It was a box-office failure,[3] and received mixed reviews from critics, with some dismissing it on the basis of its performances, while others compared it to the classic horror film Cat People (1942).

She walks past a gun shop, and stops to look intently at the pistols in the front window, possibly considering buying one of them, when suddenly she is killed in a gruesome freak car accident.

The family's matronly next-door neighbor, Brenda, a nurse, finds Felice off-putting, and suffers allergies similar to those she experiences around cats.

One night, Jack goes downstairs after hearing a noise, and is attacked by a wild cat who escapes through the kitchen window; Amy is able to find some solace in her love interest, Terry.

When Amy confides in him of Felice's mysterious behavior, Terry goes to confront her at her hotel, and stumbles in on her in the midst of a bizarre ritual, after which he is attacked while driving away in his jeep by the wild cat.

[10] Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the film "rich in disgusting special effects and poor in every other regard", and remarked on its unimpressive performances.

[11] Time Out called the film a "daft and derivative possession pic", noting Mimi Kuzyk as providing "the only shred of credible humanity".

"[14] Roger Hurlburt of the Sun Sentinel noted: "The Kiss has a few moments, but too much talk and slow, oh-so-slow sequences leading up to the action, pad the film terribly.

"[17] Michael Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram deemed the film "an eerie, often inept but strangely rewarding oddity...  director Pen Densham succeeds brilliantly at rendering his audience vulnerable.

Mimi Kuzyk, from TV’s Hill Street Blues, provides welcome comic relief as a neighbor who teaches Salenger about glow-in-the-dark condoms, Marlene Dietrich movies and how to electrocute a demon cat.

"[19] Annie Ilkow of Cinema Canada wrote: "For all its attempts at a semi-serious sexual discourse, The Kiss is plodding on the whole and ultimately a generic facsimile of American horror flicks, making it generally less amusing to watch than to talk about later.

Given that the production values are quite high, the filmmakers must have been stunned by the film's brief run in the theatres, proving that even following what seems to be a recipe for success in a currently mega-popular genre is no guarantee in the fickle mainstream.