Retro IONCINEMA.com

Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2012: #69. Xan Cassavetes’ Kiss of the Damned

The last of the Cassavetes offspring to make her feature fiction debut, we anticipate that this vampire pic will definitely come across more Euro-like (due in part to the influx of sexy French actresses), and more unique in terms of design and influences than its crappy vampire-themed flick counterparts.

Eric Lavallée

Published on January 5, 2012

#69. Kiss of the Damned

Director/Writer: Xan Cassavetes
Producers: Jen Gatien (For Ellen) and Alex Orlovsky (The Place Beyond the Pines)
Distributor: Rights Available

The Gist: This centers around two beautiful French vampire sisters who have separately come to stay at a summer estate — a ‘safe house’ in Connecticut. Ventimiglia plays a screenwriter who begins a love affair with the “good” sister and insists on joining her among the undead. However, after they begin their life together, the other “bad” sister (Mesquida) shows up and begins wreaking havoc almost as soon as she arrives. Slowly, her dark presence threatens to destroy them all…(more)

Cast: Milo Ventimiglia (see fangs above), Michael Rapaport, Riley Keough, Roxane Mesquida, Anna Mouglalis and Joséphine de La Baume

List Worthy Reasons…: The last of the Cassavetes offspring to make her feature fiction debut, we anticipate that this vampire pic will definitely come across more Euro-like (due in part to the influx of sexy French actresses), and more unique in terms of design and influences than its crappy vampire-themed flick counterparts.

Release Date/Status?: Seeing that Xan Cassavetes showcased Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession in Cannes back in 2003, my feeling this will make it into the Croisette’s line-up – perhaps the Un Certain Regard category.

Related Topics:

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).