's brother pushes down on the stake. The stake pierces Loew's heart. But is this Loew's fantasy or his reality?