Kiss of the Damned
May. 03,2013 RBeautiful vampire Djuna tries to resist the advances of the handsome, human screenwriter Paolo, but eventually gives in to their passion. When her seductive and highly volatile sister Mimi unexpectedly comes to visit, she threatens Djuna's new relationship, and the whole vampire community becomes endangered.
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Reviews
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
An Exercise In Nonsense
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
This is a story of a "reformed" vampire living outside New York City who turns handsome screenwriter Paolo, whereupon they begin sharing a life together as she gradually introduces him to higher society. All is going well until her troubled sister moves in with her while her house is being established in Phoenix.I thought Milo and the two female leads were really, really strong. Great, believable performances. True emotions. Fantastic job to all of them. The woman who portrayed the stage actress was also wonderful.However, the editing of this film is REALLY bad. The photography is beautiful and the acting is all brilliant, but the awkward editing and sound effects (the door bell noise? Please re-edit that with someone knocking on the door. The bird chirping is also really bad) take the viewer out of the moment. There were a lot of jarring cuts that made a beautiful, cinematic moment then transition into something that seemed very amateurish. The work deserves better.If this film was RE-EDITED (please, please do this and re-release a director's cut or something) and sound effects were redone, it would be much improved.
I'm confused why the rating on this is so low. The plot is good, the acting is good, the vampires are good. I believe anyone who loves Vampire movies would love this movie. It has everything I like in a Vampire movie. Sort of a love story, violence, good ending, good plot line, and the Vampires are realistic (well, as vampires go).I wish I could find more movies like this one. I'm running out of Vampire movies. The Twilight Series is OK, but this movie is the kind of Vampire movie I like. It has a good mix of a love story mixed with Vampire violence. It's not one or the other. Enjoy! It's a lot better than the IMDb rating it has...trust me.Jim W
In the countryside near to New York, Djuna (Joséphine de La Baume) lives alone with her housemaid Irene (Ching Valdes-Aran) in a manor that belongs to her friend Xenia (Anna Mouglalis). When she meets the screenwriter Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia) at a video rental store, they immediately fall in love with each other. However, Djuna discloses to Paolo that she is a vampire and while making love, she turns him into one. Paolo moves to her house and they happily live together. Out of the blue, her wicked and troublemaker sister Mimi (Roxane Mesquida) appears to stay for a week with them, turning their lives upside-down. "Kiss of the Damned" is an underrated and sexy film romance with a good romance with an international cast where the female vampires are French actresses. The plot is well developed and the music score is classy. In 2013, Jim Jarmusch wrote and directed the cult "Only Lovers Left Alive" with a similar storyline. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Beijo do Vampiro" ("The Kiss of the Vampire")
Finally, someone puts the Vamp back into bloodsuckers and does the medium justice with Kiss of the Damned. Directed by Alexandria "Xan" Cassavetes (daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands). the film has recently been released to DVD and Netflix. Kiss is an homage to all the "sexy' Euro-vampire movies of the 70's which lit-up the Drive-ins and city theaters. It has a continental European feel, unlike the British Hammer movies of the time, where the action was more important than the mood. Jean Rollin would be impressed.Hunky Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia) is a screenwriter working somewhere north of LA on his latest assignment. One night he gets writer's block and decides to visit a video rental store (making the movie a period piece) where he meets the sultry Djuna (Josephine de La Baume). Smitten by her looks, he asks her out one evening and both end up at her palatial mansion in the forest, which over-looks a lake. You know something's not right with her since we've already watched the maid come in and daintily clean blood off the marbled floor.Djuna kicks Paolo out when he tries to get to close to her for no obvious reason. Not to take no for an answer, Paolo begins stalking her and one night just shows up at her door. She keeps the chain locked, but they begin kissing through the gap. Djuna bites his mouth, drawing blood, and he finally leaves.This time when Paolo confronts Djuna she confesses: she's a real life vampire. Paolo refuses to believe, but, totally in love with her, chains her to the bed as the only safe way to have sex with her. In an unbelievably hot scene, Djuna sprouts fangs and feral eyes as she tries to put the bite on Paolo. Instead of running for his life, Paolo unlocks her chains. Djuna plunges her fangs into him, not to kill him, but to exchange blood, thus infecting him withe Living Dead curse.After Paolo has been vamped, the audience discovers some very interesting things about the breed: they have extremely long lives, don't succumb to natural diseases, and heal instantly upon injury. The need to feed is a by-product of their condition, but vampires have learned to over-come their desire for humans by going after game animals such as deer (could use a whole vampire coven in the national park near me). The blood drive is always a problem and through-out the movie you see Paolo and Djuna staring at people's necks, fighting back the urge. Human servants are chosen from those with blood disorders, so the won't be a temptation. Vampirism is portrayed as alcoholism with benefits.But Djuna and Paolo's sojourn comes to an end with the arrival of Mimi, Djuna's sister. You know Mimi is going to be trouble from the start when she arrives. Soon Djuna has placed a call to Xenia, one of the Undead Elders to find out what can be done about her problematic sibling. Xenia assures her the younger vamp is "having some issues", but she has a safe house arranged for her in Phoenix. However, Djuna has heard all this before....There is plenty of discussion on the Internet about how this movie resembles a 70's vampire movie in its form and style. I don't feel such comments are criticisms, but an observation of how low the medium has sunk in the aftermath of Rice and Twilight. Yes, Kiss is a very Gothic movie, but Karnstein goth as opposed to Bauhaus. It has the same dreamy set-pieces which Lemora tried to copy back in 1975. Here, they work extraordinarily.It is also a very erotic movie. The love-making scenes between Paolo and Djuna nearly melted my HD screen. But this is Daughters of Darkness sexy; the sort of scene you might have saw on the bottom half of a double bill in 1975. Subtle, not at all what you'll find surfing the Internet.The only recurring problem with film are the accents. The director choose French fashion models to play most of the lead women vampires and their way of pronouncing words in English does add to the sexiness. But sometimes it is hard to understand a word Djuna is saying. I'll have to buy the Blu-Ray just to turn on the subtitles (watched it on Netflix).I highly recommend this movie as an homage to all the great vampire movies of the 70's. http://cinemaofhorror.com/kiss-damned/