Tony Marsiglia is probably the most interesting writer-director popCinema (formerly EI Cinema) has working for them on a regular basis and his latest, Sinful, tries to be an artsy psychological thriller but gets bogged down in the fact it really doesn't play out with much cohesion and it never really develops any characters in its short running time. On top of that, Marsiglia just seems to have an obsession of loading his films with out-of-place crude dialogue (like when Mundae's mother says, "what have you turned lesbian and put a syringe of jizz up your tw*t?") and sexual imagery that doesn't work in context of the story he's trying to tell.

Misty Mundae plays Lilith, who we first see having angry sex with her husband. Apparently they've been trying to have a baby for a long time but it seems her body just won't take to the pregnancy. Upset about this and really wanting to be a 'mommy', Lilith has resorted to having daydreams about having a child (which are staged with an actress who looks older than Mundae being the ten-year-old daughter) and frequent visits to her gynecologist in hopes he'll tell her she's with child.

Lilith soon is befriended by Isha (Erika Smith) who's just moved in across the hall with her husband. Seems Isha and hubby are also trying to have a baby, only they're a lot for successful when Isha tells her new friend that they're going to be having one and that they're going to call her Daisy. This just helps to set Lilith off the deep end and it all ends with a finale that sports some strong, and bloody, imagery.

Sinful (which was originally titled Mine, a better moniker in my opinion) just seems to be a series of scenes strung together loosely in order to tell its main story which only manages to help confuse the viewer and make them wonder just what the Hell the point of the entire thing is. There's lots of off-the-cuff, often sexual, dialogue that Marsiglia's put into its script but none of it ever feels natural and the movie seems obsessed with using its unborn fetus prop as much as possible as there's a nightmare sequence with it and a truly bizarre scene where Lilith's husband brings it over to the dinner party as Isha's place because they've been keeping "their first" in the fridge.

While it's great to see Mundae (who's going under the name Erin Brown lately) trying to get away from the soft core erotica that garnered her a cult following by taking more serious roles she just can't pull it off here despite her best efforts (and really how could you when you're required to shove a doctor's head into your privates in one scene) with Smith making the best impression of the small cast.

It's really too bad that Marsiglia couldn't have kept this more grounded instead of taking it all over the map because there are some compelling moments within. The aforementioned finale works decently and I like how he's staged the lovemaking between Lilith and her hubby to not be erotic and more desperate while Isha's is shown to be more peaceful and loving, but those are merely snippets in a film that just manages to confuse more than anything else. (Chris Hartley, 1/7/07)

Directed By: Tony Marsiglia.
Written By: Tony Marsiglia.

Starring: Misty Mundae, Erika Smith, Nikos Psarras, Ronnie Kerr.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Shot on Super 16mm, Sinful doesn't look too bad. There's speckles of grain the pop-up due to the film stock and it's a little bit fuzzy at times, but considering its quick shooting schedule (5 days) and budget it certainly doesn't look too bad.

Extras: There's an okay batch of special features here with a trailer, interview with star Mundae, Smith's audition tape, a "behind-the-scenes" featurette (that praises Marsiglia a bit too much), clips and the Q&A session from 2006's New Jersey International Film & Screenplay Festival and a listenable commentary track by Marsiglia. Visit Shock-O-Rama for more info.