Aug 26 2008
Totally Sinful
The Sinful Dwarf (1973) **1/2 - This is one grimy little movie! I guess this was supposed to be a sex movie but what it ends up being is a twisted, grotesque little peep into a perverse world that is so fucked up you almost have to appreciate it just for the sheer repellent factor. The story is about a dwarf named Olaf and his Mother (a former actress) who own a boarding house. But in the attic they keep a room full of chained naked women that are hooked on heroin that they pimp out to particularly disgusting men looking for a lay. When a down on their luck newly wed couple rent a room Olaf and Mommy set their sights on the new voluptuous gal to add spice to the midnight playpen. Olaf is played by a dwarf actor named Torben who apparently was a children’s show host in Denmark. He’s a frickin force of nature with his gravel voice, insane laugh and penchant for playing with toys. Whenever he is on screen the movie is locked in for the kill. You can’t take your filthy eyes off of it. Mommy has a penchant for reliving her glory days by doing sad renditions of Carmen Miranda numbers complete with full on costumes and smeared lipstick. These are some of the most frightening moments in the film and are sure to send chills up your spine. The whole movie is dark, brooding and looks like it was dipped in piss, right down to the set design and props. Nothing is clean in this movie and you will feel dirty for watching it. But for some reason I find that to be a reason to recommend it. When Torben sneaks into the attic slave den/play pen to torment the naked doped up girls its disgusting, repellent and terrifying in ways that can only come from the worst of nightmares. Add to that the fact this was primarily sold as a sex film and you get a cult item of the most deranged kind. The DVD that I watched is from a PAL release that is licensed from American distributor Harry Novak. It is the exact same transfer that Something Weird used for their tape and DVD-R releases of this title years before. Since then another Dutch company has put out yet another version of this film, this time in a XXX hardcore version that has insert/penetration shots during some of the sex scenes. It seems that in some overseas markets this was in fact a full on porno. This version even comes with a quote from Viggo Mortensen(!) on the cover saying “this is the most disturbing movie I have ever seen!” Severin DVD is planning a new release. No word on if it will be the XXX version or the standard cut. Check out this bit from You Tube about that upcoming release. Its hilarious!
23:17:56 2008-08-26
Andy Copp
