El beso mortal

Well, I didn't go into this film expecting anything great; I was really just hoping for a decent timewaster along the same lines as Wes Craven made for TV opus 'Summer of Fear', and that's more or less what I got; though it cant be said that this film isn't as good as Craven's. The film is a mix of two very basic and very common horror themes; namely, the insider who works their way into a family unit, and of course the idea of witchcraft. After the first fifteen minutes, I feared the worst because = the way that the plot is set up is very messy; and that's never a good sign in a simple film like this one! However, it soon settles down and once I got an idea of what to expect, I found that the film became easier to enjoy. The film starts with two sisters in 1963 that get split up. One of them goes off with a relative who passes onto her a strange curse via a kiss. We then cut to twenty five years later, and the other sister has died in a car accident; leaving her husband and daughter behind. Then onto the scene comes the cursed sister, who wants her niece to bear her curse...

It has to be said that this film could have been better if have handled by someone more adept, and if it had a better focus. The plot soon becomes predictable, and there are several things about it that don't make sense, and the film often veers off on a tangent with certain things that aren't really relevant. The Kiss seems to have taken a bit of influence from The Omen with regards to the way that the death scenes are carried out; mostly excessive and random, but also quite imaginative: the death scene on an escalator is well done...though the clues preceding it spoil the surprise. None of the characters are particularly interesting, which is a shame considering that the main one is a conniving witch. However, the film never becomes too boring. The special effects aren't over-used, but what we do get is generally quite realistic; the only exception to this rule being an aggressive cat, which looks like a stuffed toy. It all boils down to an exciting and explosive finale, which also happens to be the best ten minutes of the film. Overall, I won't be going round recommending this film to people; but there's worse ways to spend ninety minutes of your life.

"The Kiss" is actually just a rudimentary & simplistic witchcraft story about supernatural powers getting passed through the female members of the same bloodline, but director Densham neatly polishes up the concept with impressively explicit make-up effects (courtesy of Chris Walas' company), adequate supportive character drawings and atmospheric building up towards the death scenes. The story opens in the early 60's in the Belgian Congo, where two sisters become separated at the train station. The youngest one, Felice, is seriously ill but her aunt miraculously cures her by passing an alien-like creature into her body through a kiss. 25 years later the other sister tragically dies in a car accident, leaving behind a husband and a stunningly beautiful adolescent daughter named Amy. Aunt Felice shows up again (in the ravishingly matured version of Joanna Pacula) and quickly works her way into the family by seducing her widowed brother-in-law. Auntie Felice is clearly just interested in Amy's body as the host for the inheritable creature, and she won't hesitate to use violent voodoo tricks against anyone that stands between her and the young girl. "The Kiss" is one modest class above the majority of 80's witchcraft-movies, because it features a little more directorial flair and style. There's a continuously pleasing level of suspense and film is suitably gruesome, including images of people burning alive, losing body parts underneath trucks and getting strangled on escalators. Felice has an OTT grotesque wild cat assisting her to kill people and there's a bizarre (but macabre) montage showing Amy menstruating in class whilst her father makes love to the sinister aunt. That was quite an awkward moment, and I'm not entirely sure about the symbolic significance/importance of that sequence. In fact, there's quite a lot of sexual innuendo that appears to be a bit lost in the wholesome of the story. Anyway, the story grows increasingly sillier near the end, resulting in a highly implausible and chuckles-inducing finale. Meredith Salenger was truly adorable girl in the late 80's (and still a gorgeous woman today) and I severely regret the fact her career didn't skyrocketed after this film. Recommended to watch at least once, particularly if you appreciate feminine beauty and graphic gore.

The Kiss (1988) - It's no wonder that Joanna Pacula was irritated at Meredith Salenger from almost start to finish in this movie.

She wasn't used to being the second-most attractive one in the room.

Ha ha... just kidding. They were equally attractive. But I can say without question that Joanna was the ugliest one in another way.

I'm talking evil personified.

This is a pretty intense horror story about curses, fatal kisses, endangered daughters and one of the dumbest dads in history.

In brief... Pacula plays Felice Dunbar, who as a child in the Belgian Congo is separated from her sister Hilary. She is victimized by an aunt who is into voodoo rituals involving a cursed talisman.

Auntie seals her niece's fate with a fatal and bloody kiss, killing herself and turning Felice into an undead kind of creature.

Many years alter, Felice, a successful (but still undead) model, tracks down her sister Hilary in New York. What she's really after is Hilary's daughter Amy (Meredith Salenger) and her husband Jack (Nicholas Kilbertus).

After Felice engineers the accidental (and gruesome) death of Hilary, she worms her way into Jack and Amy's life, with the intention of eventually planting a fatal kiss on Amy and sucking out her life essence.

Amy smells a rat almost from the get-go. But dad... hmmm...what an idiot. He falls for Felice hook, line, and sinker.

So who can save Amy? There are a few candidates, but Felice does a good job of eliminating them in voodoo-influenced and violent ways.

Pacula put in a performance worthy of Barbara Steele. That's a HIGH compliment, because no female actress (in my opinion) did evil better than Babs. Pacula's cold eyes, the snarl on her lips when she was angry with Amy, the devious passion with which she seduced brainless Jack, and the devilish delight when she was caressing the cursed talisman... just the perfect temptress.

Salenger was excellent as well. This kid has her wig on straight, and isn't afraid to face off with Felice - and her dad - in her valiant attempt to survive.

A very honorable mention should go to Mimi Kuzyk as Jack and Amy's neighbor Brenda. She is loving and caring and a fierce defender of Amy.

Finally? There's this black cat from hades that pops up from time to time and attacks people. It's so silly-looking... but I'd still feed it some Friskies.

I used to watch this little-known Canadian b-horror movie on Frighnight Theater with Whitey Gleason. He said he enjoyed the film because its main special effects artist worked on "The Fly". In the film, a young teenager named Amy loses her mother to a tragic car crash. Her mother was on her way to visit Amy's aunt, who was a fashion model. Soon after the funeral, the aunt moves in with Amy's widowed father and, besides hooking up with the father and brainwashing him, begins using voodoo magic to kill off Amy's friends. She intends to isolate Amy so she can transfer a snake-like voodoo vampire creature out of her body into Amy's. Apparently the aunt and the snake thing will die if she has the creature in her too long. There is a great b-horror movie death scene at the end, complete with exploding propane tanks, wet fighting women, and a snake in the pool :)

Amy's (Meredith Salenger) mother has just died in a freak automobile accident. To make matters worse, an almost unknown Aunt named Felica (Joanna Pacula) shows up and takes a fancy to Amy's dad. That's when all of Amy's friends start to meet gruesome ends and Amy starts to find voodoo spells and other assorted items in Felica's stuff. It seems Amy is the next in line to get a fatal kiss from Felica.

Fast paced, often exciting & scary film features a fun premise, solid direction, terrific effects, plenty of sexual energy & atmosphere. Meredith Salenger is appealing and Joanna Pacula is flawless in a tailor made role that plays up to her exotic beauty and mysterious appearance. However, poor supporting performances by Mimi Kuzyk & Nicholas Kilbertus nearly ruin it.

Rated R; Graphic Violence, Nudity, Sexual Situations, and Profanity.