Killer's Kiss

Starring:Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Jerry Jarret, Mike Dana, Felice Orlandi, Shaun O'Brien (II), Barbara Brand, David Vaughan, Skippy Adelman, Alec Rubin, Ralph Roberts, Phil Stevenson, Arthur Feldman, Bill Funaro, Ruth Sobotka, Peggy Lobbin
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The setting of Kontroll is the Budapest subway system, one of the largest and oldest in the world, and a place that becomes an omniscient character in an ambitious film that jumbles dark comedy, slick action, and horror-movie conventions. The other main character is Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), part of a team of disheveled ticket inspectors--controllers--who roam the grimy, fluorescent-lit city-under-the-city in a soul-destroying ritual. The job has become such a part of Bulcsú that he never leaves the underground. He has taken to sleeping on empty platforms and getting progressively more unkempt as he accumulates more bruises, bloody noses, and bitterness from his scraps with a variety of unseemly creatures of the night (and day). Among the post-punk, post-communist habitués of this subterranean metropolis are a cute girl in a teddy-bear suit, a rival gang of ticket inspectors who like to play a deadly game of chicken with express trains, and a hooded specter who may or may not be pushing people under subway wheels at crowded stops. First-time director Nimród Antal keenly juggles black comedy, character types, and genre styles, making the most of the weird angles and inherent dark creepiness of his chosen backdrop. Kontroll keeps pace as a hip, flashy, fast-moving set piece by any international measure. --Ted Fry

Description

The Budapest subway system, the world's oldest, is a dark labyrinthine netherworld as vast and various as the city above. Hordes of people pass through on their way to better, brighter places. There are some who spend most of their lives underground- the ticket inspectors or "Controllers" who are assigned in teams to sections of the system and whose thankless job is to ensure that no passengers ride without paying… Deployed by those in control- they are a much-despised lot…who on his way wants to be stopped and asked for a receipt by petty officers that represent power at its most powerless.

Customer Reviews:

Fun, Frenetic, and Frightening.......2007-05-25

In the Prologue, the narrator relates that his friend director, Nimrod Antal, has made a film about the struggle between good and evil. Using the Hungarian subway system as symbol, they jump start `Kontroll,' (Control), an innovative movie almost exclusively taking place on or near train platforms. In which case, the underground system is hell on earth with its Satan being a black hooded hoodlum morbidly seeking victims to push onto the tracks to collide with oncoming trains. Surveillance cameras abound all over, yet the subway executives (or "suits" as they call them) can't seem to put their finger on the epidemic of alleged suicides they are unable to avert. In between some confrontational scenes, there is plenty going on to keep our attention. Besides being unique, 'Kontroll' has that rare ability to mix laughs, tenderness, and brutality with jarring shifts in a way that actually works. (No wonder Hungary's box office made this movie their homegrown 'Star Wars'.)

The focus starts with a drunken women who stumbles alone on the underground platform, comically fumbling with opening a bottle of champagne. Abruptly, we soon see nothing left of her but half a high-heeled shoe remaining after a high speed train passes. Next, we come to an apparent homeless man, leaning against a post. A man gently tells him that he has a bloody nose. To which he has seemingly stirred belligerence, only we find he is a ticket inspector, Bulscu' (Csany Sa'ndor), who makes the station his home. At first hard to like, his toughness fades later to a good-natured presence, especially given the nature of his position facing rough colleagues and customers. No wonder. For the gruffness, many vignettes show the thankless job of getting customers to pay. Given the prologue's disclaimer of "fiction over fact" [to paraphrase], we certainly are given a vision of purgatory to boot. The morning meeting finds Bulscu' has overslept, but he doesn't miss much with a surly supervisor assigning tasks and urgently lecturing them to save suicidal people jumping onto the tracks. Then, the dreary atmosphere turns to color with myriads of passengers who evade and harass the ticket inspectors. Just a partial cross-section, we get gays and women who flirt with the inspectors to pass on payment with dialogue that is always witty and "fresh". One decent passenger is a beautiful woman patron who wears a bear costume. (One well-edited scene has the employees going to mandatory psychologist sessions. Besides making us laugh, they inadvertently provide a better reason than Michael Moore to have a universal health care system--no matter which side you take on the issue.)

