Movie listing

2) This is a really surprising film. If you are looking for a goodmother-daughter night movie I would highly recommend this one. Thefirst thing that made a good impression on me was the chemistry betweenthe characters. Of course, this made sense after I found out they werea real-life family as well. The inter-action between Greg and Chloewere heart-warming. The range of emotions expressed on Robby Benson’sface really show-cased his acting abilities. Burt Reynold’s portrayalof Mr. Parker show a sensitive side of him you seldom see, and RueMcClanahan made me want to slap her and hug her at the same time.Another pleasant surprise was Franki Valli as Mr. Hoskins. I lookforward to seeing this one again!

3) I love this film. It rarely comes on television and is very hard to findonvideo. It was romantic and sweet and leaves you with a good feelingafterwards. If you don’t have children it might make you want them and ifyou do have children you can understand the joy and excitement.

4) "Hold on…It’s gonna be a bumpy ride"… Yes indeed. Why isn’t thismovie available on DVD ? I’ve seen this probably 20 times, and it stillcracks me up-a funny, sad,tender look at love and life and marriage.Just watching Robbie Benson’s facial expressions of a man who has noclue of what he’s getting himself into is priceless.. That the castincludes his wife and children give this movie realism and tendernessthat would otherwise not be possible. Karla DeVito is amazing both ashis girlfriend, then as his wife. I only wish that she had been morevisible over the years as an actress,because her talents have beensorely missed. The supporting cast is perfect-especially Kaye Ballardas his wife’s office secretary. Burt Reynolds adds a classy touch-andto me, this movie is a overlooked gem that needs to be on DVD…

5) Very, very funny. This movie made me laugh out loud. I very seldom domorethan smile when watching a movie. Wonderful movie full of insight andirony.Obviously the writer Robby Benson has been through many of theexperienceshe parodies. Very realistic but with a fun house mirror distortion justenough to let you see the funny edge.

6) Bill Arvay's portrayal of the doctor is brilliantly and sensitivelydone. It is one of the most dramatic moments in a film that isprimarily a comedy.

His character tells Burt Reynold's character that his wife did notsurvive the surgery. Part of the scene is nonverbal and relies solelyon body language, and I found it amazing how much emotion Mr. Arvay wasable to convey without any words. These are brief scenes, but they makeyou want to see more of that character. In my opinion, he dominatesthose scenes with Burt Reynolds. Incidentally, he also had a terrificrole in the television miniseries North and South. Let's hope we'll beseeing him in bigger roles in the future.

I must also add (July 2006) that Mr. Arvay is a very handsome andcaptivating gentleman, and is a real pleasure to watch, in person aswell as on the silver screen.

Warren Hamilton Jr. (writer)

While searching around in a second hand shop for some unknown films, Icame across this little oddity which was called "Kiss of theTarantula". Well, I liked the look of the front cover of the video caseand the synopsis sounded like great b-grade, drive-in 70′s feature.Paid my $2 for it, later I watch it that night and I gotta say thatthis little tale was a fair treat. Not great, but fair is best the wayto put it.

This simple-minded low budget horror flick had an innocently sweet toneto it, and you’ll definitely be thinking of "Willard" (1971), as theyshared definite similarities. Just this time it’s the spiders turn.Also it adds a twinkle of "Carrie" (1976) into the equation too. But inthat case, it doesn’t match the thrills of those particular films. Itskewed more towards a glum melodrama actually, with the creepy crawliesplaying second fiddle to Susan’s troubles with her devious uncle. Iguess that’s just the way the plot plays out, as it seems to loseinterest in the tarantulas, because they don’t even pop up in the thirdact. Though saying that, just the look of a hairy spider makes my skincrawl. But here that wasn’t always the case, yeah there are some eeriescenes like a grisly panic caused by the tarantulas in a car and apulsating vent scene. But these were more provoked by panic and yousomewhat laugh because its basically silly watching the spiders crawlall over their initial victims. Nothing is totally horrific about theattacks, but more so… freaky. Although, for a person who hasarachnophobia, I doubt it. Most of the time Susan’s either ponderingaround, caressing and talking to them! Suzanna Ling is rather gorgeousas Susan Bradley and Eric Mason is notable as Walter Bradley. The restof the amateurish cast, I was surprised, they gave above averageperformances. Though, there were one or two characters that seem tovanish, after thinking they might have more of a role. The dialogue isstilted and the direction is mostly daft with the exception of a couplelines of added wit, but the minor production to a certain agree stillgenerates a surprise or two that sticks with you. That really goes tothe cleverly illustrated climax that effectively packs a killer punch.Backing all that up is an electronic score, which did at times settledthe mood, but other times came across as unbalanced with rather oddchoices and placement. If your looking for something cheesy, you won’tfind it here, because it takes itself rather seriously. It does comesacross like a TV feature, but still it doesn’t hamper proceedings.

A reasonable time waster, but don’t expect a whole lot of spiderterror.

2) "Kiss of the Tarantula" is a mildly interesting horror film about ateenage girl named Susan(Suzanne Ling)and her fondness for spiders.Whenanyone crosses her or her mortician father,the spiders come out to setthings right.Her leering uncle and town sheriff(Eric Mason)has eyes forher,and she has the perfect plan to dispose of him.She also takesvengeance on the high school kids who broke into her house and killedher prized spider.She unleashes a slew of her friendly eight-leggedbuddies in their VW Bug at a drive-in.It’s a pretty gruesome,but alsovery silly scene.Although its’ low budget shows,the film still has somenice touches and a great ending which shouldn’t be missed.DirectorChris Munger also made exploitation flick "Black Starlet" (1974)andproducers Daniel Cady and John Hayes were also responsible for "Graveof the Vampire"(1972) and "Garden of the Dead"(1972).Give it a look,ifyou like tarantuals.6 out of 10.

