Clive Barker's, SaintSinner -- reviewer Lee Pletzers

Clive Barker's, SaintSinner
Running time: 86 minutes
Copyright 2002 USA CABLE ENTERTAINMENT LLC.
Released by Universal Studios


Usually with short movies, especially on DVD without any extras like, cut scenes or making of or director comments means I won't usually rent the movie. I want to be entertained for at least an hour and forty minutes, but with Clive Barker I'm assured of a great viewing experience. And I was not disappointed with this offering.


SaintSinner is an intriguing movie. It uses a lot of the old (been there, done that) props to get the storyline moving, but it is done in such a way, that it is forgivable. The story in a nutshell:

1815: Two monks enter a repository they are not meant to be inside. A visiting father has a package to be stored, so it will never been seen again. Thomas opens the box and finds a beautiful marble oval with a engraved pattern resembling two women intertwined. His brother Gregory takes it and his hand slides into the marble, trying to help his bother, he yanks him free at the loss of his arm. The marble oval enlarges, and blends into two succubi.

Also in the repository is a time machine in the shape of a clock. As the two succubi face the clock, Thomas tries to attack them with the knife, but it burns his hand and he drops it. The two succubi are sucked into the clock and sent into the future.

Thomas leaves the church but on hearing of his brother's impending death, he returns and accepts the challenge of entering the future and stopping the succubi.

There he meets Rachael, a police detective convinced of his quest, she helps.

The two succubi are feasting on men, left, right and center.

But there is one problem, Thomas is a monk, and the dagger must be wielded by a saint.

The time travel sequence is well done, showing us the passage of time where he is entering, we also get glances at those who will help him. The acting by Thomas and Rachael is superb. Thomas is very believable, especially showing his amazement at the future.


Saintsinner is an enjoyable watch. The two succubi collect men as hookers and learn expressions from television advertising (info-mercials). There are a couple of unbelievable scenes where they feast on the victims but all in all, this is a great movie. Not scary in the jump scenes, but well flesh out. The two lead actors make this movie more than watchable and enjoyable. They take their parts very seriously. The action is fast and hard. The 86 minutes will fly by and the ending is awesome. If there must be complaints then I have only two: 1) The speech of the succubi is terrible and almost predictable.

2) One succubi has a child, at the end of the movie it is thrown to a wall. Did it die? Survive? What happened to it? These questions are not answerable as it is completely forgotten about a second later. This might have something to do with the editing, which is actually well done through-out, but we all know movie editors cut scenes that are required to tie up the story – maybe the answer was cut.


Ratings:

Content: 8/10
Style: 8/10
Acting: 9/10
Storyline: 6.5/10 (overused props and story)


Lee's over-all rating: 7.5/10

Additional comments: From the many horror movies I have seen, this was easily watchable a second and third time. Usually I watch movies only once and even in the second time through, I was captivated.