`Kontrol' is a unique movie ride. It could easily have been too bleak, but the variety of development is well constructed. Besides balancing the atmosphere, the transition from surreal to stark realism is nearly ingenious without derailing the plot. `Kontroll' is a quirky film that delivers colorful laughs as well as a menacingly dark atmosphere that is sure to give one gooseflesh. Besides that, I am partial to the way they draw from American chase scenes, like French movie, L'Enfant, yet managing to provide their own playful twists. 'Kontroll' is a movie that matters.

(Special thanks to fellow reviewer, Michael Acuna, who--besides being a tireless resource--recommended this hidden gem and put it on the map.)

Excellent and Unique.......2007-04-26

This film has hillarious characters but I would not classify it as a comedy. This piece kind of exists on its own plane. It has an "in your face" feel of the characters (reminicent of "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels") but they are in some fantasy underground subway world.

Kontroll follows a group of ticket collectors who seems to spend no time above ground. Especially the main character, who sleeps in the terminal and doesn't look to have seen sunlight in too long a time. The whole theme of being underground is very metaphorical. Many characters are symbolic in ways too.

It is quite a dreampiece, but not too fantastic. We go odd places and meet the denizens of the underground. Some people are kind, others you wouldn't want to be alone with. Especially one mysterious character who stalks the underground and shoves people down to the tracks and to their deaths.

Kontroll has an interesting pace to it. It's fast, but not too fast. It moves like a subway would. Quickly, then a short stop, then moving on again.

I really felt a warmth towards this film. It is oddly touching at times, hillarious at others. All the characters are well thought out and well acted. It is well balanced, complete and left me feeling positive.

Great Hungarian movie!.......2007-03-06

I bought this DVD on a "blind buy" and wasn't disappointed. I will dispense with the story and just give u my opinion on the movie and the overall disc. I have the Hungarian edition which is the version u really need to go for. It has an anomorphic transfer unlike the US verion,it has Hungarian DTS,Dolby 5.1 and stereo sound unlike the US version and,most important of all,it is English friend with OPTIONAL English subs unlike the "burnt in" English subs to be found on the US disc! The movie has a very European feel about it which is just great. Give this DVD a whirl and import it from Hungary!

Do you know who I am? I'm the the Controll!.......2007-03-02

"Kontroll" follows the story of a rag-tag group of controllers who's job is to stalk the vast Budapest subway system and ensure that no passengers are rideing for free. The leader of this group is Bulcsu', a man who's anxiety of compition for his contracting job has lead him underground. Where he stays 24/7, never ventureing above ground. The film does an excellent job of depicting the controllers interactions with the subway riders. The controllers meet everyone from the needle wielding madman to a girl in a teddybear costume, who Bulcsu stikes up an endearing romance. The funniest parts of the film are when the controllers encounter "Bootsey", a young punk who gets his kicks by tormenting Bulcsu's gang. This leads to some of the best "On foot" chase scenes I've seen. The main plot of the film is when the Controllers discover that a mysterious hooded figure is pushing people infront of trains. When Bulcsu is suspected of comiting these murders, he decides to go on a hunt for the hooded one to prove his innocence. or is it a hunt for self discovery? This is truely a great movie and one of my personal favorites. It has wonderful cinamatography, colorful characters and an amazing soundtrack. enjoy

"Repo Man" Hungarian style?.......2007-01-04

Even if you have never actually ridden on one of those amazing steep, deep, and dangerously fast Budapest Metro escalators that swoop you down from street level deep into their subway system, I urge you to take a virtual journey into an imaginative and quirky cinematic world every bit as fantastic as Alice's adventures "underground."

This film is a funny and funky thriller but certainly has very little to do with the real Metro system in Hungary's capital city.

Yes, in Budapest they really do have control agents who ride along incognito and then suddenly whip out their official armbands and start checking for passengers onboard without valid tickets -- but just like the earlier American film "Repo Man" (a similarly despised way to make a living) this film is hardly a slice of "real" life or meant to be!

In fact, one of the funniest bits in the film -- and the first thing you see -- is a poker-face statement read by what we're told is a representative of the Hungarian Metro system reminding us that what we're about to see is more a parable of good and evil than a depiction of actual events or conditions in the Hungarian Metro system.

The humor is dark, but anyone who really and truly hates their current job (or suffers from bouts of depression in general) will probably identify with the controllers in this film -- especially if the hated job involves interactions with the public at large!