3) Bum-trip of a worthless little drive-in thingie, "Kiss of the Tarantula"issomething I would probably never have seen had I not been sick with thefluon New Year’s Eve ages ago. There I lay, all feverish and congested as myfriends partied the night away. Unable to sleep, I turned on the T.V. tocatch some late-night entertainment, and ended up ringing in the new yearwith this crappy revenge flick about a young girl who dispatches spiderstoget back at the people who made her life miserable. Unoriginal, to say theleast, and seriously lacking in everything required of a decent horrorfilm(even as an entertaining schlockfest, this misses the mark by miles)

Justifiably obscure and thoroughly avoidable. 3/10

4) Before KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS revolutionized the use of spiders as villainsin horror films, there was KISS OF THE TARANTULA. Made on a miniscule budgetwith a no-name cast, KISS is easily one of the worst horror films of the70s. Promising chills and delivering nil, this one is not even recommendedto bad movie fans.

A young girl grows up displaying an infatuation with spiders and in her teenyears, uses them as tools in killing her vicious, hateful classmates. Soundsgood, right? Wrong! This is the sypnopsis given in every movie guide and isnot the majority of the film. There are approximately three tarantulaattacks and the rest is a plot by the girl to get rid of her incestuousuncle. No, she does not use the spiders on her uncle. She instead breaks hislegs and buries him alive! The spider scenes are not effective, even for anarachnophobe for me. One standout scene is when a swarm of tarantulas chasedown a man in a closed airduct, which is both claustrophobic and horrifying!That’s it, that’s the only thing about the movie that I canrecommend.

I spent $15 buying this and wish I hadn’t. Don’t make the mistake I did.Either rent it, or better yet, don’t even do that! Avoid KISS OF THETARANTULA! It is a waste of time and money for all involved, including theviewer.

5) I would say that this was inspired by the success of Willard which cameoutthe previous year but the action is provided by spiders instead of rats.How about the scenes at the drive-in movie theatre? A volkswagen containsfour victims who are screaming at the top of their lungs and no one comestoinvestigate. Were they and the spider woman the only ones at thedrive-in?The spider woman spends time fending off the lecherous advances of heruncle, played by Eric Mason, whose acting style reminded me of WilliamShatner.

6) Susan, the young daughter of a hard-working mortician, has a strangepassion for giant spiders, more particularly tarantulas, and engagesher hairy friends to get rid of unpleasant persons in her life, likeher own mother who plotted to kill her father anyway. By the time she’san attractive teenager, her passion turned into an obsession and itbecomes all the more easier to find victims for the "kiss" of hertarantulas. This is a fairy enjoyable spider-feature, especially incase you like 70′s drive-in horror. It’s quite creepy, too! As long asyou’ve got a bunch of spiders, you don’t really need any other form ofspecial effects as these icky critters provide the film with more thanenough genuine frights. Unfortunately, there’s very little coherence inthe script and all the main events seem be juxtaposed without muchconnection between them. Also, as the story develops, theSusan-character shows more an more resemblance with Stephen King’s"Carrie". She gets emotionally unstable, uncertain about herself,seemly all alone against the rest of the world and – of course –disposing of unique powers. Much like the 1978 movie "Jennifer" was aCarrie rip-off with snakes, "Kiss of the Tarantula" is a well-disguisedCarrie rip-off with…duh…tarantulas! But then and completelyunexpected, the story takes another few twists that don’t involvetarantulas at all, and "Kiss of the Tarantula" once again becomes aone-of-a-kind 70′s shocker. The ending is downright fantastic! Thismovie may not be flawless but it sure is creative.

7) I just saw this and unexpectedly had a ripsnorting good time. LikeCarrie and Twisted Brain before it this is a tale of an odd teengetting revenge on various wrong doers but this time round spiders arethe instrument of doom. Suzanne Ling puts in a likable, attractiveperformance as the heroine, endearing and a little bit sinister,especially at the end. She carries the film well and always stayssympathetic as the lunkheads around her earn her vengeance. There are acouple of great suspense sequences involving spiders, real shudderinducing stuff, helped out by the eerie, trippy soundtrack. The filmhas a kind of TV movie feel to it, moving along less like a horror filmthan a melodrama at times and this actually works, grounding the creepyelements in the ordinary so that the films jolts are all the moreeffective. The acting is a bit nondescript apart from theaforementioned Suzanne Ling and her uncle, played with sleazy relish byEric Mason. The final 20 minutes or so of the film, when these tworeally come into play, take it beyond neat drive in schlock tosomething really memorable, for the film heads in a direction few willpredict, and sticks to it until a surprising ending that I think may beunique in these sort of films. The film becomes tight, suspenseful andscary towards the end and should satisfy anyone looking for good oldschool vengeful fun. Altogether, I very much recommend this one, its alot of fun, the main actress is pretty and talented, there are scares,surprises, solidly watchable direction, all wrapped up with someexcellent moments. Good times.

