A Kiss Before Dying (1991)

Realising his secret girl-friend Dorothy's pregnancy will sour her relations with her ultra-rich father, career-minded Philadelphia student Jonathan Corliss coolly murders her, making it ... See full summary »

Director:

James Dearden

Writers:

Ira Levin (novel), James Dearden (screenplay)

Stars:

James Bonfanti, Sarah Keller, Sean Young

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Bonfanti	...	Young Jonathan
Sarah Keller	...	Lecturer
Sean Young	...	Ellen / Dorothy Carlsson
Martha Gehman	...	Patricia Farren
Lia Chang	...	Shoe Saleslady
Matt Dillon	...	Jonathan Corliss
Yvette Edelhart	...	Screaming Lady
Max von Sydow	...	Thor Carlsson
Jim Fyfe	...	Terry Dieter
Lachele Carl	...	Reporter
Briony Glassco	...	Waitress
Shane Rimmer	...	Commissioner Malley
James Russo	...	Dan Corelli
Diane Ladd	...	Mrs. Corliss
Adam Horovitz	...	Jay Faraday

Storyline

Realising his secret girl-friend Dorothy's pregnancy will sour her relations with her ultra-rich father, career-minded Philadelphia student Jonathan Corliss coolly murders her, making it look like suicide. He then moves to New York to woo her twin sister Ellen. All seems to go well for him, although Ellen's continued investigations into what she is convinced was no suicide forces him to kill again.

---

Plot Keywords:

twin | murder | single parent | chase | heritage | 

---

Taglines:

Loving him was easy. Trusting him was deadly.

---

Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for areas of strong violence, graphic sensuality, and some language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Kuß vor dem Tode

Filming Locations:

Brocket Hall, Lemsford, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross:

$15,429,177 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Initial Pictures, Kellgate Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sean Young signed on after Bridget Fonda quit the production.

---

Goofs

When Ellen and Jonathan take the injured homeless woman to the hospital, Ellen talks to a nurse and offers to pay the bill. First, the nurse is wearing a stiff white cap and uniform. Most nurses, especially in the ER, had stopped wearing this type of uniform by the time the film was set. Also, she gives the nurse the money for the bill. Nurses do not handle billing and collection in hospitals. Plus, she didn't seem to know how much the bill was. And no receipt?

---

Quotes

Nurse: She's got two broken ribs, a broken jaw, and a bad concussion. We're going to keep her overnight for observation.

---

Connections

Remade as Rishi (1992)

---

Soundtracks

"Dangerous Love"
Written by Simon Stokes & Mark Hefferman
Performed by Simon Stokes
Courtesy of Kook Records

User Reviews

Totally awful. I expected more.

As one of my favorite cartoon characters once said, "It was awful. Worse than awful. It reeked. It oozed badness from every pore...Well, maybe not THAT bad, but Lord it wasn't good." Loads of bad acting. I can't imagine why. Matt Dillon is a good actor. I was actually watching to see Ben Browder (currently of Farscape). Even he was less than stellar. I'll attribute it to bad writing (Ouch! And me an aspiring writer). At any rate, the plot of the movie was acceptable. I like a good murder mystery (even if it wasn't that much of mystery to the audience). This is definitely a movie that would have benefited from a better director, writer, editor, producer, etc.