Apocalypse Kiss is a sci-fi film produced by Potent Media and set in the future where a serial killer known as the Red Harvest Killer is running loose terrorizing the city. Detective Jerry Hipple has been unsuccessful in capturing him and is tormented by the Red Harvest Killer’s taunts and arrogance as well as his own past. But things will change for both of them as two women, Gladys and Katia, enter into the city looking for trouble and they go to a local dealer because they had information that he was loaded in more than one way. He gives them a hard time while letting them taste his product and he wants something in return from them, specifically sex, and Gladys finally agrees despite being repulsed by him. However they didn’t intend to buy anything from him because Katia stabs and kills him as he starts having sex with Gladys, and they proceed to take up residence in his place. The media, in a rush to sensationalize events attributes one of their murders to the Red Harvest Killer and he’s infuriated by this as he deems their murder an act of savagery and his a work of art, and his latest murder was completely left out. To attempt to rectify this he reaches out to Detective Hipple, who knows the murders aren’t the same, in order for the public to ultimately know the difference and recognize his repulsive acts in this struggling society. But with the planet Sirius on a collision course with Earth will any of this ultimately matter?

When I approach Indie sci-fi films it’s with the understanding that the special effects won’t be grandiose and on the level of summer blockbusters. But the essence of a really good sci-fi film isn’t dazzling special effects but the way it sparks the imagination, pose questions by raising interesting dilemmas, and/or address situations in unique ways. Apocalypse’s Kiss’s premise seemed to put it in a position to rely heavily on the latter two while giving just enough to spark the imagination so its premise, and message, would be more entertaining, and perhaps, believable. So I was paying attention to the way it opened up with Gladys and Katia as a means to establish the society’s condition and what it brought out of people, and the dealer’s chauvinistic mentality was clearly a means to explore part of Katia and Gladys’s mentality and how far they would be willing to go to achieve their goals. I was shocked at the male full frontal nudity because it was surprising, and because male nudity isn’t my thing, and I wondered if this was indicative of the movie confronting its subject matter in a no-holds barred fashion. Katia, who interestingly enough didn’t talk and only communicated with Gladys through signs, was clearly the leader out of the two despite her nonverbal communication. When we’re introduced to the Red Harvest Killer for the first time, who was also naked (so fair warning is given), it’s not in the midst of a murder and the contrast was easily drawn as his life seemed far from the grimiest parts of society and beneath that sophisticated facade was a conniving arrogance. Unknowingly, his day would cross paths with Katia and Gladys because he would notice the two of them while doing a security clearance from his office and instead of raising a red flag for 2 unauthorized people in the city with false IDs, he would dismiss it.

SUMMARY

Apocalypse Kiss has its enjoyable, suspenseful, and surprising moments but the lack of an overall context to the different story lines makes their crossing paths less effective and becomes a missed opportunity for a memorable statement. The acting is very good at times and makes the characters intriguing for the most part but a few times it seemed as if they were just put in situations randomly. The ending is satisfying, and there was enough throughout to make it entertaining.