A lacklustre seventies movie in the mold of Carrie or Willard, onlytime the demented loner strikes out with her pet tarantulas instead oftelekinesis or rats. Kiss of the Tarantula follows this formula of themisunderstood loner with a power and doesn't really do enoughdifferently or with enough flair to stand out or to really engage theaudience. Made in minimalist seventies style the movie is left to hangon the performances of the cast and the strength of the script whicharen't that strong. The story basically revolves around the heroinekilling off with her pet spiders those who wrong her in some way, suchas her malevolent spider hating mother, her sleazy uncle and the 'kids'(It's hard to tell how old these guys are. The script refers to them asbeing of school age but they are clearly are far older) who pick on herand kill some of her pets as a prank. It's a simple story structurethat could work if some suspense is created as to who lives and whodies, whether of not our heroine gets away with it etc. This is wherethe script and acting fail. Whilst Suzanna Ling is somewhat convincingas the unhinged heroine she is not particularly sympathetic orinteresting as a protagonist and little time is spent in the scriptdeveloping the character or going into the details of why she is theway she is beyond her contemporaries thinking she is weird because shelives at the morgue with her mortician father (shades of Six FeetUnder). Suzanna Ling, whilst she is convincing and creepy is not astrong enough an actress to bring anything extra to the role beyondthat which is the script. The other characters, such as the sleazyuncle, are not very sympathetic or interesting either. You won't carewho lives or dies or if the heroine gets away with it and there arereally no surprises in the story.

There are other plot issues. There isn't even a hint as to how she hasthe control she does over the spiders and it unclear as to whether thespiders actually kill anyone. The mother dies of a heart attack it isclear and it seems like some of the youngsters who die later on mighthave died by accidents prompted by the spider attacks although thisless clear due to the shoddy way the scenes are shot. All the latervictims effectively dying by chance like this seems contrived andextremely silly, although if they did die by spider venom the forensicsdepartment in this town is really bad for not picking up on it. Therealso a few plot threads introduced that don't go anywhere such as apotential boyfriend character who is introduced but disappears and thesleazy uncle's aspiration to run for some form of public office whichdoesn't lead anywhere. On the whole the script is quite underdeveloped.

Not much else is provided on a more visceral horror movie level. Thespiders are good movie nasties but they are not really used to mucheffect here. Others than a few short scenes here and there the titularcreatures don't get a great deal of screen time and pretty disappearfrom the movie after the halfway point leaving the audience to watch aflaccid melodrama/thriller minus what is presumably the movies hook.The movies climax in which our heroine finally deals with her sleazyuncle does not involve the spiders at all, although the way in whichshe deals with him makes it the best and creepiest scene in the movie.Beyond this the movie is lacking in gore, suspense or anything juicy orexciting.

9) Poor Susan (excellently played by the lovely and beguiling blondebeauty Suzanna Ling). The comely, but weird misunderstood misfitteenage girl lives with her undertaker father in a mortuary. She has anunnatural affinity for spiders. Susan catches her shrewish mothercheating on her father with her dad's own brother. Susan kills her momby putting a tarantula in her bed. She also sics her lethal arachnidfriends on other folks who rub her the wrong way; said victims of herdangerous wrath include a bunch of local hooligans who break into themortuary to steal a coffin and Susan's disgustingly incestuous andlecherous uncle (a superbly sleazy Eric Mason). Directed in aneffectively blunt and basic manner by Chris Munger, "Kiss of theTarantula" makes the grade as a creepy and effective low-budget 70'sgrindhouse scarefest thanks to Phillan Bishop's eerie synthesizerscore, credible acting from a solid no-name cast, an arrestinglybrooding rustic atmosphere, a grimly serious tone, Henning Schellerup'sgritty photography, a wickedly startling surprise twist ending, andseveral genuinely unsettling spider attack murder set pieces (thesequence where a handful of libidinous kids doing just what you thinkin a parked car at a drive-in get assaulted by the spiders is thedefinite flesh-crawling icky highlight). A shamefully neglected andhence underrated teen terror tale that's well worth seeing.

10) I would guess that this uninspiring little film was probably inspiredby Stephen King's book 'Carrie', and possibly even Brian De Palma'sfilm adaptation, as while this film was released in the same year; I'msure that there was more than enough time to write the script and makethe film with what was left of it. Spiders are common throughout horrorcinema, and big tarantulas are a fear of many people. Adding to thistheme is the tried and tested formula of a young female outcast gettingher revenge…so really, there's not many excuses for this film notbeing better. Kiss of the Tarantula hasn't gone on to achieve muchacclaim and it's rather unknown, which doesn't surprise me at all. Thefilm focuses on a young girl who likes spiders. Her mother doesn'tshare this arachnid appreciation, however, and after continuallytelling her daughter off for playing with spiders, the young girldecides that enough is enough and ends up putting a spider in hermother's bed, which leads to a heart attack. Some years later, the girlis still disturbed; and decides to use the spiders to get revenge onher current enemies.

The fact that this film was shot on a low budget is clearly shownthrough the use of the spiders; as it can't have cost much to round afew up for filming, and this is pretty much all the film has in termsof horror imagery. The spiders are about enough to pull it through, butthe film is otherwise lacking; and I find it hard to believe thateveryone except the central character is scared of them. The plotssurrounding the spiders isn't too interesting either, with only theidea of the young girl being an outcast for her 'hobby' and a plotinvolving her uncle and her mother having an affair providingdistraction from the central theme. The fact that the film is set in afuneral home is a positive element, as mortuaries often provide aninteresting location for horror films, and that works well here. As youmight expect given the type of film, the acting is largely diabolical,and I'm not surprised that this was the only film role for SuzannaLing. Director Chris Munger never made another film after this onealso, and overall; Kiss of the Tarantula is almost worth seeing, butyou wouldn't be missing anything by not watching it.

Leonard Schrader (writer)

• Sonia Braga did not speak English at the time of production, and had to recite her lines phonetically.
• During rehearsals, the two actors had trouble finding the chemistry they needed for their scenes together. To better understand what each needed from the other’s role, William Hurt suggested they try an experiment where they would switch roles, with Hurt as Valentin and Julia as Molina. The role-switching rehearsal went so well that Hurt initially suggested to director Hector Babenco that they should switch parts for the film as well. Obviously, the switch did not occur, but Hurt states that it was a very useful experiment in helping them more fully understand their own characters.
• Reportedly, William Hurt and Raul Julia worked for nothing but the payment for their air tickets and hotel bills in Brazil, where the film was shot.
• Chita Rivera won the 1993 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Musical for “Kiss of the Spiderwoman”.
• The original Broadway production of the musical “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” opened at the Broadhurst Theater in New York on May 3, 1993, ran for 904 performances and won the 1993 Tony Awards for the Best Musical, Book and Score.

