This movie started off well enough, nice location, creepy big castle. They could have done a lot more with the castle actually to improve the overall creepy feeling of the movie. What we get are some great outdoor shots, plenty of shots of one particular small staircase, and other than that, could have been shot in any warehouse made to look like a semi Gothic room in a castle. The story is really very weird. I can honestly say it wasn't predictable at all, except for the obvious Englund being the creepy bad guy. The story is about this guy who hires a woman to catalog his book collection. He supposedly isn't there when she gets there, but talks to her via phone. Actually he is there, and instead of the story taking some possibilities from this, like him lurking around watching her, they really don't do anything with it. The old woman playing the part of the servant is quite creepy and obviously keeping many secrets. The story could have gone on with some great scenes of the lead character sneaking about trying to find out what is going on, almost being caught, etc. But this only happens once, and it is quick and bizarre, and you're left wondering just who is the bad guy and what is with this room she discovered. Then the already weird story goes downhill for the rest of the movie, not really providing anything scary, surprising, or interesting. The ending, while it does explain the reason Englund is bad, is just plain awful. The thing missing most from this movie is suspense. The lead actress is horrible. Don't waste your time watching this. Watch Castle Freak instead, I believe shot in the same castle in Italy, and much more exciting and entertaining.
3 Reviews
Had potential, but I have seen TV movies better than this.
smileybug-356-7830518 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
the real "sin" would be to release it
callmesweeper20 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Alessandro Perrella (Alex Perry of softcore and porn) is one of those directors convinced he can bring fresh blood to Italian cinema. But he's wrong ! SINNER is the sad story of a "prince" (Englund) hooking a librarian (Ivana Miño) to catalogue a collection of "rare books" (actually very fake ones), but of course he only wants to kill her... uhm... so ? Girls are OK, even sometimes nude, but it's not enough. Movie is lethally boring, Englund is trying to look as Vincent Price... "Priced" maybe ! Editing is terrible, FX okay but splatter's mostly in the beginning. Funniest thing, this has been pushed on Fangoria by Loris Curci, one of the producers, as "a thriller with elements of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, as well as PHANTOM OF THE OPERA", yeah ! Why not ALIENS or AVATAR !
Not so nice
gianmarcoronconi21 October 2023
This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.
The film begins in a somewhat strange but still interesting way and then manages with the diary stuff to make the viewer really anxious and not make it clear which of the two is right and then it also manages to give a good ending, so why does the film Is it that mediocre? Well certainly because the acting is very lackluster and also because the film loses a lot by distracting the viewer and making him very bored in many parts of the film, so the film is nice but does not exceed a lackluster sufficiency.
The film begins in a somewhat strange but still interesting way and then manages with the diary stuff to make the viewer really anxious and not make it clear which of the two is right and then it also manages to give a good ending, so why does the film Is it that mediocre? Well certainly because the acting is very lackluster and also because the film loses a lot by distracting the viewer and making him very bored in many parts of the film, so the film is nice but does not exceed a lackluster sufficiency.
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