Kiss of Death (1997) Poster

(1997)

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2/10
The textbook definition of "straight to video"
Lamerzi26 May 2004
Warning: Spoilers
ONE POSSIBLE MINOR SPOILER

So somebody finally bothered to add this film to the IMDb. That's good cause maybe I can find somebody else to discuss this with.

Bizarrely this movie only seems to be available in Germany. So I got the (cheap) DVD and watched. Hmm, a cheap movie. Now maybe somebody can help explain what exactly is going on.

The set up was crazy. The Al Capone foundation? I think we could have had a little elaboration with that one...it could have been an intriguing development of the plot (like Peggy and Aldo slowly discover there's some devilish price to pay for their house). But no...

I understand the main story. But what I suppose were meant to be subplots were a complete mystery to me. And the ending? Well, rarely has any movie had such a depressing, empty finish.

But the strangest part was (and if you've seen it I'm guessing you know what I'm about to say) is the moment when Peggy starts to undo her top in that guy's office...AND THE FLIPPING MOVIE PAUSES! YES PAUSES RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHOT! Then it cuts back to the guy. What the hell was the idea of that? There's plenty of T&A elsewhere in the film so why clumsily edit what would have otherwise been a decent scene?

And the photo shown on the DVD case doesn't appear in the movie.

The only way I can explain all this is maybe the filmmakers couldn't have actually finished shooting the movie.

Having said all that, this film is a brilliant purchase if you like Christi Harris.

Anybody want to comment? Then get onto the message board and let's thrash this one out.
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3/10
Depressing, unwatchable z-grade crap
Groverdox17 May 2022
I didn't have high expectations for "Kiss of Death", but I was underwhelmed regardless. It doesn't feel like a proper movie. It feels like the cut-scenes from an early '90s CD-ROM game. The production values are low, the movie is poorly shot, the dialogue is poorly recorded, and the movie often features loud, inappropriate music that is distracting and annoying.

I admit I only watched it for one reason: to look at the stunningly beautiful Cristi Harris (here miscredited as "Christy" in the end credits). I didn't however want to watch her being constantly traumatised and mistreated, though, which is about the only thing you'll take away from this movie. Harris plays a young woman in a relationship with a great guy. However, after exhorting him to make out with her while driving a car, they unsurprisingly have an accident, and this leaves the guy paralysed from the waist down. He starts drinking, starts abusing Cristi emotionally and physically, and even starts using heroin.

Meanwhile Cristi is trying to make it as a model/actress and keeps falling prey to Harvey Weinstein types who demand she takes her clothes off or try to rape her. Not bad enough we have to watch the insane husband slap her around, now we also have to watch this.

Other characters appear but the movie forgets to tell you who they are and doesn't make them interesting, so their appearances on screen are just dead air. Finally it appears that this one other guy is having an affair with Cristi, and his wife, played by model/actress Vanity, finds out and lets the crazy paraplegic husband know. Vanity is barely in the movie (and really doesn't need to be), and yet for some reason she's credited first.

The movie's conclusion has to be seen to be believed, but that is too high a price, trust me. It involves someone apparently disguising themselves as Al Capone before committing a murder, and of course, yet more pain and misery for Cristi. About the only through line this movie possesses is her experiencing pain; the plot is an after-thought, and god knows what they were thinking with the Al Capone thing.

This is z-grade crap, basically unwatchable, not worth it for violence or nudity, and genuinely distressing and hard to watch despite its awfulness. Poor Cristi.
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