Like a number of other Hungarian films I've been watching recently, the characters are both wildly eccentric but quite charming innocents at heart (in a perverse sort of way, or course).

Yes, there is depictions of "sex and violence" in this film, but not anything as graphic as what's on American TV every evening, and these scenes are handled with a discrete finesse that is quite impressive. For example, there are some tarty underground prostitutes in the film, but a girl who rides the subway in a bulky pink Teddy Bear costume (think Barnie, not a Playboy bunny) is hero's love interest and sexier than anything in a skimpy skirt!

If you enjoy foreign films in general, try this one for sure. As for me, I'm rapidly becoming hooked on Hungarian films -- and (despite my pen name) I'm not even Hungarian!

Average customer rating:

The first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique...,
Striking cult movie!
The Genius of a Young Stanley Kubrick
Many, many interesting aspects
For Kubrick Fans' Eyes Only: Others Beware!

Killer's Kiss
Starring: Frank Silvera , Jamie Smith , Irene Kane , Jerry Jarret , and Mike Dana
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: 0792841387
Release Date: 1999-06-29

Amazon.com essential video

Stanley Kubrick wrote the story and produced, edited, shot, and directed his second feature like a one-man studio, and his developing cinematic intelligence turns an otherwise unremarkable story into a memorable if slight film, a hint at masterpieces to come. Jamie Smith is a washed up prizefighter who rushes to the rescue of his platinum blonde dime-a-dancer neighbor (Irene Kane) when she's attacked by her dapper hoodlum boss (Frank Silvera). Smith and Kane fall in love, but their plans to leave gritty New York for a simpler life in Seattle are jeopardized when jealous Silvera sends his thugs to lean on Smith. Mistaken identities and an overzealous beating lead to murder, kidnapping, and a desperate confrontation between Smith and Silvera in an eerie warehouse full of mannequins. Disembodied heads, swinging hands, and the blank stares of rows of lifeless dummies become a cold counterpoint to the sweaty, almost primal fight as Silvera wields an ax and Smith counters with a pike like gladiators in an abstract arena. The gray cityscape of New York (shot on location) turns into stark black and white and the city looms over the characters as the tension tightens. Kubrick's sophisticated use of sound and austere visual style creates a hyper-realistic atmosphere, which he would put to even better use in his follow-up film, the heist classic The Killing. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Stanley Kubrick's second feature film, Killer's Kiss, made the world take notice. The young moviemaker won acclaim for this dazzling film noir about a struggling New York boxer (Jamie Smith) whose life is imperiled when he protects a nightclub dancer (Irene Kane) from her gangster boss (Frank Silvera). "Using his camera as a sandpaper block, Kubrick has stripped away the veneer from the prizefight and dancehall worlds," the New York Mirror proclaimed. Killer's Kissnot only lends considerable insight into future Kubrick classicssuch as The Killing and Full Metal Jacketbut it is also a remarkable film in its own right: the boxing match may bethe most vicious this side of Raging Bull, and the famed final battle remains an action tour-de-force. "An ambitious photographer...challenges the movie capital with Killer's Kiss," theNew York Daily News enthused. "The suspenseful venture augurs well for young Stanley Kubrick!"

Customer Reviews:

The first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique..., .......2007-01-04

In 1955 a young man, who had produced a couple of 35mm. shorts and a feature which were so little known that they were never even shown in England, made a suspense thriller... From the fact that he co-produced it, wrote it, directed it and did the photography and editing himself you may deduce that he had more talent than backing... The movie was called "Killer's Kiss," and the multi-talented man who made it was the young Stanley Kubrick...

"Killer's Kiss" is a fascinating movie to look back as it is a notable thriller in its own right... It is a film about lonely people; alone people, which is not quite the same thing; their roots almost severed from a past which was once good and is now lost; solitary in the impartial big city at the end of the line...

It starts with a confident, quiet slowness that few directors would dare in the frenetic Seventies... It takes its time to develop, and for nearly half the film you can't guess what the plot is going to be... But this carefully measured film gives you a deep feeling for the characters and their context that leaves you, even after all the suspense, with an overwhelming feeling of the humanity of the movie...

The narrator, Davy Gordon (Jamie Smith) is a young and fading boxer, past it, but not defeated in his heart... The girl Gloria Price (Irene Kane), who lives in the same apartment block, has, like him, no family nor friends... She's come down to working as a dance partner in a shabby hall run by a baddie called Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera).

