Kiss of the Damned: Art House Horror

Kiss of the Damned (2012) is an offbeat vampire movie from Writer-Director Xan Cassavettes. It recalls previous stylish  horror films like Blood & Roses (1960) and The Hunger (1983). It’s the story of Djuna, a vampiress who lives a lonely existence. In this offbeat tale, vampires are part of society, but live in secret and drink synthesized blood substitutes. They no longer hunt humans. Djuna falls in love with Paolo, a screenwriter, after initially spurning his advances. She soon turns him into one of the undead, so they can be together forever. They move through the night-time world of their fellow vampires, who now moonlight as actresses, writers and other normal members of society. They're determined to live their lives among humans without raising suspicions about themselves, or revealing their existence.

Then Djuna's unstable sister Mimi (who’s also a vampire, but doesn't play by the rules) shows up, and things go awry. The sexy, headstrong and reckless Mimi starts feeding on humans and causing strife between Djuna and Paolo. She becomes a threat not only to her sister and Paolo, but the well-ordered hierarchy of the undead. Djuna appeals to the vampire elite, but no one sees the depth of the problem posed by the violent, manipulative Mimi, who has some dark plans of her own. But is there a little streak of Mimi’s wildness and chaos in Djuna? What happened to Paolo’s agent, who disappears after his visit to their home? Before the story's over, the main characters learns a little bit about the dark side that lurks just beneath the surface of us all. Whether you're human or a supernatural being, if you live on the dark side long enough, it can consume you. After all, we all have the ability to become monsters, don't we?

Kiss of the Damned is really more of a mood piece than a straight ahead horror film. It has a very European flavor. The movie is well directed by Cassavettes, the daughter of actor-director John Cassavettes and actress Gena Rowlands, and the sister of director Nick Cassavettes. This compelling “art-house” vampire film has a great visual style, with excellent cinematography by Tobias Datum and an evocative score by Steven Hufsteter. Milo Ventimiglia is very good as Paolo, who gets caught up in the battle of wills between the two sisters. Ventimiglia also appeared in the sci-fi series Heroes and the film Rocky Balboa, and is now best known for his role in the current television series This Is Us. Joséphine de La Baume as Djuna and especially Roxanne Mesquida as Mimi offer fine support in their roles. The slow pace of the story may turn off some viewers, but it’s worth watching if you’re a fan of slightly different takes on vampire tales such as the films mentioned above, or other entries like A Girl Walks Home At Night (2014) or Let The Right One In (2008). Please note this is an R-rated film, not fit for family viewing. Kiss of The Damned is available on Blu-ray and DVD, and also for digital viewing and download on Amazon. Here’s a link to the trailer for the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5koqxkYQTpw.