Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Polygram USA Video
• VHS Release Date: November 2, 1999
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00002JWZP
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #533,975 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As Mysterious as the Australian Outback, August 20, 2000

By 

dev1 (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss Or Kill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Kiss Or Kill kept me on the edge of my seat for nearly two hours. Young lovers Nikki and Al are petty scam artists. Nikki picks up wealthy business men in bars, takes then back to their hotel room, then drugs them to sleep. Al arrives, and the two are off with the booty. Only something goes wrong this time, and the perp goes to sleep never to wake again. There stolen treasure, and their demise, is a homemade chicken video featuring a famous and wealthy ex-footballer (soccer player) named Zipper Doyle. Robbery is a messy business, but blackmail would be much more clean and profitable.

Nikki and Al escape across the Australian outback pursued by the police and Zipper. During their travels, the people they meet end up dead. Not unusual for a road adventure, except that the viewer doesn't witness the murders. Al is prone to violent outbursts, where Nikki is shaken by the string of murders. Nikki's character is the more complex and elusive. She witnessed a horrifying act as a child, and she also sleep walks. Much like the relationship of a conventional couple, Nikki and Al surmount mistrust, selfishness, greed and loathing; their trials are on the road (surrounded by corpses), not at home. Their love is always precariously balanced between bliss and self-destruction. And in the end, their love is triumphant.

Most interesting about Kiss Or Kill is the supernatural aura of the outback. Only Nikki feels its magnetism. Writer-director Bill Bennett is an excellent storyteller: revealing just enough to satisfy the viewer's appetite, but always keeping some of the storyline secret to hold the viewer's attention. He loves jump shoots. The effect is unsettling, just as intended. He also shoots the lovers from different angles. Back and forth between the two: profile, side, back. We can't tell if they're siting or standing, moving or still. Very disorienting. We've kept guessing as to exactly what the couple are doing. So are the police, so is Zipper Doyle, and so are the other characters in the film. Nikki and Al are on a trip with no destination. The only thing that we are certain of (and proven wrong) is that they will not be successful.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood can't touch this kind of film-making, June 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kiss Or Kill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is not a love story - it's not about a couple in love travelling around. It is much more. The opening scene has the be one of the most chilling scenes I've ever seen. The twists and turns kept me wanting more throughout the movie. The scenery is awe-inspiring (especially the nuclear testing site). The dialog is witty. Doesn't anyone remember the word "original" anymore?

Note that there is absolutely no music in this movie. All the suspense, shocks and emotion is immersive - you feel it because it seems real to you, the film-making convinces you, not because the music tricks you into it. I'd like to see Hollywood pull this off - I've heard film makers claim that the music in movies is 3/4 of the emotional experience!? Then we wonder why most movies out of Hollywood are forgettable, uninspiring, "nothing new here" drivel.

Anyone who's sick of Hollywood american-centric films should see this. Anyone who enjoys stylish movies like Tarantino will definitely enjoy this film.

3.0 out of 5 stars Hope you like kangaroo, August 21, 2001

By 

D. Hartley (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kiss Or Kill [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The time-honored Desperate Lovers On The Lam Noir gets the Outback treatment in this modestly budgeted Aussie thriller that initially recalls "Natural Born Killers" but opts for the low-key approach of "Badlands" in telling its story. There is an atypical plot element that cannot be discussed in much depth without becoming a "spoiler". Suffice it to say that there is a bit of Peter Weir influence (think "The Last Wave", with its cryptic elements of Aboriginal mysticism). The film is boosted by uniformly good performances, with the compelling Frances O'Connor emerging as someone to watch for in the future. The film's ending feels a bit forced and "tacked on", and some repetitive film school tricks are somewhat distracting, but certainly not unexpected with a fledgling director. Worth a look.