''Kiss of the Damned'' is a 2012 American

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

, written and directed by Xan Cassavetes. The film played at the 2013

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

and was released in theaters on May 3, 2013. The filming locations were

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

New Fairfield, Connecticut New Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 13,579 at the 2020 census. New Fairfield is one of five towns that surround Candlewood Lake, the largest lake in Connecticut. The town is located nor ...

Plot

Paolo, a screenwriter staying in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

to write a screenplay, meets and falls in love with Djuna (Joséphine de La Baume), only to discover that she is a

who survives by consuming the blood of animals. She confesses to him, but he refuses to believe her, so she requests for him to chain her up so she can prove it to him. Revealed in her true form, Paolo is unafraid. He releases the chains that bind her and joins her, receiving her "kiss of death" and is turned into a vampire. The two continue to live in Djuna's large

summer house A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden ...

which is actually owned by Xenia (Anna Mouglalis), a leader in the vampire community and theatre actress. It is a half-way house of sorts for vampires in Xenia's community. Their happy life together is disturbed by the arrival of Mimi (Roxane Mesquida), Djuna's out-of-control and less morally sound sister who has come to live at the house after she killed a man in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Mimi claims she only plans on staying a week and proceeds to generate chaos in their lives. She feeds on human after human, forbidden in their community, seduces Paolo, and offers Xenia a virgin - Anne (Riley Keough), who is a fan of Xenia in the theatre. Irene is the caretaker of the summer house (Ching Valdes-Aran). Her family has been caretakers for generations due to a unique blood disorder that makes their blood undesirable to vampires. She overhears Djuna telling Xenia that her sister Mimi has been attacking humans, although Xenia tries to deny it. Mimi is seen recklessly driving her car towards the house, loses control, and crashes. After a small time skip, it is evident dawn is approaching while Mimi is still strapped in the car. She wakes up and races to the house, only to fall short within sight but already burning from the sun. She sees Irene and begs her to help, but Irene ignores her desperate plea and, instead, pulls a cigarette out and lights it from Mimi before smoking it. Next, Paolo and Djuna are preparing to leave the summer house. Paolo is saying how they're set to go stay with their friends in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. As they leave the house, a black trash bag near the entrance tips over. Djuna, Paolo, and Irene look back at it, find nothing of interest, and continue on their way.

Cast

* Josephine de La Baume as Djuna **

Tiarnie Coupland Tiarnie Coupland (born 16 April 1997) is an Australian actress, model and singer. She has appeared in numerous films, TV series, short films, TV commercials and theatre productions. On 23 January 2015 Coupland released her debut song "Focus". ...

as Young Djuna *

Milo Ventimiglia Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (, ; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut on ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' in 1995, he portrayed the lead role on the short-lived series '' Opposite Sex'' in 2000 before landing his br ...

as Paolo *

Roxane Mesquida Roxane Mesquida (born 1 October 1981) is a French-American actress and model based in Los Angeles. Mesquida grew up in Le Pradet, a little town located in southern France. Her mother, writer Françoise Mesquida, is French/Spanish and her father ...

as Mimi ** Olivia Lauletta as Young Mimi *

Anna Mouglalis Anna Mouglalis ( el, Άννα Μουγλάλη; born 26 April 1978) is a French actress and model. She is known for being a house ambassador for Chanel since 2002, and for portraying the fashion designer Coco Chanel in the 2009 film '' Coco Chan ...

as Xenia *

Michael Rapaport Michael David Rapaport (born March 20, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. Beginning his career in the early 1990s, he has made over 100 appearances in film and television. His film roles include ''True Romance'' (1993), ''Higher Learning' ...

as Ben *

Peter Vack Peter S. Brown (born September 19, 1986), better known his stage name Peter Vack, is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He is best known for portraying Jason Strider in the MTV comedy series ''I Just Want My Pants Back'' (2011–201 ...

as Adam *

Riley Keough Danielle Riley Keough ( ; born May 29, 1989) is an American actress, notable for being the daughter of musicians Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough, and granddaughter of actress Priscilla Presley and singer Elvis Presley, and starting a succes ...

as Anne * Ching Valdes-Aran as Irene Pola

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

it has a score of 61% based on 33 reviews. It is most often referred to as inspired by the Gothic vampire movies of the 1970s.

Accolades

In September 2013, the film won the Octopus d’Or for the best international feature film at the

Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival (SEFFF) (French: ''Festival Européen du Film Fantastique de Strasbourg ''(''FEFFS'')), is an annual film festival held in Strasbourg, France, that focus on fantasy, science fiction and horror f ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiss of the Damned 2012 films 2012 horror films American vampire films Films set in Connecticut Films shot in Connecticut Films shot in New York City 2010s English-language films 2010s American films