Der Kuß vor dem Tode

Why do they do it? Just because a film was made once in the fifties, someone thinks they need to remake it with today's hot stars. At least they could improve on the story.

The most glaring hole in this version is the fact that the father (Max von Sydow) hired a private detective to investigate the boyfriend of his daughter, and yet he declined to investigate the boyfriend of his other daughter, both played by Sean Young, which would have exposed the plot.

Matt Dillon plots to have it all and has to do some things that just stretch us beyond belief to get there. He just seems to be in the right place at the right time just once or twice too often for my tastes.

I fell in love with Sean Young when she did No Way Out back in 1987. I haven't seen much of her lately and understand that she has not been doing so well. I thought she was good in this role and think that she has been unfairly criticized.

Still, I believe film noir is best watched in films of the fifties and remakes just don't do it for me.

For this type of thriller, this movie is entirely average. The plot and overall theme is decent enough, but the film loses any potential it might have by featuring such lousy acting. Even Max von Sydow, who is a veteran and is normally an excellent actor was disappointing in this. The only actor who did even a decent job was Matt Dillon. The film also has a bad pace, it's far too slow; in fact, it's incredibly slow and boring, for such a short film; it's just over 90 minutes, yet I can't bring myself to sit through the entire thing again(I did once, but ever since then I haven't been able to do so). The climax in the film is also below average, and flat-out boring. The supposed twist-in-the-end was lame, and not to mention far too easy to figure out. Also, the film introduces the villain far too early, in my opinion. Five minutes into the film, you knew who you were gonna root against. That's just too early. The film lacks any real surprises, as well as any great qualities. The few scenes detailing the psychopath's gruesome murders are decent, but lacks any real intensity or excitement, simply because you know exactly what will happen. As far as thrillers go, this is average and entirely forgettable. I recommend it only to the biggest of thriller fans. 5/10

The large part of the fun of watching A Kiss Before Dying is looking out for the number of Hitchcock movie moments the film is paying tribute to: from Psycho's shower shots and the lonesome mother's house our Norman Bates has escaped from, to the bleaching of the heroine and taking the Kim Novak role a la Vertigo with possibly lethal consequences. I was hugely amused and never mind the creaking plot. On a technical level, I loved the Technicolor hue of the film, very Hitchcock period too. I'm not sure why the lead actress, Sean Young, got a double Razzie award for her dual role. It seems undeserved. I'm sure there must have been far worse performances in 1991 to choose from.

Inferior remake of the 1956 classic. Matt Dillion was still very handsome when this was made and the real reason to watch. He is effective as the sociopat, and would have been better with a talented and attractive leading lady. Sean Young is just really, really bad. If you dislike her, this plays as an unintentional comedy. A nice touch is Matt lighting a cigarette after he pushes her off the roof.

Now if Matt was teamed with Diane Lane again, this could have been an effective and sexy thriller. BTW, well to do women do not buy box hair color at the drugstore they have professionals color it. Hair as dark as Young's would have to be bleached first anyway. It is a two step process.

"like a bad tv movie" Thanks to MCMucus, Kalamazoo. You summed it up in 5 words. I could only add that a pompous score tries to tell you that a wonderful drama is unfolding in front of you. It's not. It's hard to find anything of value in this film.