What interests me more for the purposes of this little blurb is that no onehas commented on how the "film within a film" (much like the "play within aplay" in Hamlet) reflects the actual events unfolding in the prison cell. Molina (William Hurt) is ostensibly retelling his favorite film to entertainValentin (Raul Julia) and make the time pass more quickly, but he himselfadmits that he "embroiders" the story to make it more real. So who is tosay if this film exists except in Molina’s mind, and if it does, what reallytranspired in the film? The story about the French woman who is in lovewith a German officer during World War II, and must decide whether or not tobetray him, is an obvious parallel to Molina’s decision to betray Valentinor not. Even Molina says that he most identifies with Leni La Maison (SoniaBraga) in this film of his, and it’s not just because he is a drag queen. It’s because he has to choose between the man he loves and "patriotism" (inhis case, represented by the police/government as well as his ailingmother).

This storytelling tactic works brilliantly, in my opinion. Kiss of theSpider Woman is indeed original, quirky, and a must-see.

2) "Spider Woman", although anemotionally draining film, is a trueclassic. Right from the first scene,you feel the frustration of Valentinand Molina, both outcasts of society,yet for very different reasons.

The acting is nothing less thanextraordinary. William Hurt as thelonely homosexual, Molina, the lateRaul Julia, as the stern, but deeplycaring political prisoner, Valentin,and Sonia Braga, who takes on threedifferent roles, including the titlerole, and plays them all brilliantly, are what makes this film

so great.

Although Hurt deservingly won theOscar for Best Actor, the sameconsideration should have been givento Julia and Braga for theircontribution.

If you’ve seen it, see it again….ifyou haven’t, I highly recommend youdo.

3) This film, about two thoroughly different souls turning into each other, isone of the all-time greats. The writing is crisp, the acting is phenomenal,and the story is exquisite. I have read the book in both Spanish andEnglish, seen the musical four times, read the script of the play, andwatched this movie over and over again… I recommend it to anyone who wantsa true powerhouse drama, not a schmaltzy tearjerker.

4) The first time I saw this movie it had just been released. The theaterwas packed and my wife and I ended up sitting in the front row on awing. I hated the movie. I couldn’t understand what all the hoopla wasabout and it just didn’t sit well. My wife and I discussed the movieafter wards and she couldn’t believe I didn’t like it. She liked it alot. After discussing it I agreed to see it again and not sit in thefront row. I quickly discovered I was wrong about the movie. WilliamHurt and Raul Julia are outstanding. This movie resonated on manydifferent levels that it’s hard to describe. The friendship between thetwo main characters was absolute regardless of their presentunfortunate situation. They are two ordinary people thrown together byfate in an extremely difficult situation and they make the best of it.The conflicts going on around them would destroy lesser men. Theirreality is bleak, at best, and they find a way to survive. Powerfulperformances at every level are the order of the day. Sonja Braga is adelightful distraction as real as any fantasy. I can’t wait for thismovie to come out on DVD!

5) "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is a fine portrayal of how two completelydifferent men can come to understand one another and how unselfish lovecantranscend sexual preference. The story slowly reveals itself as the movieprogresses, and in the end,the film is about much more than is firstapparent. I admired the gutsy performances by Hurt and Julia, and thedirection by Brazilian Hector Babenco, who uses long, involved shots,instead of cutting away quickly (which, unfortunately, is used so often).The film hasn’t remained very well known since it was released in 1985,butit is definitely worth seeing if you can find it. 8/10

6) Slow-paced but amazingly compelling and moving drama, mainly set in thefilthy prison cell of a never-named Latin American dictatorshipcountry. It is here that the flamboyant homosexual Molina shares hisescape-fantasies with the idealistic (but heterosexual) revolutionarywarrior Valentin. The stories they tell, either coming from Molina’svivid imagination or from Valentin’s struggling past, all feature asimilar woman. This primarily Brazilian film is a quintessential pieceof artwork. No wild car-chases, gunfights or steamy sex sequences herebut you’ll be fascinated by the strong dialogs, the mesmerizing actingperformances and the professional directing skills of Hector Babenco.The growing relationship between the two opposite protagonists ismasterfully illustrated and the depressing set-pieces only increaseyour sympathy for the both of them. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is theonly film I’ve seen so far that successfully implements a complexstructure containing flashbacks as well as dream-sequences – and evenfilm-in-film images – without becoming overly confusing. Raul Julia andWilliam Hurt both deliver their finest performances ever, and thelatter righteously got rewarded with an Oscar. A definite must see forevery demanding fan of film-making.

7) A bizarre, evocative film which seems strange even now — I can'timagine what audiences made of it in 1985.

William Hurt and Raul Julia play cell mates, one gay, the otherstraight, rotting away in a Latin American prison under the iron thumbof a tyrannical dictatorship. At first, Julia's Latin machismo makeshim repelled by Hurt's flamboyant femininity, but the two graduallybond, thrown together as they are, and discover a kind of love thattranscends conventions about love and sex and that can probably onlyexist between two people surviving in extreme conditions.

Hurt, already known as a strapping leading man at the time, took quitea risk playing this fey character, especially at a time when moviesstill weren't comfortable with mainstream portrayals of gays, but hisrisk payed off — he won that year's Best Actor Academy Award andbecame just about the hottest actor in town for a few years there inthe mid-80s. Julia has a much less showy role, but the success of thefilm is dependent upon the strength of both male leads, and hedelivers. Sonia Braga plays the eponymous spider woman, a dream figurecobbled together by both men from their imaginations and memories ofold movies.