Kubrick slowly, and movingly, shows the two principals taking the downgrade: Davy fighting a losing bout in the ring while Gloria is trying to push off some heavy passes from Rapallo...

Even he, Rapallo, is made human, understandable... When he stands in his shadowed office, making up his mind to some malice, his eyes fall on cozy family photographs in nice domestic frames that he takes the trouble to keep there; and, when his mind is made up, he gestures irritably, guiltily, as if knowing he's letting them down and trying weakly to dismiss summarily aside their silent reproaches...

The whole story is condensed into three days... Yet it seems to have the natural, inevitable pace of real life; and the moments briefly taken out for little touches of New York street scenes add to the reality and place it in a context of truth...

Very little violence is actually shown except in Davy's boxing match which, in just a few minutes, gives a better feeling than most movies of what it's like to lose a fight in the ring... But, in spite of all, you're on the edge of your seat and you're glad to be there...

There is a classic chase over the rooftops, but even here there are human touches that kill cliché... These villains are not supermen, any more than Davy is: they can stumble on a fire escape, and not for laughs; one of them can fall as you or I would fall and drop out with a twisted ankle...

The suspense is not lessened by these touches: it is increased, because it is more real, seems less contrived...

"Killer's Kiss" was a first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique that Kubrick was to take to the limit in later years... And, after all, the ending was fair enough for the Fifties... In the Seventies, Gloria would probably have got raped by the railway porter, and there'd have been a lot of unlovely detail and no suspense at all...

Striking cult movie!.......2006-12-24

The Noir film in the fifties reached its absolute expansion and sheer maturity, dealing with all sort of tragic experiences, the loser gambler, the renegade kid, the abominable fear of the atomic treatment, the counterspies, the antihero raising, or the most intimate prototypes of the last page of the newspapers. Indeed, a whole generation accustomed to fabulous examples of the genre demanded major inventiveness and lurked in the intimacy of the dark projection halls. It would be said that any serious filmmaker should to make his incursion in the genre; from Orson Welles (Mr. Arkadin and Touch of evil), Hitchcock ( Strangers on a train), John Huston ( Asphalt jungle), or names we used to associate with other genres such as Anthony Mann, renowned directors such Robert Wise (The set up), Fritz Lang ( The big heat) Elia Kazan (Panic in the streets), Billy Wilder (Sunset boulevard), Edward Dymtrik (The street with no name and The sniper) threw their respective hats in the arena. But the emerging figure of a genius in progress as Stanley Kubrick who just opened his enormous wings, immediately captured the attention around him.

Killer's kiss was Stanley Kubrick's second feature film that, although its low budget, achieved a distinguished acknowledgement at the most unexpected levels, due among other details its ambitious display of visual unity, of harrowing sequences as Davy's manager murder in hands of the members of the Rapallo' s clan where the visual devices remind us to the Third man, the amazing chase throughout the roofs of the buildings, the ironical gaze around Manhattan's fantasies as well as suggestive elements that implies seduction, and violence.

Another remarkable factors to take into account are the handle of the inner tension of the characters, the employment of the time as metaphysical device, the existential uncertainness of our loser boxer, lonely and hopeless that is corresponded absolutely by his girlfriend Gloria, a dancer of a dark nightclub and the final sequence where the use of female mannequins are employed as defensive weapons in the hair raising fistfight.

The Genius of a Young Stanley Kubrick.......2006-02-24

Killer's Kiss is a 1955 movie produced, directed and written by a 27 year old Stanley Kubrick. Coming off the heels of a poorly recieved first effort, 1953's Fear and Desire, Kubrick stormed back with an interesting little story set in the heart of New York City. The film's protagonist Davy Gordon, is a struggling local boxer who gets involved with a woman, Gloria Price who's ex, Vincent Rapallo hasn't let go of her yet. Kubrick slowly, and movingly, shows the two principals taking the downgrade: Davy fighting a losing bout in the ring while Gloria is trying to push off some heavy passes from Rapallo.

While the pair try to flee the city, Rapallo and his henchmen foil there escape. Price meanwhile, has changed her mind and decides she's better off with a real man, Rapallo. In the thrilling climax, Gordon and Rapallo battle it out in a run-down mannequin factory which foreshadows his technique shown in later masterpieces. In the end, Gordon finally takes Rapallo out, and runs off to catch his train. In an un-kubrick like way, as Gordon is about to step onto the train and off to Anywhere, USA, Gloria comes back, and re-joins him on there quest for happiness together.

