_**Starts good and becomes increasingly farfetched**_

A serial killer is loose in Durham, North Carolina, who’s actually a serial collector of young women. Forensic psychologist Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) ventures down from D.C. to assist in the investigation since his niece is one of the victims. He eventually teams-up with a surgeon who escaped the perpetrator’s lair (Ashley Judd). Cary Elwes and Tony Goldwyn are also on hand.

“Kiss the Girls” (1997) is a detective thriller in the mold of “Silence of the Lambs” (1991) with some “Se7en” (1995) and a dash of “Scream” (1996), but less gruesome and therefore presumably more palatable to a larger audience. What I appreciate most about this flick is the lush nighttime sylvan cinematography. The cast is good as well.

The first half is great for this genre, but the story gets progressively implausible from there with a muddled midsection. And then there’s the ‘big reveal’ at the end, which was predictable from the get-go. At the end of the day “Kiss the Girls” is worthwhile if you like detective thrillers and the cast, but be prepared for a wildly unrealistic tale. The sequel, “Along Came a Spider” (2001), had the same problem where the ‘big reveal’ is even more eye-rolling.

The film runs 1 hour, 55 minutes, and was shot in North Carolina and Southern Cal.

GRADE: C