This film is a big downer, but if you enjoy well-acted, well-writtenstories, then the depressing ending is worth it.

Grade: A

***1/2 out of ****

Exceptional, daring movie about a homosexual prisoner and a politicallydriven prisoner, who come to terms with their differences and start afriendship. William Hurt is brilliant as the homosexual prisoner, who’sonlyescape from his sad reality is to talk about an old movie he once saw.RaulJulia is every bit as good as the tough as nails, politicalrevolutionary.The direction is good, too.

9) To each his own form of escape. For political prisoner Valentin it is adream of freedom with the woman he loves; for cellmate Luis it is togain a sense of higher purpose by becoming involved with a selflesscause for a love he can never have. In Kiss of the Spider Woman film isan escape on two levels – a momentary reverie from inhuman conditionsin a nondescript bastille and as pure cinematic escapism for the viewerwho can become lost in a movie of thought-provoking fantasy andfilm-within-a-film parallels.

Luis Molina (William Hurt) is a homosexual window dresser, now aconvict in an undefined Latin American prison (marked simply with thename Pavilhao IV), locked away for corrupting a minor. His cellmate isValentin Arregui (Raul Julia), a journalist revolutionary detained andtortured for his political ties. At first Valentin is annoyed byMolina's fanciful attitude as the two men clearly have opposite lifeviews, but eventually grows to depend on his kindness – a complexrelationship that becomes even more intricate when Luis begins to fallin love.

Molina passes the time by telling the story of one of his favoritefilms, a German propaganda feature that finds distracted singer Leni(Sonia Braga) falling for an enemy Nazi soldier, confused about whetherto continue aiding the French Resistance with a plot to steal a secretmap to a German arsenal, or trusting in the man she loves. As her storyprogresses, Molina's real life begins to imitate the embroideredfiction of the movie – for his involvement with Valentin evolves intosomething shockingly deliberate.

The performances by William Hurt and Raul Julia are quite masterful,with Hurt embodying a quirky and unexpected character resoundinglyunique amongst major roles of the time (they were purportedly cast ineach other's roles, switching when the chemistry wasn't natural).Although the story is daringly bizarre and oddly beautiful, it is theperformances by the leading roles that outshine the morals of the tale.Hurt in drag with his lingering monologues and frequent one-sidedconversations is a courageous role that won him the Best Actor Oscar of1985.

Kiss of the Spider Woman's claim to fame was it's groundbreakingachievement of being the first independent film ever to receive the topfour Oscar nominations, including Best Picture for producer DavidWeisman, Best Director for Hector Babenco, and Best Adapted Screenplayfor Leonard Schrader from Manuel Puig's novel. A melancholy romantictheme presides over the muted browns of Molina's fantasy narrative andthe darkly tinted blues of their bleak existence as pawns for theoppressive right-wing regime. The escapism and fantasy of Kiss of theSpider Woman is just as relevant as today, and this disturbinglysingular film is a one-of-a-kind, unforgettable retreat.

- Mike Massie

10) Raul Julia and William Hurt play Valentin Arregui and Luis Molina,cell-mates in a South American jail. Valentin is a political prisonertrying to keep his sanity, and Luis is a gay man with fantasies ofNazis and their beautiful women. These two men are opposites invirtually every way, but are forced to grow to respect each other.Sonia Braga plays the woman in both men’s fantasies: the "Spider Woman"and the Nazi’s lover.

That’s the plot, but the movie is really a metaphor for anydictatorship. Obviously, any totalitarian state will imprison politicalopponents, and from what I know, most tyrants choose to lock uphomosexuals. Valentin even tries to make the pro-fascist Luisunderstand what the Nazis did to gays. Regardless of how the two meneventually view each other, it remains a really good movie.

Albert DeMond (titles)

As Universal dumped almost all its silent footage in 1948, it seemedfor a long time that this was all that survived — a terrible fate forCharley Chase fans. However, the word at Slapsticon '07 is that thereare private collectors out there with enough footage to just about makeup the entire movie and Universal is interested….. so stay tuned.

July 14, 2008: As an update, I have just received notice that thismovie has been restored and will be exhibited in Syracuse this summer.I look forward to hearing impressions of it and hope to see therestoration for myself some time.

Luc Besson (screenplay)

• The tunnel where Jet Li is ambushed by French policemen is the same tunnel at Pont d’Alma in Paris where Princess Diana died.
• At the orphanage, Jessica’s daughter is listed as “Isabel Kamen”. Isabel is the real first name of the girl who played the daughter (Isabelle Duhauvelle), and Kamen is the last name of the film‘s writer, Robert Mark Kamen.
• The only scenes that used CGI are when Jet Li falls down the laundry drop with CG flames surrounding him and in the hotel scene when Jet Li kicks the ball from the pool table.
• The only scenes involving wire work were when Jet Li had to jump up to kick the pool ball and when Cyril Raffaelli (Twin 1) performs his one-and-a-quarter backwards somersault-kick.
• Director Chris Nahon had to slow down the fight scene between Jet Li and Cyril Raffaelli because they were moving too fast for the camera.
• There are only seven wires used in the entire movie.
• The style of action in this movie was heavily influenced by comments made during series of messages posted by fans on the Jet Li website forum, immediately after the release of Romeo Must Die (2000) in the United States. The fans wanted more realistic fighting as in Jet Li’s movie Jing wu ying xiong (1994) (Fist of Legend).
• In the scene were Jet Li attacks Max Ryan Lupo, they were supposed to film the dialog scene separately from the fight that follows. However, after the dialog, the director didn’t say “cut”, and so Jet attacked Max. The take is in the final film – along with Max Ryan’s very realistic frightened expression.
• Cyril Raffaelli knows how to perform the one-and-a-quarter backwards somersault-kick he does in the final fight scene without the aid of wires. There were at least two takes without the wire, but supposedly Cyril was moving too fast for the camera. Wires were added in for “clarity”.
• The turtle that Richard keeps in his drawer was the pet of one of the crew members.
• This feature is included in the first wave of Blu-ray releases by Fox. A total of five movies were included in this initial wave. The others being: Fantastic Four (2005), Behind Enemy Lines (2001), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and Ice Age (2002).

