Cheap Kissed (Video) (Molly Parker, Peter Outerbridge) (Lynne Stopkewich) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Kissed

"Crossing the line depends on where you draw it." (3½ stars)
Based on some of the reviews I had read a couple years before watching this movie, I had expected "Kissed" to be absolutely raunchy. However, this movie is anything but. It's very tastefully done, though there is quite a bit of sex/nudity--appropriate, unexploited sex/nudity, that is, if there is such a thing. I suppose it's the subject matter--necrophilia--that bothers most people. I don't find it appealing either, but by the end of the movie, I found it slightly easier to understand Sandra Larson's internal struggle and obsession with death, rather than snickering or grimacing at it. Did I completely comprehend what she meant? Not really, but that's okay.

As a whole, I gave "Kissed" 3½ stars, mainly because it was a bit too long, even though it is just 80 minutes. The real story seemed to begin about halfway through the movie when Sandra (played by Molly Parker) is fully into the mortuary profession and starts dating a young medical student, Matt (Peter Outerbridge). In my opinion, "Kissed" would have made a better short film by eliminating the beginning section with Sandra as a troubled youth. Her childhood flashback didn't have much to do with the later story, just to prove her early fascination with dead things, I guess.

Probably the best part of this romantic drama is the last half hour or so, where Matt tries to "compete for Sandra's affection" by reaching her the only way she understands--through death. I don't want to give too much away, but the ending is absolutely superb and touching, wrapping up with a haunting Sarah McLachlan song: "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy".

Overall, this movie is pretty good, though a bit more subdued than I had expected; plus a bit drawn-out, as I mentioned before. Yet I'd still recommend "Kissed" to those who enjoy slightly offbeat, provocative indie films.

---

KISSED : The necrophiliac dream.
This is the kind of movie that leaves an indelible impact. The film is bathed in a strange erotic tension simlilar to David Cronenberg's Crash. And I know the in that in 10 to 15 years from now I will meet younger people who will tell me that this film changed their lives. I was also convinced of this when I saw Crash. (It's odd that both of these films are Canadian.) The subject, necrophilia, is dealt with as a dreamlike spiritual awakening. Molly Parker's portrayal of Sandra Larson is so luminescent that is hard not to believe the sincerity of her beliefs. One is tempted, as is her boyfriend Matt, to join her on this dark mystic quest. As a challenge to conventional morality the film is largely successful. It leaves a unique residue behind in the mind with it's necrotic illumination and funery chill. However the Director isn't exactly playing her hand straight. The story in it's deepest origins is based on the events concerning Karen Greenlee in Sacramento California. An interview with Greenlee in the book Apocalypse Culture (Feral House) reveals not illumination but extreme spiritual breakdown. Drugs, suicide attempts and compulsive behavior litter the interview and its accompanying introduction. Necrophilia is not a road to enlightenment. It is a breakdown of the human soul... a dark strangling condition. The lie in KISSED is that the absolutely sincere and haunting character as brilliantly acted by Molly Parker in anyway reflects any necrophiliac in existence. This lie is underscored by the complete absence of any family members speaking in their own words or reacting to her personality. There is no real past for Sandra. No true human motivation. I would hate to think of the effect of this film upon a young high school aged girl in the midst of the usual selfdoubts related to sex and relationships. My conclusion is that this film is certainly well made and worth seeing but..... it is ultimately a dangerous lie. And in the wrong eyes will most certainly inspire some sad dreams and perhaps even deeds.

---

the best film of 1996
brace yourself. if you are squeamish or tend to faint at the sound of the word necrophilia, you will probably not care to read the reviews let alone rent the videotape. let me tell you upfront that you'd be making a huge mistake & missing out on a truly remarkable film which never really has gotten it's dues. molly parker gives a full-bodied(no pun intended) performance as a young woman by the name of sandra obsessed with deceased young men. it's as if our lead character sandra can feel their dreams, their sadness, & is able to somehow make a connection with these expired young bodies as she later tells us. for some strange reason, this provides comfort & consolation i suppose for it eases her mind that she too will one day cross over as well. to complicate matters only worse, sandra meets a young college student who is as intrigued by her fascination with death as he is romantically attached to her. needless to say, their relationship takes an awful turn as the film progresses. although quite sad & a bit eccentric, kissed reminds of us how we fail to see while we are still in the world of the living. it seems as if we only notice certain things about ourselves or others after they have crossed over or left their earthly home. many could argue or debate that we shouldn't be reminded through a controversial film such as this but then how could appreciate life anymore without it? watch kissed with an open mind & brace yourself once again as you hear the haunting music of sarah mclachlan while the credits pass before our eyes.