Un baiser avant de mourir

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.

With a few changes, and for reasons known only to themselves, the powers that be remade 1956's "A Kiss Before Dying" in 1991. Now the sisters are twins, and the plot is taken out further - rather than just getting engaged, Ellen now marries the killer. That's not a spoiler - we see him murder her sister in the first reel.

The original of this film, with Robert Wagner, Joanne Woodward, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith and Mary Astor was much more entertaining. This update is boring and acted in a lazy manner by its stars, Sean Young I, Sean Young II, and Matt Dillon. Isn't one Sean Young bad enough, we had to have two of them? Supporting players Diane Ladd and Max von Sydow have precious little to do. The only part I liked was the scene from "Vertigo" on TV - but I do hope the director wasn't trying to compare himself to Hitchcock.

I don't understand Hollywood's obsession with remakes, except that I suppose they're cheaper because the studio already owns the property. But a fresh story line here and there wouldn't hurt. On top of which, it is a rare occasion when the remake is actually better. This is not one of those cases.

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.

A remake of the 1956 film of the same name, A Kiss Before Dying is directed by James Dearden and Dearden adapts the screenplay from Ira Levin's novel. It stars Sean Young, Matt Dillon, Max von Sydow, Dianne Ladd and James Russo. Music is by Howard Shore and cinematography by Mike Southon.

Story has Dillon as a troubled young man who murders his pregnant girlfriend (Young) and then hones in on her twin sister (Young again obviously) for further psychotic shenanigans.

It's just about an average thriller at best, where even if the plot line and character motivations are intriguing enough to hold the attention to keep one interested to the ending, even there the outcome is rushed and unsatisfying. From the negative reaction at the initial test screenings, to Golden Raspberry awards, and tales of rewrites and re-shoots et al, this noir reboot is messy.

The tie-in to Hitchcock's Vertigo is glaringly "not" homage worthy, and not just content with that, director Dearden tries to use some of Hitchcock's macabre black humour to unintentionally "not" witty results. So with Young on hilariously bad form as well, the thriller aspects strain to get resuscitated for dramatic worth.

Dearden does show some nice touches with his camera-work, and there's a lurid quality to Southon's colour lenses that pay respect in heart to Levin's source material, but ultimately it's hard to recommend seriously to noir fans and the 56 version (itself not without problems) is still the way to go. 5/10