Sinful
Directed By Tony Marsiglia
Released: 2006
Starring: Misty Mundae, Erika Smith, Ronnie Kerr, and Nikos Psarras
Running Time: 74 minutes
DVD Released By Shock-O-Rama

Lilith (played by Misty Mundae) is obsessed with having a child and her husband, Jim (Ronnie Kerr), has been unable to give her one. Their neighbors, Aisha (Erika Smith) and Sam (Nikos Psarras), seem to have no troubles at all as their incessant lovemaking results in a pregnancy. An unhealthy friendship develops between the two women due to the fact that the lack of a child in her womb is beginning to drive Lilith mad. She decides to take the baby from Erika by any means necessary.

The dreamlike and bizarre Sinful comes from director Tony Marsiglia (Dr. Jekyll & Mistress Hyde, Sin Sisters). Excellent lighting (love those reds and blues!), talented cinematography, and an eerie yet beautiful soundtrack (from composer Nick Vasallo) help give this artsy indie thriller some class. The film is quite dark and twisted with some disturbing (but not overabundant) gore thrown in. The only misstep in this strange and surreal film is casting a grown woman to play a ten year old child.

As sexy and appealing as Misty Mundae is in many of her film roles, her character of Lilith is actually quite repulsive and frightening in her psychotic pursuit of motherhood. The lovely Erika Smith (Shock-O-Rama, Bite Me!) certainly has her hands full with a very odd character. Aisha is in love with life and incredibly naïve about the world around her. She has no clue as to the amount of danger she and her unborn child face at the hands of Lilith. The male actors handle the material quite well. Ronnie Kerr and Nikos Psarras are perfectly cast as total opposites, Jim (ineffectual and socially inept) and Sam (self-assured and virile).

Sinful definitely shows the lofty aspirations as well as the potential of director Marsiglia. Instead of giving the audience a straight-up thriller or horror flick, he takes the more difficult route, twisting the reality of Sinful so that feels like a dream or a collection of the tainted and unreliable memories of an insane person. However you look at it, this film is some trashy and depressing stuff with a handful of philosophical strangeness mixed in. A thought-provoking and occasionally sickening film, Sinful is definitely an original creation.


DVD Stuff:

Sinful's presentation is very nice. The picture is crystal clear in its 1.78:1 presentation and the audio is quite good. The source material is all over the place with voices going from whispers to screams quite a bit but everything is perfectly audible here. Extras include an interview with Misty Mundae, a Behind-The-Scenes segment, some tape from the gorgeous Erika Smith's 2003 audition, and clips from the festival screening of Sinful. There is also a trailer for Sinful. The DVD insert features a couple of cool promo photos for Sinful with Mundae and Smith.

Links:

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Review by Richard of DM