The vampire movie genre is one of the oldest in cinema. It has evolved a lot since Nosferatu (1922) and Dracula (1931). In recent years, the genre has presented a lot of examples of the erotic thriller or drama. With "Kiss of the Damned", director Xan Cassavetes, in her feature film debut, delivers a beautiful, atmospheric example of this, depicting the lives of a community of vampires in Connecticut. Deliciously shot by Tobias Datum, it has all the aesthetics you could ask for. It is well worth your time if you've any interest in the genre.

A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Kiss of the Damned" (R - 2012 - US)Sub-Genre: Vampire/RomanceMy Score: 6.6Cast=5 Acting=7 Plot=6 Ending=7 Story=8 Scare=4 Jump=4 F/X=8 Vampire=9 Romance=9The vampire Djuna resists the advances of Paolo, but soon gives in to their passion. When her trouble-making sister unexpectedly comes to visit, Djuna's love is threatened, and the whole vampire community becomes endangered.This slow burn was a good vampire movie!! It has a solid love story and is very sensual...oh and there are vampires, too. It's not the scary, Jump horror that you might want...but the cinematography was really underrated. "I would have done anything to be with you. However insane"...it's almost as if Nicholas Sparks wrote a vampire movie.  No I wouldn't do that to my fellow horror movie fans...this is well worth a look!

The script is 100% predictable. No scares, no tension building. Pretty actresses and lead actor. Consistency is not a strong suit here either. At one point we are informed that they "heal almost instantly", at another we see them running and catching a doe but, when one crashes the car (a Mercedes. at no more than 40 mph. and the car topsides. in slow motion.) we see the poor character pass out, wake up still broken and bleeding and start LIMPING the remaining yards to the refuge, eventually collapsing as the sun rises. Yuck. You can't get more clichè than that in a vampire movie.... Some pretty ludicrous bloody scenes and sex scenes that qualify for Game of Thrones could bring this to be thought of as a B-movie. It's not. It is a cross between True Blood and Twilight. No fairy vampires that twinkle in sunlight, but the "veggie" vamps are there, synth blood and all. Beware.....

This is simply the best vampire film ever made. It's got EVERYTHING. It falls into several categories at once: horror, thriller, romance, drama. The score is perfect and accurately underlines the mood of each scene transition; including several genres of music from classical to rock to electronica, the film even manages to get away with being styled in a 60's type of narrative. Joséphine de La Baume delivers a flawless performance as a scrupulous and tender, yet lustful vampire troubled by her rebellious, deranged sister (Roxane Mesquida) getting in the way of her newly found happiness. I'm sure many vampire lore lovers out there, as well as appreciators of good cinema in general, will feel that this is the vampire movie they've wanted to see for a long time. It's simultaneously bloody, sexy, smart and touching.