Kiss of the Damned
Director: Xan Cassavetes
Writer: Xan Cassavetes
Cast: Joséphine de La Baume, Milo Ventimiglia, Roxane Mesquida, Anna Mouglalis, Michael Rapaport, Riley Keough, Ching Valdes-Aran
Part of: /slash Filmfestival

Plot:
Djuna (Joséphine de La Baume) is a vampire, but one who’s lying low: she spends her nights at a friend’s luxurious home watching videos. When she brings the videos back to the rental place, she meets Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia). At first she rebukes his advances, but then she does give in after all and the two of them become very close very quickly. But then Djuna’s sister Mimi (Roxane Mesquida) shows up, who thinks nothing of lying low, and disrupts their lives severly.

The movie really started off on my wrong side and never managed to leave from there. It’s stylish and has amazing sets but the rest of it was either annoying of infuriating.

The movie started to lose me with the romance between Paolo and Djuna. First of all Paolo consistently crosses all the lines Djuna gives him. She says don’t call, he calls. She says don’t come, he comes. She says don’t untie me, he unties her etc. That kind of persistence and disregard is not romantic and it is certainly not a good basis for a relationship.

And then Djuna is probably hundred(s) years old (I don’t think her actual age is ever mentioned, but she’s not the newest vamp on the block), but she still falls for all of that crap like a teenager. Within days. I mean, Milo Ventimiglia is pretty (especially with that beard, oh yes) but not that irresistible.

And then the rivalry between Dunja and Mimi. Of course Mimi is evil – look, she has sex with whoever she wants to (that slut!) and she wears leather! It really felt like that were the bigger issues than her killing people. And then [SPOILER] Mimi and Paolo sleep with each other, or maybe it’s rape? I don’t know, it looked consensual to me but Mimi said something afterwards (I can’t recall exactly what) that made me think that maybe it wasn’t after all, maybe she whammied him somehow? Or maybe it was just generally Mimi being responsible because she seduced Paolo and everybody knows that men can’t keep it in their pants. [/SPOILER] GAAAAH.

And with that amount of fuckery, not even the great set design and beautiful look of the film could save it.

Summarizing: Go away.