Kiss or Kill (film)
| Kiss or Kill | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Bill Bennett |
| Produced by | Bill Bennett |
| Written by | Bill Bennett |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Malcolm McCulloch |
| Edited by | Henry Dangar |
| Distributed by | New Vision Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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96 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Box office | A$929,021 (Australia) |
Kiss or Kill is a 1997 Australian thriller about two lovers and fugitives from the law who are pursued across the Australian Outback. The film was written and directed by Bill Bennett, and stars Frances O'Connor and Matt Day.
"After a robbery scam that goes bad, lovers Nikki and Al take off into the Australian outback, pursued by the police and a malevolent footballer named Zipper Doyle, and meet a number of offbeat characters." (Cover notes, DVD release)
A woman off camera explains how she has difficulty trusting people, especially men, because of things she saw when she was young. This comment introduces a prologue in which a little girl watches helplessly as a man, presumably her father, appears at the door, douses her mother with petrol and sets her alight.
The young girl, now a woman in her twenties, is Nikki Davies (Frances O'Connor). Nikki and her boyfriend, Al Fletcher (Matt Day), are small-time criminals who target married businessmen. Nikki picks up a charmless patent attorney in a bar and accompanies him back to his room where she slips something in his drink. The man passes out, Nikki lets Al into the room and they begin casing it for valuables.
Then things start to go wrong. Al discovers their mark is not merely unconscious but dead. They flee the scene but back at their place the situation gets more complicated. A video in the patent attorney's briefcase features a famous ex-footballer, Zipper Doyle, engaged in pedophilia. Enraged, Nikki leaves an abusive message on the answering machine at Doyle's gym. Meanwhile, Al fast-forwards to the next scene in the video. Doyle is with a woman who looks disconcertingly similar to Nikki.
At the break of day, the lovers depart Adelaide, setting out across the Nullabor Plain for Perth. Soon they are being pursued by Doyle - who wants his tape back - as well as the police. That night they stop at a motel in the middle of nowhere, run by a lonely eccentric by the name of Stan (Max Cullen). Stan's attempts at hospitality backfire when Nikki's shirt catches alight over a dinner of fondue. This incident and a sleepwalking episode later that night not only underscore the lovers' precarious situation but also serve as reminders of Nikki's horrible past.
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Wikipedia