Reviews: The Kiss (1988) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Fantasy
Subgenres: Supernatural, Dysfunctional Family, Witchcraft
Horror fans searching for a breakdown of The Kiss (1988) will find our review covers the plot, themes, and the shocking ending everyone talks about.
The Kiss (1988) is a Canadian-American fantasy drama occult-horror-voodoo style movie that was filmed in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Director Pen Densham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), The Outer Limits (1995), Moll Flanders (1996), Backdraft (1991)) did an okay job executing this movie, but he did not put his best foot forward. The film contains partial nudity, adult content, minor frightening scares, bad language, violence, college student, voodoo, bible, murders, blood, black magic, and lots of stabbing.
The Kiss revolves around Felice (Joanna Pacula - Escape from Sobibor (1987), Tombstone (1993), Virus (1999)) who is a globe-travelling model and her estranged sister Hilary and her family in the late 1980s. Hilary (Talya Rubin - Mr. Nobody (2009), Joshua Then and Now (1985), Chase (2004)), her husband Jack (Nicholas Kilbertus) and teenage daughter Amy (Meredith Salenger) in Albany, New York. Hilary received a phone call from her sister Felice and invited her to visit her family in Albany, but Hilary dies not too long after in a gruesome car accident. Felice and Hilary did not live together when they were children. Felice lived with family members who had an unusual bloodline and transferred their bloodline onto Felice with a simple kiss. Felice told Hilary during their conversation on the phone that she needs to pass her bloodline onto another family member. Felice took her sweet little time to arrive about five months later. She quickly seduces Jack (Nicholas Kilbertus - Scanners (1981), Happy Birthday to Me (1981), Ford: The Man and the Machine (1987)) after her arrival and became enemies with Amy. Amy was excited to see her aunt at first but became suspicious of her after a lot of gruesome deaths start appearing everywhere after her arrival.
The movie was pretty decent for the most of it, and the acting was surprisingly good. I must admit that the director used a different technique for the killings as they were creative and very gruesome for the 1980s. Overall, the movie was a great watch and has been seen more than once by me throughout the years. Horror fans should give this film a try because it will not be a disappointment compared to a few movies made in 2015. The special effects could have been better as well as the sound, but it is hard to get everything perfect in a movie. The movie also had plot holes and a few goofs. I gave this movie a six because it was unique in its own way but was also a cliche in other ways.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Kiss Rating Scores
- Our Score: 6/10
- Overall Score: 5.61/10
- IMDB: 5.4/10
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