• Continuity: Having used it to set about a few people in the police station, Liu Jian drops the flag, which then jumps about the floor between shots.
• Continuity: In the beginning when Liu Jian attempts to escape the French and breaks the door open after going down one level, he closes the glass door into the balcony. But when Richard and his men go into that room the balcony door is open.
• Continuity: The hotel receptionist takes his glasses off after giving Liu Jian the envelope addressed to ‘Mr Smith’ but the next time we see him, they are back on and he is taking them off again.

• Factual errors: When Richard says “I had a turtle, but your mother stole it from me” to the little girl, it is not a turtle (turtles live in the sea) it was a tortoise as it had feet not flippers and had half an apple in the draw.
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The apple on the laptop is upside down because that’s how they were designed at the time; the apple would then be right side up when the computer is closed. If you look at the computer you see that it is in fact open and the latch is at the top where it should be.
• Continuity: When Liu escapes the boat and jump under the bridge, he quickly join a metro platform. The name that can be seen on the wall is “Invalides”. When Liu enters the metro train the name can still be seen, but when the metro train leaves the station, the other station name boards on the wall display “Porte des Lilas”. (The scene was actually shot in the former “Porte des Lilas” metro station that is now dedicated for the shooting of films. The Director forgot to ask the staff to change all the station name boards to “Invalides”.)
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Bridget Fonda tells Jet Li that he has to sew up his bullet wound or it will get infected. In fact, (unless the patient is bleeding a lot) most soft tissue bullet wounds do best by simply cleaning them then allowing them to heal on their own. Sewing over a bullet wound unless you do a surgical scrub/washout is asking for a serious infection.

The story isn’t without its flaws, however. Mindless thugs doplay their part and there is an utterance of the most over-usedvillain line of all time: "Bring him to me alive; I’ll deal with himmyself" (or something to that affect). But somehow, it doesn’tsound quite so corny coming from actor Tcheky Karyo (asInspector Jean-Pierre Richard), who manages to play theheartless villain with a great deal of intelligence. Rounding out thecast is Bridget Fonda’s Jessica, the prostitute with a good heartand, yes, a young daughter in jeopardy. But despite its fewformulaic shortcomings, Kiss of the Dragon still delivers.

What really stands out in this film is the way the fightsequences flow with the rest of the story, unlike so many othermovies that seem to be constructed around a few preconceivedaction scenes. It’s a martial arts action film done right. Thanks tothe superb direction of Chris Nahon, Kiss of the Dragon is classy,well paced and gives us a near perfect blend of drama and levity(no ridiculous one-liners here, but definitely some laughs alongthe way). Best of all, Nahon engages the audience and makes thestory work to a reasonable level of believability.

2) KISS OF THE DRAGON / (2001) *** (out of four)

By Blake French:

I admire "Kiss of the Dragon" because it’s a wake-up call to theincreasingly desperate genre of martial arts action movies. After disasterslike "Romeo Must Die" and any recent Jackie Chan production, my expectationsfor "Kiss of the Dragon" were not exactly sky high. It seems as if everymovie like this replaces a story and characters with silly special effectsand high-tech action sequences involving martial arts fighting. Here, thereare solid, visible characters and an involving story. That’s a realaccomplishment these days.

Jet Li starred in 25 successful Asian films before making his debut inAmerica as the villain in the lackluster "Lethal Weapon 4." His last film,"Romeo Must Die," was a pitiful action extravaganza that borrowed elementsfrom Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet." Before this film, I could not standthis martial artist turned actor. Here, he makes a strong name for himself.He co-produces the film, stars in it, and created the original story.According the production notes, Li initially envisioned a dramatic film thatcombined his trademark martial arts and action heroics with strong,recognizable characters.

"I wasn’t interested in making a movie about a big action hero who savesthe day," explains Li. "My character, Liu Jiuan, is one of China’s bestagents, with tremendous abilities in martial arts and acupuncture. He’sdetermined and driven. But he’s not a superman; he’s human. When his missiongoes wrong, Liu initially doesn’t know how to handle things."

Liu Jiuan is the most skilled law enforcer in China brought to Paris on atop secret mission where he must assist an unorthodox police official namedRichard (Tcheky Karyo) in dealings involving some off the record drugtraffic. His mission goes awry and he quickly learns that Richard, whoseemingly has a limitless supply of henchmen, is the villainous mastermindbehind most of the crime in France. Liu becomes trapped in a dangerous conspiracy-Richard frames him for amurder he tried to stop. Liu also becomes involved with a local Americanwoman named Jessica (Bridget Fonda), who was forced into prostitution whenRichard kidnapped her child.

The story feels real, instead of a clothesline for countless gratuitousaction sequences. There are plenty of action sequences, however, and thefighting does not involve wires, phony stunts, or computer generated effectslike in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and "The Matrix." The fights aregrounded and real. "We went back to the basics," explains Jet Li, "keepingthe fighting simple and based more in reality." Liu’s principle fightingweapons are not guns or swords, but acupuncture needles, which play animportant role in the mysterious "kiss of the dragon" revealed at themovie’s climax.