"Killer's Kiss" was a first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique that Kubrick was to take to the limit in later years. After all, the ending was fair enough for the Fifties. Out of a possible 5 stars, I give young Stanley Kubrick's "Killer's Kiss" 4 stars.

Many, many interesting aspects.......2005-11-01

This is an heroic film; with very little budget, Kubrick delivers so many interesting and innovative things. It might be very rare that something like the electrifying box combat was filmed before or after. A veritable photographic "tour de force"! The sequence of the ballet dancer is quite something as well. The history, quite short according to the limited time of the film, is nevertheless vivid. Atention to detail and great photography creates environments very efectively, like the dance club, the evening in downtown, the modest appartments, and the noticeable upward shots in the railway station.

For Kubrick Fans' Eyes Only: Others Beware!.......2005-10-24

There may be something that one can glean from KILLER'S KISS, but I think it will be lost on anyone that is not already a die-hard, Kubrick fan. That is to say, if you haven't seen any of Stanley Kubrick's films, do not start with this one under any circumstances. I kept asking for more. The fact that Kubrick had directed it raised my standards far too high. I kept waiting for a complexity in the story to arise, for the characters to grow some depth, for the subtle "turn" in the plot. But nothing ever came. And then the film ended, after only 67 minutes. As the credits rolled, I sat there in shock before finally muttering: "I guess that was it."

Of course, there are some highlights in the film. The lighting is great, the shots are nice, etc. But compared to his later work, KILLER'S KISS fails to meet the director's own standards. So what is the use in seeing this film? I agree with one reviewer who commented that this film is like an artist's early "throwaway" sketches. While you can catch glimpses of Kubrick's later glory, on the whole the film lacks heart and should have been left on the drawing board. But a star does not emerge overnight-we must take his early, inexperienced work with his later masterpieces. Thus, if you are interested in Kubrick, the director, you might enjoy dipping back into his filmography to see where he came from. But if you are interested in catching a good noir, I would recommend over a dozen films before KILLER'S KISS would even make the list.

Average customer rating:

Just average
Intriguing
DIRTY OLD DAD
Good movie
Wonderful

A Kiss So Deadly
Starring: Charles Shaughnessy , Dedee Pfeiffer , Tom Bresnahan , Noelle Parker , and Kerrie Keane
Director: Chuck Bowman
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001WTV7U
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Customer Reviews:

Just average.......2007-06-06

A father (Charles Shaughnessy) enters into an affair the his daughter's friend (Charlotte Ross, who is actually the seducer in the relationship). When she ends up murdered, he goes into overdrive trying to keep the illicit affair a secret from his wife and daughter. The premise is okay, the acting passable... The storyline wouldn't be so disturbing had Ross not portrayed Shaughnessy's daughter for six seasons on "Days of Our Lives" ... ick! Plays occasionally on Lifetime Movie Network, so save your money.

Intriguing.......2006-07-25

Keeps your interest going till the very end. Acting is good.

DIRTY OLD DAD.......2005-03-14

A KISS SO DEADLY has so many things wrong with it, I find myself surprised to give it three stars. Overall, I found myself enjoying the premise, although it's fairly obvious early on what's going to happen. The scriptwriter throws in an obvious red herring, but once the movie picks up, it becomes pretty evident who the murderer is. Charles Shaughnnessy's character is so unlikeable, it's easy to overlook his character, and focus on the younger ones. Deedee Pfeiffer does a credible job as his daughter and Charlotte Ross as the vixen Amanda is quite good. Kerrie Keane does a good job as Shaughnessy's puzzled wife. Even with its erratic pacing and derivative context, it still manages to be okay entertainment.

Good movie.......2004-11-14

Hi my name is drescherfan01 and i love this movie. I also love his acting in the movie because he puts allot into it. He also stars in a show called The Nanny which is my favorite. In it he is also a good actor. This movie is a great suspense!!!!

