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deseretnews.com - : ''A Kiss Before Dying'' is based on a novel by Ira Levin (''Rosemary's Baby,'' ''The Stepford Wives'') and was filmed before in 1956, with Robert Wagner in the lead role. more...
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www.rollingstone.com - : These days Bret Easton Ellis isn't the only one accountable for giving the fictional American psycho a bad name. Case in point: the botch that writer-director James Dearden makes of A Kiss Before Dying, starring Matt Dillon as a baby-faced lady-killer and Sean Young as not one but two of the ladies (she plays twin sisters) who bring out his murderous impulses. Based on a novel by Ira Levin (Rosemary's Baby, Sliver), Kiss became an enjoyably trashy movie in 1956 with Robert Wagner in the Dillon role and Joanne Woodward -- in only her second featured role -- as one of the sisters (Virginia Leith played the other). Comparing the original film with this update is a potent illustration of how far we haven't come in crafting thrillers that excite and amuse us without leaving a bad taste in the mouth. more...
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rogerebert.suntimes.com - : They hunger, and brood, and dream, and they will allow nothing to stand in their way. They're a familiar type, almost always achieved by overacting: Asked to project resentment, hurt and ambition, all at once, your average actor goes over the top. It is one of the strengths of James Dearden's ''A Kiss Before Dying'' that Matt Dillon is able to make his character self-contained, impassive, and so all the more dangerous. more...
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Critic Reviews