"Kiss of the Dragon" is directed by French commercial director Chris Nohanin his feature film debut. He does a good job of involving the audience inthe action, and distracting us from some of the film’s weaknesses. But nodirector could conceal some of the bad writing, terrible dialogue,unanswered questions, plausible motives, and stereotypical character traits."Kiss of the Dragon" is not a great movie, but for Jet Li, this is goodstuff nonetheless.

3) I was hoping this movie to be better than ‘Romeo Must Die’ and I was notdisappointed. I truly believe this is Jet Li’s English coming out movie(toobad it was released in the summer when other bigger movies comeout).

I did not go to see the movie for the story line and those who don’t won’tbe disappointed either. The action was great especially the final scenes.Bridget Fonda did not do much (found her irritating in some scenes) butthenagain, did not watch the movie because she was there.

Believable, maybe not … Jet Li as the new Bruce Lee, mostdefinitely!

8/10

4) This is definitely Jet Li’s best action movie since he came over from HongKong. Some scenes reminiscent of Fist of Legend in this one. Quite wellchoreographed fight scenes with good realistic violence a la Bruce Lee. Theplot is rather formulaic, as is much of the dialogue (I expected betterfromBesson), but the movie has a bit of the ‘Nikita’ flair (guys going crazywith fully automatic weapons in public places). A bit too much talking andnot enough fighting, but far superior to ‘Romeo Must Die’. The use of nowires is also a very nice touch. Best action movie of this summer so far.(8/10)

5) I expect most of these Hong Kong martial-arts films to be packed withaction but most feature either a little humor (Jackie Chan) orbeautiful scenery ("Hero," etc.) or wild special effects ("CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon" and more)…..but this one features a mean edge.I'm not used to seeing these Asian films with a lot of profanity(mainly f-words) or bloody scenes almost to the point of being gross,which one scene was in here.

The hero is likable guy played by Jet Li. Despite his martial artspenchant for violence, he has a soft, boyish look to him and doesn'tseem to fit the type. He's always the gentleman in here, with noprofanity either. The villains, led by Tchecky Karyo, are brutal.Bridget Fonda, playing a hooker, at least wasn't some "Pretty Woman"type figure. She was rough, too, but at least realistic and I give hercredit for not worrying about how she looked in here, beauty-wise.

I don't regret seeing this film. It was entertaining, but beware: it'sa rough movie.

6) ‘Kiss of the Dragon’ might be just another ‘action/martial arts’ movie thatis sitting on the shelf of your local video store. However once you start towatch it, you will realise that like some of its characters, it is a moviethat is very deceptive and will leave you breathless. With the screenplaybased on the story written by star Jet Li himself, this film has momentsthat no-one could ever comprehend seeing. While Li might be criticised forbeing ‘one dimensional’ in his movie roles, it has to be said that he is oneof the best martial arts actors going around at the presenttime.

Liu, a Chinese intelligence officer, goes to Paris on assignment and becomesembroiled in a deadly conspiracy. When the man he has come to help betrayshim, he is forced on the run, accused of a murder he didn’t commit. He teamsup with Jessica, an American woman forced into prostitution against herwill, who wants to escape and seek justice. As Jessica and Liu go up againstcunning and ruthless adversaries, Liu makes a promise to Jessica that couldcompromise his career, even his life.

The star of this film is Liu (Jet Li), who is an expert Chinese cop sent tostop an international drug conspiracy. He is traveling to the city of Parisfor the first time, making it totally alien to him. Liu carries only a gunand needles which are rapt around his wrist. These are acupuncture needles,which he has the skill to use, to help heal his friends or kill his enemies.The finale action sequence has Liu refer to the title of the film, wherebythe use of a needle technique called ‘Kiss of the Dragon’, which is highlyillegal, as it must be, which can disrupt the body’s blood flow, making allthe blood travel to the head and then killing the person as it tries toescape from whatever cavity it can. This scene was astonishing to see beingplayed out.

The supporting cast in ‘Kiss of the dragon’ consists of Jessica (beautyBridget Fonda), a girl who is forced to take drugs and be a prostitute byFrench Police inspector Richard (Tcheky Karyo). You do not refuse Richard,as the consequences could be fatal. He has many henchmen that are on thelookout for ‘John’ (Liu), as he has the evidence that could destroy Richard.Along the way Jessica meets up with Liu and they help each other out ofsticky situations that have arisen. I enjoy the role taken on by Fonda alot, as her character gives the story its emotion and balance whereby shehelps Liu get around Paris.

I like how and where this movie was presented. The director shows off Parisin many ways, such as landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, which is cleverlyincorporated through a fighting sequence. The director Chris Nahon was ableto do this, via producer and screenwriter Luc Besson’s help in gettingleading cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, who did some great work. While thestory might be simple on the surface, who can complain when there is suchgreat action scenes to compensate.

This then leads me into ‘Kiss of the dragon’s’ action and stunts which areexhilarating. Li’s character has many fighting sequences that you wouldbelieve he has no hope of winning. The start of the film makes uncertain ofwhat is going to happen, then in the blink of an eye you are presented withaction and stunts that will leave you speechless. The one scene at the startwhich shows Liu slamming a billiard ball to kill a villain was unbelievable.Then the fighting scenes at the shop, boat, office building and orphanageare full-on, making them intoxicating to the viewers. However one of thefinal fighting scenes with Liu taking on a whole class of Black belts ishilarious, as you know he is going to win.

‘Kiss of the Dragon’ works, because where the story is lacking, the actionand fighting scenes take up the slack. Jet Li has done some good movies,such as `Lethal Weapon 4′ and ‘Romeo Must Die’ where he shows off all hismartial art skills. If you have not seen him in either of those films, thenwatch them by all means. Finally, I want to mention that I have had manytreatments of acupuncture in 2002 which have helped me immensely. However,when I have my next treatment of those ‘little needles’ I might squirm abit, being quick to remember what Liu could do with an acupuncture needle.