Wonderful.......2004-05-08

A KISS SO DEADLY. Right there is words to describe the suspense. The only problem I had with this movie is that it wasn't long enough. Charles Shaughnessy plays a great dad who is always very overprotective of his daughter. It's hard to think that he would lure the best friend into his "world". There are many boyfriends that are linked into it that you think the Dad would have nothing to do with the murder. I recommend this movie if you like "living on the edge" as so to speak.-

Average customer rating:

Kiss: Krazy Killer
Starring: Kiss
Manufacturer: MVD Visual
ProductGroup: DVD
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Live to Win

ASIN: B000HT38GC
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Average customer rating:

Bore me.
A creepily atmospheric Italian horror film
Good erotic witch tale
Great Italian tale of witchery
Just do not buy this

Kiss Me, Kill Me
Starring: Carroll Baker , Erika Blanc , Isabelle de Funes , Horst Frank , and Ely Galleani
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Manufacturer: Diamond Ent. Corp.
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Customer Reviews:

Bore me........2003-05-19

Unlike most Italian horror movies of the seventies which were notorious for some of their almost incomprehensible plot lines, this movie has a plot you could connect with the dots. This is not necessarilly saying a bad thing, but in this film's case, a simplistic plot of a lesbian witch trying to control a young woman via a doll and a cursed camera needed some bolstering through either some inspired acting or some kickbutt special effects. Sadly the dearth of both is painfully obvious in this film. To give Corrado Farina his due, however, his witch movie anticipated Argento's brilliant Suspiria by more than five years. Some of the same elements are in this film: creepy dream sequences, almost psychedelic flashbacks (and flashforwards!) and some inspired lighting in Baba Yaga's house. Isabelle De Funes is passable as Valentina, a player who is played by someone more expert-the lesbian witch, Baba Yaga. Lose the close-ups on her doe eyes, and keep her clothes on and I have to wonder how magnetic she still wouldn't have been. The hero, Arno, is so stereotypically macho that you will pray for his death half-way through the movie. The witch, played by Caroll Baker, could have stood for more fleshing out. Surely, keeping a dominatrix doll, cursing a camera, and concealing a gateway to hell on the first floor of your home begs a little insight into some motivation! Much of this problem may be due to the editing of the version I saw, which may have rendered parts of the film nearly nonsensical; like, for instance, why Baba Yaga is even bothering to waste her time on Valentina at all-it isn't for sexual reasons. The strengths of the movie are in Corrado Farina's frenzied direction. His blend of dream sequences, flashbacks and flashforwards (not to mention a very catchy title sequence!) Is the true reason to ride this movie out until the end.

A creepily atmospheric Italian horror film.......2003-04-10

Italian horror movies invariably seem to have a special look, sound, and feeling of baroque creepiness that make them successful. I'm not so sure that Kiss Me, Kill Me (aka Baba Yaga, aka The Devil Witch aka Black Magic) is really that great of a movie, but its dark atmosphere makes it satisfyingly effective. Based to some degree on a dark comic strip, the movie's noticeably surreal quality is greatly enhanced by a haunting musical score as well as the use of grainy black and white pictures of events unfolding at certain critical times. Isabelle De Funes plays Valentina Rosselli, a photographer living in Milan. On her way home one night, she encounters a very strange lady who calls herself Baba Yaga (played by Carroll Baker). This stranger tells Valentina their meeting was predestined, and she quickly insinuates herself into the life of our protagonist. Baba Yaga, we quickly learn, is some type of witch, and she certainly looks the part in costume as well as appearance; her pasty complexion and almost-white eyebrows standing out in contrast to her red lipstick-coated mouth does make quite an impression. Valentina tries to go about her work, which involves photographing semi-nude women, but Baba Yaga gradually puts her under her spell. She has strange dreams; quite unusual things begin to happen when she takes pictures with a camera that Baba Yaga has fondled; a strange doll Baba Yaga gives her begins to seem like something more than a normal doll. The tension and suspense is carried along quite nicely throughout, but the conclusion falls a little short of making this film an unqualified success.

This is a movie best suited for adults because it does contain a fair bit of nudity, but the sex, violence, and gore is actually rather limited. Gory and erotic are not words I would use to characterize this film at all. In fact, there is essentially no blood to speak of, and the one scene of violence is not as extreme as it might first appear. Kiss Me, Kill Me generates its horror from the atmosphere it creates, and in this endeavor it is largely successful. In one very nice scene, Valentina watches an old silent movie about a golem, but the golem connection to the doll Valentina is given may be lost on some viewers lacking a foundation in old-fashioned horror. Still, though, the doll in and of itself is creepy enough to be effective. If you don't have an interest in horror at all, there is a good chance you won't enjoy Kiss Me, Kill Me. For horror aficionados, the movie stands ready to help meet your daily requirement of creepiness, but your rations of blood and gore must be obtained elsewhere.

