Here they come again: vampires. This time our primary bloodsucker is Djuna, played by the exquisite Joséphine de la Baume with an accent that Bela Lugosi would have had trouble deciphering. She falls in love with a handsome screenwriter, Paolo (Milo Ventimiglia) and such is his lust that he decides to become a vampire, too.
Alas, their bliss is disturbed by Mimi (Roxane Mesquida), Djuna’s little vampire sister, just as beautiful and even harder to understand. Mimi hunts humans instead of going out and sucking on deer like Djuna and Paolo. This causes problems straight out of the Vampire Problem Playbook.
Soon it becomes clear why the talented director Xan Cassavetes (daughter of the director John and actress Gena Rowlands) bothered with bloodsuckers: the sex. A vampire gets off by biting, a kink that offers all kinds of visual possibilities.
And the sex is the main thing that makes “Kiss of the Damned” worthwhile. Cassavetes can film an erotic encounter worthy of the 1970s and the golden age of sex scenes, and that is no small compliment these days.
There’s also a fun soundtrack reminiscent of the cult classic “Vampyros Lesbos,” and some great Euro-trashy atmosphere.
Still, why waste great sex, gorgeous actors and a sneaky satiric sensibility on these too-familiar creatures of the night? Enough already with the vampires. Even Dracula had the sense to stay buried sometimes.