Spikeopath A remake of the 1956 film of the same name, A Kiss Before Dying is directed by James Dearden and Dearden adapts the screenplay from Ira Levin's novel. It stars Sean Young, Matt Dillon, Max von Sydow, Dianne Ladd and James Russo. Music is by Howard Shore and cinematography by Mike Southon.Story has Dillon as a troubled young man who murders his pregnant girlfriend (Young) and then hones in on her twin sister (Young again obviously) for further psychotic shenanigans.It's just about an average thriller at best, where even if the plot line and character motivations are intriguing enough to hold the attention to keep one interested to the ending, even there the outcome is rushed and unsatisfying. From the negative reaction at the initial test screenings, to Golden Raspberry awards, and tales of rewrites and re-shoots et al, this noir reboot is messy.The tie-in to Hitchcock's Vertigo is glaringly "not" homage worthy, and not just content with that, director Dearden tries to use some of Hitchcock's macabre black humour to unintentionally "not" witty results. So with Young on hilariously bad form as well, the thriller aspects strain to get resuscitated for dramatic worth.Dearden does show some nice touches with his camera-work, and there's a lurid quality to Southon's colour lenses that pay respect in heart to Levin's source material, but ultimately it's hard to recommend seriously to noir fans and the 56 version (itself not without problems) is still the way to go. 5/10

ereinion I don't know what to make out of this movie. I guess its one of those movies that were MEANT to be good, but just didn't turn out to be that. What are the reasons? Well, lets see...the probably biggest reason was wrong casting of the leading lady. Sean Toung must be the most passive and expressionless actress ever, so instead of feeling sympathy for her, we only feel annoyed by her presence. Second problem is the plot: its too thin. Matt Dillon's character, tho a villain, is at first not introduced as a typical "peerless" killer type, but then as the film progresses he becomes just that. He murders both Dorrie's old boyfriend and her friend in a professional manner, without breaking a sweat. It all looks just too smooth for a guy thats not a professional killer. Also the way he just appears at the end, where he suddenly becomes DEUS EX MACHINA a'la John Ryder, it just looks unconvincing for some reason.This movie's theme is ambition, the thirst or hunger that, if big enough, can make a man possessed with it do anything. Even murder. But its at character study that this movie again fails. Despite losing her brother, sister and mother, Ellen remains on bad terms with her only remaining family member, her father. This is kinda strange, no? Even when he accepts Jonathan/Jay, she shuns his company and criticizes her fiancée/husband for spending too much time with him. Jonathan/Jay on other hand, is a sweet and nice guy who, when he's not killing, helps out Ellen in her work with drug addicts and he even helps a beaten up woman junkie/prostitute to a hospital. Ahem...this REALLY clashes with the image of a guy who kills to fulfill his ambitions, no? So what is he, a sort of Jekyll/Hyde character?? There are also just too few engaging characters in this movie and aside from Thor, Ellen's dad, there aren't ANY other major characters here, Ellen's friend from the social center being a poor candidate. Unfortunately, Max Von Sydow in the role of Thor Carlsson is not given enough time or space to really flourish in his deadpan role.So, this film just fell too short of achieving its goals because it simply had too little going for it. Even Matt Dillon, the only bright spot here, feels wasted in such a poorly conceived and unrealistic role. The plot, however thin, is the only thing that will keep you watching it and thats only because you wanna see how it ends. Although you deep down inside already know how: the wretched sister gets her revenge and gets the killer. This is a movie that wanted to show us the ugly, dark side of ambition...well, it certainly showed us that, but in a less satisfactory way than I hoped for. I give it a weak 5.

jbartelone A Kiss Before Dying is a remake, telling the story of a driven successful executive who murders a wealthy young girl, and than plots to marry and than murder her twin sister so that he can inherit a fortune from her father's huge cooperation.Matt Dillon does a wonderful job as as the sinister youthful executive, who uses good looks, charm, and incredible manipulation to lure unsuspecting victims into his next con game. Dillon gives all the right moods and tone settings to his character. Matt makes the movie. The problem is the acting by the other characters, even the very talented Max Von Sydow is wasted and superficial. Sean Young, who plays the roles of both twin daughters doesn't bring enough suspense or energy to the part. Her vulnerabilities and weaknesses are demonstrated early on, making her even easier pray for Dillan's character.However, the movie isn't as bad as some of the other reviewers have mentioned. It's a good little mystery flick to watch once or twice when it comes on just to see Matt Dillan's excellent performance. However, the lack of energy or suspense from the other characters indicates that they would rather be somewhere else than in this picture.A Kiss Before Dying is a pretty good movie, but nowhere near what it could have been.

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits Johnathon Corliss (Matt Dillon) uses his hidden intelligence to hatch a scheming plot. Since childhood, his gifts have gone unappreciated and, on the railtrack outside his window, he sees the Carlson company trains go rolling by and dreams of one day being as rich as him and hatches a scheming plot to worm his way into the family fortune. First, he dates Carlson's (Max Von Sydow) daughter and kills her when she becomes pregnant. But when her older sister Ellen (Sean Young) starts digging into the events surrounding her sister's death, it isn't long before he's struck up a relationship with her. But, as Ellen pieces events together, the shattering truth could end up costing her her relationship...and her life.Admittently, looking at this little thriller today there are flaws I can see in it that I might not have seen when I first saw it maybe eight years ago. The acting is of a very poor standard (not surprising that none of the stars ever went on to any bigger things!) and the plot has a number of holes in it. But it's an engaging story with an impressively dark quality to it. It may just be that it kinda stirs up some fond memories for me, but I didn't find it a totally unenjoyable watch. ***