This movie caught me by surprise since I've never seen a movie like this before. This is a good thing and a bad thing. The good: this movie impressed my pants off. I was expecting an exploding cheese factory, but that wasn't the case. Now this isn't to say the film doesn't have its fair share of cheese, because it does, it's just that these filmmakers have what I would classify as a good sense of humor and a real flare for timing. Sinners and Saints is totally action packed and has a strong story line. The bad: it's unnecessarily excessive at times, and gets over explanatory at the end (sequel material maybe). Of course, I'm not entirely familiar with this genera so perhaps I'm too virgin for leather clad, partially naked kung-fu nuns with guns (hot) and Borg-ess cannibal strippers (not so hot). These are just a few of the scenes that dangle on a fine line between artsy and shocking.
Sinners and Saints has a very strong story and it's very apparent that this is the driving force behind this movie. The main character, Father Charmichael Drake and member of the 'God Squad', is tormented by his dreams.
He's driven to fight crime and the forces of evil and as it turns out, evil is busy. Satanic cops are abducting and sacrificing young girls, and at the same time, a rebellion is looming in Hades. And when the Father is summoned by the Queen of Hell to help bring justice to the Hades dimension, he's there with guns, blades, fists and kicks. It sounds simple enough, and there really isn't much more to it than that, but it takes you there in a very good way. It's your classic good versus evil action flick with a couple twists, some great characters and humor. The action and fight scenes are awesome and very professional, going steps above typical indie 'kung-fu'. Additionally, the lead characters, Father Drake (Jason Cavalier) and Necrotia (director Melantha Blackthorn) do an exceptional job of playing their parts. The 'death metal' music is also worthy of the film and compliment it well.
As I mentioned briefly, aside from the story overload at the ending, Sinners and Saints exceeded all my expectations and naive assumptions. It's a guilty pleasure any action/horror/sci-fi/cult film lover could ask for. It delivers one fun ride; I'm keeping my eye on this Robomonkey.
