Blu-Ray Review: The Death Kiss

By Brad Henderson

I feel privileged to watch The Death Kiss. Kino Lorber is awesome for putting together this transfer and working with the Library Of Congress to give this film the best release it has ever had and a full-on 35mm restoration. Wow.

The Death Kiss was released in 1932 with Bela Lugosi’s name smeared everywhere, but what’s weird is that Lugosi isn’t in it all that much. Sure, he has a substantial role, but David Manners steals this film as the lovable Franklyn Drew. The Death Kiss is about a lead actor who is murdered on the set. In a scene from the movie within the movie, he’s accidentally gunned down by live ammunition. Everyone quickly realizes it was not actually an accident. The set is closed and detectives come to investigate. During that time the fun-loving Franklyn Drew shows up and annoyingly points the police in the direction they should go.

Yes, this film is a crime/whodunit flick but it is lighthearted all the way through with likable characters and dashes of comedy in every scene. It feels like this would have been a huge hit during its cinematic run because it has everything you could want: action, love story, comedy, and more, plus an all-star cast.

I’m always down to watch films from this era because they do genre mix-ups quite frequently and it’s delightful. This was also director Edward L. Marin’s debut. He did a bang-up job so it’s no wonder he went on to do bigger and better things after this, including the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, which is still considered a classic today.

Even though this film sits in public domain I’m stoked that Kino took the time to make a good transfer available so people can enjoy this timeless classic once again. The special features are short (which is expected) but they did their best with the transfer and included the color sequences done by Gustav Brock and a commentary by film historian Richard Harland Smith.

I’m hoping this release catches on. Kino Lorber has always been a company I can trust but this film just gives me more of a reason to do so.

The Death Kiss was released by Kino Lorber on October 14.