CMRS gives ‘Kiss of the Dragon’: 4 (Very Good Film)

7) As part of an international case, Chinese police officer Liu Jian comesto France to assist his opposite number in a sting operation. However,Richard turns out to be on the wrong side of the law and frames Liu forthe murder of several key people in the case. Liu goes on the run withevidence that he didn’t commit the crimes, with only the word of aninnocent prostitute to back him up. With even the Chinese embassyunable to bring Liu in, he is forced to try and expose the corruptionand take the fight to them.

With so many of Jet Li’s American movies being pretty messydisappointments, it was no surprise that I just gave this a miss whenit came out at the cinema and never got round to seeing it on video.However on television the only thing I am wasting is my own time (notmoney) so I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised to find that,though not comparable to his best films, Kiss of the Dragon is easilyone of the best films that he has made outside of Hong Kong. The plotmay have been made up by Li and turned to a script by Luc Besson but itdoes come off as a bit obvious and overblown. At times the dialogue isa bit heavy and there are a few moments where the film is a bit talkyfor a bit long without any of it coming to a great deal but mostly itis pretty enjoyable. It is not a great story but there is enough toengage even if it is pretty poor in some ways – the whole coincidencearound Liu meeting Jessica again was a bit shoddily done but the detailis not that important in this sort of film.

No, what is important is the quality of the action and here it is a lotbetter than his recent films such as Romeo or Cradle. The action scenesare scattered a bit thin around the film at times but generally theyare enjoyable sequences which are pretty exciting and fluid. The filmis refreshingly free of flying and wiring work, lending the fightscenes a more realistic (!?) and brutal air. Not only are the fightscenes good but the mix of the usual action movie ‘guns n’ running’stuff is also well handled with some pretty fast scenes.

The cast are pretty good even if the international mix of actors all inParis is a bit strange. Li is natural and pretty good – I have alwaysmaintained he is a good actor (or at least a charismatic leading man)but most American movies have forced him to be silent and posturing tomatch the gangbanging story. Here he plays a good character as well asbeing given plenty of good fights to show how technically able he is.Fonda is OK even if she is a strange casting decision for thischaracter; she does well enough but at times I could have accepted lessof her as she is the reason for a lot of the talky stuff that couldhave been scaled back. Karyo just simply hams it up so much that itwould have been possible to actually glaze him at some points near theend. He is effectively bad and it works but he is on auto-pilot for alot of this. The support cast are all OK, although some of Li’ssparring partners are obviously not that good at acting (the whitetwins are good examples) but fans of Harry Hill or the Pink Pantherwill find much amusement from the minor role given to Burt Kwouk!

Overall this is a good film in its own right but, compared to Li’sother American films so far, this is by far the best. The plot ispretty run of the mill but still engages but some parts of the film area bit too talky for no real reason. The fight scenes are pretty brutaland are better for not overdosing on wire-fu stuff and my onlycomplaint about them was that there could have been a few more. Ofcourse, this doesn’t really compare to the best of Li’s Hong Kongmaterial but it is still much better than the rest of his Americanstuff and is worth a look for fans of martial arts action.

The action scenes in "Kiss of the Dragon" are outstanding. The skill of theplayers, and their direction is nonpareil. One doesn’t see any of the littlescenes where two or three fighters are jumping up and down waiting for theircues. Pay attention to the fight scene in the police training room. I thinkits the best I’ve seen. A trademark of Jet Li films seems to be a display ofthe highest quality martial arts. His skills, and those of his antagonists,provide detailed and polished confrontations that are simply thrilling. AndI love those needles!

The pace of the film is excellent too. The action just keeps coming. Thereis just enough talking and character interaction to keep the plot alive andwell. Bridget Fonda manages well in a role I think was not really designedfor her. She is one of those actors who always finds her character and makesit work.

The film is violent, to be sure. And the bad guys are the worst. Theirblatant, public methods are almost too much to believe. Still, the pace ofthe action leaves one little time to ponder details. One element I wish thedirector had left out is Jet Li dodging about a thousand rounds of full autogunfire. Everyone seems compelled to shoot such scenes, but two guns rakingrounds across the hotel lobby could not possibly miss. It is virtuallyenfilade fire, and no one could get through that. Otherwise, the firearmsaction was believable and thrilling to watch.

Even the music, though not my style, seems to work well with the action. Thedirector puts it all together in a wild ride I can recommend to any actionfilm fan.

9) I had heard mixed bag comments about this movie and finally my boy had itonDVD so I gave it a shot. I was very surprised by the moderate gore inthis- it’s pretty painfully disgusting to watch sometimes but it’s not likethat’s a bad thing. Jet Li shows us why he is one of the mostwell-respected action stars as well as a pure martial artist. On top ofthat, the role fits him and no one else – besides I get a blast out hisnonchalance accompanied w/ his fighting skills. Bridget Fonda, who Ihaven’t seen in a while, turns in a good performance as a prostitute whoisblown off then befriended by Li’s character. The fight scenes in thisweregreat and I swear I couldn’t stop laughing when Jet Li kicked the p***outof one of the twins(killing him) and left him still kneeling w/ his headturned, that was absolutely priceless!!! This is by far Jet Li’s best inAmerica

10/10

10) Jet Li really packs a punch in this action farce. I believe it’s his bestso far…followed by the decent Romeo Must Die and the laughable disasterThe One. Bridget Fonda is astounding in this movie. She is a knockout. Thevillain and his henchmen are magnificent. Exciting and thrilling action atit’s finest. 9 out of 10.