Good erotic witch tale.......2002-10-18

A somewhat strange offering that is based on folklore and erotic Italian comic books, Kiss Me, Kill Me is a first rate film set in modern Milan.

Baba Yaga (played wonderfully by Caroll Baker) is a witch who tries to seduce and control a beautiful photographer, Isabelle De Funès (Valentina Rosselli). There is a love interest for Isabelle, Arno Treves (George Eastman), who also acts as a hero in the appropriate parts. Also involved is a doll that seems to sometimes be human, and who happens to be clad in leather and ready made for bondage and s&m sessions.

Isabelle meets Baba Yaga one evening on the street and is invited to Baba Yaga's house sometime. She takes her up on the offer and discovers in the house a hole in the floor that seems to have no bottom. Baba Yaga gives Isabelle a doll that she says will protect her. Baba has also fondled a camera belonging to Isabelle which then seems to cause bad things to happen whenever someone is photographed with it.

Throughout the movie Isabelle has dreams that are filled with eroticism and violence. A lot of these dreams are shown in very grainy film or as a set of grainy stills. Pretty effective camerawork all through the movie and the sets, acting and dialogue are better than average. The are a lot of [body parts] in the movie and also a whipping scene. Very little blood and no gore.

The dvd version released by Diamond Entertainment is bottom of the barrel, but the price is cheap enough at [money] that it makes buying the movie worth it. I read at one review website that the movie would be released in early 2003 by synapse films with a few minutes of added footage and hopefully a better transfer, but they do not mention it at the synapse website. I'm glad I own it and I would definitely recommend this as an interesting addition to any horror dvd collection

Great Italian tale of witchery.......2002-10-12

A somewhat strange offering that is based on folklore and erotic Italian comic books, Kiss Me, Kill Me is a first rate film set in modern Milan.

Throughout the movie Isabelle has dreams that are filled with eroticism and violence. A lot of these dreams are shown in very grainy film or as a set of grainy stills. Pretty effective camerawork all through the movie and the sets, acting and dialogue are better than average. The are a lot of breasts and behinds in the movie and also a whipping scene. Very little blood and no gore.

The dvd version released by Diamond Entertainment is bottom of the barrel, but the price is cheap enough at [X] that it makes buying the movie worth it. I read at one review website that the movie would be released in early 2003 by synapse films with a few minutes of added footage and hopefully a better transfer, but they do not mention it at the synapse website. I'm glad I own it and I would definitely recommend this as an interesting addition to any horror dvd collection.

Just do not buy this.......2002-09-20

This is hardly a priceless advice, since this DVD seems to be out of print. However, I suggest not buying this edition and go for the deluxe edition by Blue UndergroundBaba Yaga. Just so you know, this film is actually Corrado Farina's cult "Baba Yaga". I've seen this copy and you shouldn't trust it, as it's literally mistake-packed edition. Umberto Lenzi has NOTHING to do with this film, the aspect ratio is not respected (the film is horribly maimed by pan&scan). The Blue Underground edition features juicy extras such as the never-before-seen scenes originally cut from Italian censorship, plus about 10 minutes of stuff cut prior to first release (featuring Italian popstar Franco Battiato!) a lenghty interview with Farina himself, a vintage documentary by Farina on Guido Crepax (the author of the comic book on which the film is based) and even an easter egg with Tinto Brass. And the screen ratio is respected.

Average customer rating:

A Kiss So Deadly
Starring: Tom Breznahan , Kerrie Keane , Noelle Parker , DeDee Pfeiffer , and Charlotte Ross
Director: Chuck Bowman
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000JMKJW8
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Average customer rating:

The first-class suspense film that foreshadowed conscious and technique...,
Striking cult movie!
The Genius of a Young Stanley Kubrick
Many, many interesting aspects
For Kubrick Fans' Eyes Only: Others Beware!

Killer's Kiss [Region 2]
Starring: Frank Silvera , Jamie Smith , Irene Kane , Jerry Jarret , and Mike Dana
Director: Stanley Kubrick
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Film Noir | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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