40
Metascore
26 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThis is Matt Dillon's first film since Drugstore Cowboy, and demonstrates again that he is one of the best actors working in movies. He possesses the secret of not giving too much, of not trying so hard that we're distracted by his performance.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyA Kiss Before Dying is not Crime and Punishment. It is pop movie making to be enjoyed without guilt.
- 60EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanWhat's missing here though is the novel's trick of being a wonderfully contrived mystery on the surface while underneath lurks an angry and upsetting analysis of class injustice in the USA.
- 50Time OutTime OutWriter/director Dearden's version of Ira Levin's novel is routine stuff, neither thrilling nor revealing as a portrait of a psychopath.
- 40Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversDillon is a potent combination of looks, charm and menace, as he proved in Drugstore Cowboy, but Dearden’s script fails to provide the raw material that would let him go beyond the stereotype.
- 40TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineA Kiss Before Dying is one of those films that may play absurdly in a theatre, eliciting hoots, groans and sighs of relief at its end from the audience, but on video provides a mindless, undemanding diversion.
- 30Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAustin ChronicleSteve DavisDirector-screenwriter Dearden, who wrote the script for Fatal Attraction, does a terrible job of making the pieces of the who's-he-going-to-kill-next narrative stick; jumping around with an unnerving frequency, this film self-destructs before your very eyes.
- 30Los Angeles TimesPeter RainerLos Angeles TimesPeter RainerFor those of us who don’t fancy ourselves connoisseurs of badness, A Kiss Before Dying is less than delectable. It’s a real botch-a-thon, and it gets worse as it goes along.
- 16Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanWith its waxy color scheme and nonexistent pace, the movie is like an homage to Hitchcock’s worst period.