Kiss of the Damned

Sexy and thrilling! Tired of Twilight histrionics? Sick of slasher remakes? Yearn for classic dreamy elegance and melancholy of The Hunger or Nosferatu? Then dip into dreamy dripping seas in the land of this film. The last time I saw a film this personal yet gorgeous was when I went on a Jean Rollin kick earlier this year. Xan Cassavetes goes right to the European masters for inspiration. She balances spooky house atmospherics with creative humor, and a downright "queer" sexuality as it relates to traditional vampire lore. Bottom line - this is a really unique and special film. I totally encourage you to let go and experience the bliss of one. Become undone as you merge with the infinite beat.

With passion comes great responsibility ... especially if you are not able to control it. The main character is a very strange one and the actress has a tough role to play. There is a stretch in what she has to depict. The story itself is more adult than your average teenage movie that came out lately (yes Twilight and any spawn it gave "birth" to), but also very predictable.

I watched it at a Festival, so the audience knew or expected this to be a strange one. If you are about to watch it, you should note that too. There is a lot of sexuality and some violence in this, something to consider too. A nicely done movie about containment, self control and love in general. Also about the meaning of life ... it does have to say a lot, as you can see

Visually, nice and dark, as it should be, and cinematographically surprising, considering the rating.

It is underrated to be sure. The group that created and carried through with this work should be encouraged to continue. This is not the usual treatment of the subject matter, and was a highly worthwhile viewing experience for me. This one is different, and enjoyably so. There are rough spots, of course, but on balance, it has earned its place. I am glad that I have been reading user reviews of late, because bare IMDb ratings have not consistently been reliable guides, especially in non-blockbuster situations.

If European cinema in the 1960s had access to HQ digital cinematography and sound, then a vampire film made then would be like this. Xan Cassavetes has crafted a deliberately retro feel to the movie and it works. I love the soundtrack, which has variety (just listen to the opening few minutes). It uses experimental sounds to crank up the tension for example. If you ever loved prog-rock, and know then that punk rock by comparison has no class, no depth, you will love the fact (is it an in-joke?) that the baddie comes complete a with a punk rock soundtrack. Xan reveals herself to be a delightful musical snob. She is also firmly on the side of the vampires.

This great-looking movie is a mixture of what works and what doesn't, hence a seven. Kudos to getting French actress Anna Mouglalis to play Xena. While beautiful, Anna actually plays Xena as a character actor. What a voice! When her character 'loses it' later on in the film, Anna beautifully conveys the tics, twitches and desperation without overdoing it. She should be in more movies. The bourgeois party scenes are convincing. The film tells a conventional but slight, linear story, with a beginning, middle and end.

On the minus side, although the initial romance is convincing, a better film would have gone deeper into the romance and involved the viewer more, with more complex characters. Another better version would have gone all out to scare you, successfully. The 'horrific' bits here are not really horrific.

This is deliberate. The film is by design a mood piece. It is even relaxing in parts, making it a good film to 'wind down' to with your partner in the evening. Xan understands that relationships, even in a vampire flick, are more interesting than blood and screaming. But she is even more into the 'feel' of the movie. Viewers raised on the Texas chainsaw massacre remakes and their ilk might not want 'relationships' or 'feel'. If you can understand these things before you watch it, you should enjoy the movie.

I saw this movie at this year's SXSW. It's refreshing to see a vampire movie that features vampires in classical form... and it is even more refreshing to see a story from the vampire's perspective. This movie may not have hardcore CGI and 3D Gore splashing out into the audience, but it does however offer an interesting 'to the point' storyline and creative indie film tactics. People giving this movie poor reviews are probably looking for the next "Interview With A Vampire" or "Twilight" and are judging it on a summer blockbuster 10 million dollar budget scale. I found this movie to be plenty entertaining and worth checking out.