When viewing a shot-on-video on-budgeter from the nineties one has to be very forgiving. That’s certainly true with 1995’s ORIGINAL SINS (not to be confused with the same year’s similarly titled Mark Harmon thriller), which suffers from all the standard SOV annoyances. But the pic, created by Howard S. Berger (A LIFE IN THE DEATH OF JOE MEEK) and Matthew M. Howe (TAR PIT), held my attention from beginning to end, which is more than can be said for 90-plus percent of its fellows.
ORIGINAL SINS also boasts a cool pedigree, garnering the first sold out screening in the history of Rome’s prestigious Fantafestival, a rave by Joe Dante and a three year ban in the UK (with its eventual 1999 VHS release shorn of 6 minutes and 14 seconds). Its US release was via Something Weird Video, under the “Frank Henenlotter’s Sexy Shockers from the Video Underground” moniker.
Featured are a trio of ultra-pious young virgins—Kierstan (Angelique De Rochambeau), Mary Catherine (Faustina) and Diedre (Cheryl Clifford)—being looked after by Father Shaun (Ivo Ing). In a field one day the gals collectively pass out and awaken six hours later with broken hymens. Further immaculate trysts follow, leading them to conclude that the spirit of Jesus Christ is the culprit. This leads to an orgy of bad behavior by this deluded trio, who following the dictates of their apparently divine suitor engage in numerous violent acts and the deflowering of “Uncle” Shawn.
Then a little past the halfway point the tone and viewpoint shift, with a metal band, for which Kierstan’s slutty sister Lila (D. Cur) serves as a groupie, taking center stage. The band inadvertently summons up a demon named Kaps (SOV legend Scooter McCrae, of SHATTER DEAD and SIXTEEN TONGUES), who sports red painted skin and a cheap devil costume, and uses its “talents” to make one of the band members vomit up his own spine and burst the head of another. We learn that the supposed holy savior that started things off isn’t as divine as it initially appeared, just as Kapp’s mischief-making grows increasingly outrageous and sacrilegious.
The nudity and gore, as you might guess, are quite graphic, particularly in the later scenes. By then the tone has strayed far from the straightforward horror of the pic’s earlier portion to become overtly campy (with the more outré scenes presented for some reason in primitive Claymation form). I say the filmmakers did themselves a disservice, as a premise as unique and demented as this one is better off played straight.
Yet the pic is not badly made. In fact it’s fairly skilled, at least in the category of
amateur SOV cinema, boasting a fully thought-out, carefully structured narrative, a canny use of color and performances that aren’t exactly good, but are at least fully committed. Even the mutating tone gets a pass, as the mere fact that Messrs. Berger and Howe were aware of the tonal elements sets them far ahead of the competition.
Vital Statistics
ORIGINAL SINS
Seven Pillars Productions
Directors/Producers/Screenplay/Editing: Matthew Howe, Howard Berger
Cinematography: Matthew Howe
Cast: Cheryl Clifford, Angelique de Rochambeau, Faustina, D. Cur, Kevin Marr, Laura Bronte, Garry Novikoff, Ivo Ing, John Weiner, Arthur Jolly, Stephen Rajkumar, Lionel Johnson, Scooter McCrae