Kiss of the Damned is a vampire movie directed by art world royalty, Xan Cassavetes, the daughter of Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes. Kiss of the Damned focuses on three characters: a screenwriter on the rebound played by Milo Ventimiglia, who is famous for being in Gilmore Girls and Heroes, and two vampire sisters, a good one who keeps herself hidden in the country and another who breaks the rules and kills for fun.
Kiss of the Damned hits familiar tropes pretty hard. There is the obligatory techno music in a nightclub scene, plenty of seduction, sex equals death, a secret vampire society filled with rich intellectuals, exploring the theme of temptation and why should vampires follow rules based on human morality. I think that Only Lovers Left Alive explores these themes more beautifully while breaking new ground and would encourage vampire lovers to see that film rather than Kiss of the Damned.
Kiss of the Damned’s strongest scene was the cocktail party when the vampires discuss what makes a fulfilling existence: not rape and murder, but the idea of creating a better civilization. There is also an interesting concept that individual vampires may be eternal, but humanity has a collective eternity, which is why vampires resist their baser natures to survive. As Kiss of the Damned unfolds, the viewer realizes that there is a disparity between what vampires say and what they do.
Kiss of the Damned seems to want to explore the theme of filmmaking and consumption since many of the characters watch, write or act in films or plays. Kiss of the Damned seems to equate vulnerability to vampires as an unintentional side effect of living an imaginative life because initially ignore or in denial of the crude reality and practicalities of being a vampire and emphasize the romantic, mythic side.
Vampire fans could skip Kiss of the Damned because the majority of it feels derivative or certain themes were executed effectively in other films. Kiss of the Damned is unique in its implicit exploration of how childhood victims of abuse cope when they get older.
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If you watch Kiss of the Damned, the final scene shows the sisters when they were young and playing in the sun before they became vampires. It is established that Xenia, a leader in the vampire community and a famous actress, has a taste for young human girls. I think that it is implied that Xenia turned the sisters, but the sisters react differently. Djuna remains secluded in Xenia’s country home and lives in a fantasy world filled with amazing movies. Djuna does not kill and believes in consent. She tries very hard to live contrary to her vampire nature, but after she falls in love with a screenwriter, and her sister returns home and triggers stress in her life, she falls off the wagon and kills. For Djuna, even healthy consensual sex can ignite unresolved issues of abuse, which she had successfully suppressed through isolation.
In contrast, her sister, Mimi, continues the cycle of abuse and enjoys breaking the hypocritical rules of vampire society. She seduces and kills whenever she wants. Mimi exposes Xenia’s hypocrisy and reenacts her abuse by tempting her with one of her fans. In the end, she is consumed by her inability to move on from the cycle of abuse.
I wish that Kiss of the Damned explored the tantalizing idea of the human beings with the blood disorder that guard and are de facto enforcer of the rules. Ching Valdes-Aran, who plays Irene, one of the human caretakers, barely says a word, but was one of the most fascinating characters in Kiss of the Damned. I would have preferred a whole movie from her character’s point of view.
Side note: Milo Ventimiglia is insanely hot, but he probably should stick to tv because his movie roles have not been satisfying. His characters usually end up in some sexual scenario within seconds of being introduced. Come on, directors, he is not just a mindless piece of meat. In less than a half hour, his character is totally cool with committing an eternity to a vampire chick after getting out of a relationship. If his fictional ex-girlfriend ever finds out that he is capable of committing, she is going to be pissed.