Kiss Me Kill Me

Kiss Me Kill Me is a pretty weird movie, but it actually works in some strange way if only to a small degree. The credits say it is adapted from a comic strip, but it's not one I've ever seen. I'm sure this is where it gets its odd visual style which I'll talk about in a minute. First some plot.

Valentina is a young photographer though some mistake her for a model being as lithe and lovely as she is. One night she meets an odd lady who knows more about Valentina than should be possible. The lady is the witch Baba Yaga who puts a curse on Valentina's camera. Now whenever it is used the person being photographed collapses.

The curse's reach doesn't stop there, either. Valentina is having disturbing nightmares and moments where she can't control her own actions. She is irresistibly drawn to Baba. What evil designs does the witch have for the young woman?

I believe this is an Italian made film which may explain some of the disconnects I'll look at in a moment. It's easy to lose something in translation, and this is already a bizarre tale to begin with.

I was never really clear on Baba's motivations. One girl guesses she's in “love” with Valentina. That's really the closest we get to an explanation, but while a lesbian lust may explain why the witch is obsessed with Valentina it doesn't tell us what the camera curse is all about. I thought maybe she was siphoning youth from the victims to be immortal, but nothing happens to support that idea. Maybe it's simply a way to draw Valentina into her dark world.

The visual style at times becomes a series of still images often black and white and grainy (on purpose). They flash around creating a sense of disorientation while getting the idea of what's happening across. It's weird, but it works. It's certainly not as effective as it might be in the hands of an A-list director, but what I expected to be annoying turned out to be visually interesting.

The story is very haphazard. We get little explanation along with lots of surreal images and events. Most of the time with these older, obscure movies this means hard to follow plots, but this one gets enough across that I felt like it was cohesive at least to some degree. Even so, it's not cohesive enough to be completely satisfying.

The acting is OK for a dubbed movie. I'm not the least bit familiar with anyone associated with this movie though I have seen Carroll Baker before. Dubbed acting typically lacks, and while this isn't what I would call an exception it's not nearly as bad as some I've seen.

The mood it creates is borderline suspenseful. It is enough to keep me interested, but not enough to really engross me. The ending, while it doesn't explain a lot, is pretty good: cryptic and weird but with a certain sense of magic-steeped logic to it.

All in all it might be worth checking out if you like surreal suspense movies or odd visual styles. It's not worth a lot of effort, but check it out if you stumble across it.

MORALITY:

There is surprisingly little strong language in this.

There's also very little violence though some of the imagery is creepy. In those regards this would be PG or maybe PG13 at worst.

There is a lot of nudity, though. Most of it is bared breasts. Even when someone is naked from the waist down she is obscured most of the time. Some of Valentina's photo shoots border on being softcore porn. We get references to casual sex with an implication of shooting hardcore porn (which doesn't ever actually happen). There is at least one scene of casual sex, some bondage imagery, and a creepy doll that comes to life as a human girl with breasts bared.

SPIRITUALITY:

Baba Yaga is a witch with dark intentions whatever her goals might actually be. Her dark magic brings evil into the lives of those she sets her sights on.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

If you want a somewhat creepy film with an odd visual style then Kiss Me Kill Me might be worth checking out. Just don't expect too much out of the plot. If you're looking for a satisfying scary horror flick then you probably won't get much out of this one.

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