Saint Sinner

If you like Clive Barker film adaptations you will probably like this. This is a good and bad thing of course as Barker films tend to be uneven. On the plus side is decent acting and some genuinely spooky scenes especially in the first half. The two sucubi are especially interesting at first with quirky mannerisms and they do give an impression of supernatural beings in human form. The effects are generally good but do get a little cheesy in parts (the latex look). The protagonists also tend to become less interesting as the film goes on. Thats the main problem I have with this movie in that it just goes on too long. I really enjoyed the first hour but steadily lost interest as the story ran out of ideas and became pretty predictable. All in all though it was enjoyable enough and does show more imagination than a lot of what passes for horror these days. If you liked this I would recommend "Hellraiser" also by Clive and "The Prophecy" with Christopher Walken.

In 1815, the curious monk Tomas Alcala (Greg Serano) releases two evil female succubi called Munkar (Mary Mara) and Nakir (Rebecca Harrell) from a prison with the shape of a sculptured ball. The demons kill his brother eating his arm and escapes to the Twenty-First Century using a weird device stored in the monastery. Tomas is marked on his hand by a dagger, and the priests understand that, in accordance with God's wish, this would mean that he would be a saint and should travel in time to destroy the succubi, using the dagger as a kind of compass to direct him towards the demons. In the present days, he is helped by detective Rachel Dressler (Gina Ravera), who is grieving the loss of her father and believes on his words. Meanwhile, the two evil demons are feeding themselves of blood of human beings and fighting against Tomas and Rachel. I have just seen this movie on cable television and certainly it is above average. It has a reasonable screenplay and good special effects. The cast is not bad, but something is missing to be a good or excellent movie. Maybe with a better lead actor, and some more fun in the scenes of the two succubi might improve the story. Anyway, I am a great fan of horror movies and I found `Saint Sinner' a worthwhile entertainment, specially considering that it is made for TV. I do not know why most of the present horror movies uses the expression `God's Plan'. As far as I know, the Catholic Church does not have this cliché, but it is used in many stories to designate what God expects from a character or situation. Does God have a plan for the humankind? I find this expression not appropriated, but maybe it is my misunderstanding of language or lack of knowledge of religion. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): `O Santo Pecador' (`The Saint Sinner')

What a disappointment! A weak, illogical plot loaded with cliches. There is so much psycho-sexual territory to be mined in exploring the mythology of Incubi, but this stinker does nothing more than throw in the towel. Clive Barker has done some good original stuff, but not here, not now.

I admit it, I have a problem: I'm too suckered in by Clive Barker's name. He's a wonderful writer, and his adaptation average is slightly better than that of Stephen King's, so I decided to watch "Saint Sinner."

Clive Barker stands as story-provider and executive producer of this unfortunate and at times incomprehensible movie. In 1815, a pair of young monks accidentally releases two succubi -- ravenous female demons -- loose from their prison. The two escape through the "Wheel of Time" to the modern day, where one of the monks, Tomas, must follow in order to destroy them. He teams up with a skeptical detective to find the succubi.

This movie seems to have abandoned all sense of logic or continuity in its plot, and it has a lack of character development that is truly amazing. Greg Serano, as Tomas, is attractive enough but lacks the conviction his character requires. Gina Ravera is an almost non-presence as Dt. Rachel Dressler, seeming to know that she got the role because Gina Torres was busy. But pity Mary Mara and Rebecca Harrell, who play the demons Munkar and Nakir, who do little more than grind and glower in undead makeup that looks like it came from 1985 and who had to have all their lines of dialogue altered down 1.5 octaves.

With a director that's watched too much "X-Files" and with a script that seems to have been written by a 16-year-old, "Saint Sinner" is an unfortunate event that the Sci-Fi channel will undoubtedly play three times a week in the misguided sense that people will watch (and they cancelled "Farscape" to make stuff like THIS?). It's saved from being a total waste by an above-average score and Greg Serano's knack for looking like a saint and a sinner at once. Don't be like me: if you want some Clive Barker, next time pick up a book. 3 out of 10.

I was shocked to see that this got so low a rating. I really liked this movie. The story is so good, and brings to mind the best work of Clive Barker. I thought this movie has some purposeless violence. However, that does not change the fact that a wonderful story is being told in a way which is far beyond most main-stream horror. 10/10.