HOUSE OF SIN

Not to be confused with the 1982 porno classic co-starring R Bolla (or Robert Kerman, as he's better known in films such as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and EATEN ALIVE BY THE CANNIBALS) and Long Jeanne Silver ...

This HOUSE OF SIN is a much more recent production, shot on digital and British in origin.

It begins with monochrome footage of a middle-aged bloke with a goatee-beard (imagine a cross between Bill Bailey and a midget) being introduced to the screen as "Mage" (John Symes). He's described by our male narrator as the enigmatic owner of a Victorian hotel in London, where we're told anything goes.

Our narrator is Paul (Nik Spencer), who works as an odd-job man in the hotel. He gets to live in the hotel rent-free in return for keeping it in check ... and keeping his mouth shut about what goes on within its walls.

Now, you're probably wondering what could possibly be going on within these particular walls? Believe the back of the DVD case and its "bizarre behaviour" that will leave you "shocked and even disgusted". Or you can trust in me when I say it involves nothing more than a healthy amount of semi-nudity, some cod psychology and almost coy renditions of spanking, bondage etc.

The first customer we meet is an admittedly hot woman who's married to a civil servant but likes nothing more than to come to the hotel once a week and play bitch to Mage's uncouth demands.

Then Mage introduces Paul/us to a room in the hotel where he films a succession of female guests who knowingly perform naked for his 'hidden' camera. Why? Refer to the 'cod psychology' remark above (it comes, in the film, courtesy of Mage).

All of this seems very episodic, albeit easy on the eye, even when we meet Tony ("he gives me the creeps": Paul). Tony surveys the women that Mage is welcoming into his hotel to live out their sexual fantasies - alarmingly tame as they appear to be - and appears to be prying for weaknesses to prey upon. Even to the extent where he'll dress up as a chick to engage in 'lesbian' trysts with them.

Paul oversees all of this kinkiness with a mixture of bemusement and apparent confusion (well, he frowns a great deal). But he seems affable enough. So, who better to take over the running of the hotel when Mage is killed by the jealous husband of their latest wannabe whore guest Sandra?

Filmed in widescreen digital and utilising the occasional visual gimmick (shifting from colour to black-and-white; split screens), HOUSE OF SIN is often inventive aesthetically ... but it's all unfortunately at the expense of telling a decent tale.

Ultimately, SIN falls into the trap of being extremely episodic. There are numerous softcore vignettes throughout the film that look great and play out like music promo clips (they're even set to dodgy soft rock music for the most part), but the wraparound story can't compete - it is, at the end of the day, a distraction.

No matter. HOUSE OF SIN is elegantly shot and adeptly edited, benefiting from keen visuals and highlighting author and award-winning director Philip Gardiner's adroit skills in terms of aesthetics.

Where the film falls down is in its lack of dramatic impact. It's a real shame because, given the style and editorial flourishes, all Gardiner needed was a better script and plot to add some meat and build this into a film.

As it stands, HOUSE OF SIN is little more than a glorified pop video with semi-hot women cavorting half-naked and a really weak linking plot (made all the more bizarre by Paul's earnest voiceover).

There is a moral of sorts but I don't buy it, so it's not getting shared here ...

The film looks okay generally in this letterboxed widescreen presentation. Colours are solid, images are relatively sharp and tones are accurate.

English audio is provided in the original 2.0 mix and sounds natural, if unremarkable, from beginning to end.

Chemical Burn Entertainment's region-free DVD opens with an animated main menu of eerie discretion, giving little away other than an annoyingly catchy country rock tune.

From there, there's an option to kick straight into the film via a rather rousing ident, or manoeuvre through a static scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature by way of 16 chapters.

The only extras are a rather jovial shot-on-video Making Of documentary and a rudimentary music video clip which I imagine was intended for online viewing.

HOUSE OF SIN is British, and it feels like a minor step up plot-wise from the very similar product that America's Seduction Cinema have offered us previously. There's a lot of episodic action because of the focus on MTV-type softcore clips, but a semblance of horror plotting and plenty of style may make it appealing to some regardless.

The DVD from Chemical Burn (Gardiner's own company) is a good one.

Review by Stuart Willis