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.....

The vampire Djuna (Josephine de La Baume) resists the advances of Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia), 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.I did not pay as much attention to this film as I should have, but it had two things that jumped out at me that deserve recognition ,even if I am not ready to write a thorough review.One is Michael Rapaport. He does not get the respect he deserves and has not done nearly enough things. Someone please get this guy some Oscar-winning roles.And two is the style. I feel like Xan Cassavetes was inspired by Italian cinema, and this inspiration comes up in the style, the dialogue and even the casting. A wise decision on her part, and it is nice to see John Cassavetes' talent lives on in the next generation.

Finally, someone puts the Vamp back into bloodsuckers and does the medium justice with Kiss of the Damned. Directed by Alexandria "Xan" Cassavetes (daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands). the film has recently been released to DVD and Netflix. Kiss is an homage to all the "sexy' Euro-vampire movies of the 70's which lit-up the Drive-ins and city theaters. It has a continental European feel, unlike the British Hammer movies of the time, where the action was more important than the mood. Jean Rollin would be impressed.Hunky Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia) is a screenwriter working somewhere north of LA on his latest assignment. One night he gets writer's block and decides to visit a video rental store (making the movie a period piece) where he meets the sultry Djuna (Josephine de La Baume). Smitten by her looks, he asks her out one evening and both end up at her palatial mansion in the forest, which over-looks a lake. You know something's not right with her since we've already watched the maid come in and daintily clean blood off the marbled floor.Djuna kicks Paolo out when he tries to get to close to her for no obvious reason. Not to take no for an answer, Paolo begins stalking her and one night just shows up at her door. She keeps the chain locked, but they begin kissing through the gap. Djuna bites his mouth, drawing blood, and he finally leaves.This time when Paolo confronts Djuna she confesses: she's a real life vampire. Paolo refuses to believe, but, totally in love with her, chains her to the bed as the only safe way to have sex with her. In an unbelievably hot scene, Djuna sprouts fangs and feral eyes as she tries to put the bite on Paolo. Instead of running for his life, Paolo unlocks her chains. Djuna plunges her fangs into him, not to kill him, but to exchange blood, thus infecting him withe Living Dead curse.After Paolo has been vamped, the audience discovers some very interesting things about the breed: they have extremely long lives, don't succumb to natural diseases, and heal instantly upon injury. The need to feed is a by-product of their condition, but vampires have learned to over-come their desire for humans by going after game animals such as deer (could use a whole vampire coven in the national park near me). The blood drive is always a problem and through-out the movie you see Paolo and Djuna staring at people's necks, fighting back the urge. Human servants are chosen from those with blood disorders, so the won't be a temptation. Vampirism is portrayed as alcoholism with benefits.But Djuna and Paolo's sojourn comes to an end with the arrival of Mimi, Djuna's sister. You know Mimi is going to be trouble from the start when she arrives. Soon Djuna has placed a call to Xenia, one of the Undead Elders to find out what can be done about her problematic sibling. Xenia assures her the younger vamp is "having some issues", but she has a safe house arranged for her in Phoenix. However, Djuna has heard all this before....There is plenty of discussion on the Internet about how this movie resembles a 70's vampire movie in its form and style. I don't feel such comments are criticisms, but an observation of how low the medium has sunk in the aftermath of Rice and Twilight. Yes, Kiss is a very Gothic movie, but Karnstein goth as opposed to Bauhaus. It has the same dreamy set-pieces which Lemora tried to copy back in 1975. Here, they work extraordinarily.It is also a very erotic movie. The love-making scenes between Paolo and Djuna nearly melted my HD screen. But this is Daughters of Darkness sexy; the sort of scene you might have saw on the bottom half of a double bill in 1975. Subtle, not at all what you'll find surfing the Internet.The only recurring problem with film are the accents. The director choose French fashion models to play most of the lead women vampires and their way of pronouncing words in English does add to the sexiness. But sometimes it is hard to understand a word Djuna is saying. I'll have to buy the Blu-Ray just to turn on the subtitles (watched it on Netflix).I highly recommend this movie as an homage to all the great vampire movies of the 70's. http://cinemaofhorror.com/kiss-damned/

I watched "Kiss of the damned" last night because I haven't seen a movie with Milo Ventimiglia in a while.I am not going to lie, he was the main reason to watch it. Most people will probably think this is another vampire movie like Twilight but this one is not that cheesy and contains a lot of sexual scenes(little too much I think). The good thing is that I didn't fall asleep because there were definitely parts that got me interested .The bad thing is that some of the scenes did not make sense to me, others could have been done better and I felt like the story could have been more deep, with little more details and explanations.All in all this is definitely not a movie that I would like to watch again. So if you like Milo or Joséphine you will want to see it but other than that I don't find anything special or remarkable about "Kiss of the damned".