The Movie:

The premise for Ninn Worx's major release for 2006 is an interesting one – Heather Vuur is a grieving mother who has recently lost her son at far too young an age. Obviously this is something that would have a pretty detrimental effect on one's mind, body and soul so it isn't surprising that since this event Heather has become a bit of a reprobate. She has more or less rejected what faith she did have in God, and the relationship she once had with her husband suffers for it. Soon, he too passes on and she finds herself in a living Hell but this is not without its perks as Heather has taken on another form and isn't necessarily human anymore. Or is she? It's hard to tell.

At any rate, Heather's experiences and decisions tie her life in with that of a cop named Nick who has recently lost his wife. Nick in turn has his life tied into Heather's when his work as a police officer turns him on to what she's been up to and sets him on her trail to figure out what exactly is going on here and how she is involved in some rather hedonistic happenings.

Because I know you all crave scene-by-scene breakdowns out there in dirty movie fandom, here's the list of who does what to who and how it all works. We'll talk more about the actual 'movie' portion of Sacred Sin once we get through the smutty parts.

Scene One - Jassie And Jean Val Jean: The first sex scene in the movie starts off nice and slow and has a really slick dreamlike atmosphere to it right from the start the sets the stage perfectly for what is to come (no pun intended). Jean is sitting at a piano when things begin as Jassie comes up to him and starts to kiss him. They kiss for quite a while and seem to genuinely enjoy warming each other up before they help one another out of their clothing. Jassie leans over the piano and then lies atop it so that the camera can capture her as she fingers herself before Jean moves in and goes down on her. After he's eaten her out he sits back and she sucks his cock for a bit, and it almost looks like she means it! Jassie bends over after he's had his fill of head and Jean slips into her pussy and fucks her doggy style. From there he lies on his back and she rides him anally reverse cowgirl style. The scene finishes when he unloads inside her – don't look for a goopy facial or wads of come splashing onto her tits, it ain't going to happen and the scene is all the better for it.

Scene Two - Dee And Sledge Hammer: Heather Vuur brings Dee to Sledge as a sort of carnal offering to him, he's all decked out in some heavy make-up looking fairly eerie in his demonic attire. Dee's sporting a white dress looking like a virginal bride, but we know better. They move towards a staircase towards an antiquated house and she drops to her knees and sucks his cock for him, using Ninn's famous ocular close up technique to add some heat to things nicely. He lies on his back and she rides him reverse cowgirl style for a few minutes before pulling off and sucking his cock again. From there he bends her over and fucks her pussy from behind until he's good and ready at which point he pulls out and fills her open mouth with his cum. This one is a little on the dark side in terms of lighting but it's hot stuff as Dee seems really into things, the oral in particular. Seeing Sledge in chains and a demon outfit might be a little wonky to some but in the context of what Ninn has done here, in this fantasy world he's created, it actually works quite well.

Scene Three – Brooke Banner And Nick Manning: Nick's fantasy is fulfilled in this scene where he's given one last shot at having sex with his wife, who has passed on at this point. He takes it, as he still very obviously loves her, and the camera shows her off to us as she struts in a wedding gown and she looks fantastic. He slowly strips her down so that she's wearing nothing but her veil and her white stockings and then he spreads her legs and slowly eats her pussy using his tongue and his fingers on her. Brooke takes her veil off and starts to give Nick head, and once he's hard enough she gets him on his back and rides him cowgirl style. He gets her bent over and fucks her from behind for a bit and then gets her on her back so that he can pound her pussy missionary style. When he's ready, he comes inside her just like in the first scene. This one is a bit over-filtered and while it does make things seem like a dream (as it is supposed to be) it also blurs some of the detail. While artistically it was really nice, some might not appreciate the cinematography here. Brooke and Nick do well together but things could have been hotter – considering that this is supposed to be their last shot with one another more passion would have helped but as it stands this is still really well done.

Scene Four – A. J. Bailey, Heather Vuur, And Nevaeh: This one starts off with some teasing before the three ladies clad in black veils and fancy dresses head towards a staircase and start to undress one another. A.J. sucks Heather's finger and we see her take some of her blood from her before A. J. and Nevaeh get Heather naked and start having at her. They make her come and then she removes herself from the action to have a cigarette while the other two perform for her, sucking each other's pussies and fingering one another while she watches. Heather comes back into play once she finds her handy pyrex dildo that she uses to fuck's A.J. with and once the three ladies have had their fill they kiss and tongue each other to close things out. This girl-girl-girl scene is very well done and completely hot. If you don't mind the teasing at the beginning, which does go on just a bit too long, you'll find an intense and varied scene with three completely gorgeous girls really getting into what they're doing with one another. It's all well shot and the sex seems pretty genuine, which always makes it hotter.

Scene Five – Monica Mayhem And Scott Nails: In the final sex scene on the disc, Monica shows off her black corset and sexy red hair for the camera which lingers on her curves quite nicely. She runs her hands up and down her frame until Scott, wearing a mask, comes into the frame and starts to lap at her cunt and use his fingers on her. He drops his pants and she takes his cock into her mouth and sucks him hard. Once the oral is over with Monica holds onto a post and bends over so that Scott can fuck her pussy from behind. She gives him head again and cleans his cock off before he gets on his back and she rides him reverse cowgirl style. Once he's close she makes him stroke himself off onto the mask that he was wearing and then she laps up his cum and ends a very hot scene. Well shot, very creative in its lay out and cinematography this is a fantastic scene with plenty of heat and just enough kink to make it really stand out. Both performers seem very into things and it all just works.

So does it all work? Yes! Really well, in fact. 20006 has been a fairly uneven year for Ninn Worx but as it draws to a close Sacred Sin puts the controversial art-porn director back at the top. That being said, this movie is going to piss some people off. It's rare that a XXX movie will mix up such a heady brew of hardcore fuck footage, over the top art direction, horror movie elements and, believe it or not, plenty of theological musings and ponderings. That's right – a knowledge of basic Judaic/Christian theology will go a long way towards improving one's enjoyment of a porno film. This element – and it is a large part of what makes Sacred Sin so interesting – is going to make people uncomfortable. The average porno movie viewer doesn't necessarily want to think about the afterlife and the ramifications of sin and the trickle down effect that those same ramifications can have upon not only one's self but also on others. This is heavy material even by mainstream standards, let alone by those of the fuck film industry.

Adding to all of this is a fantastic soundtrack by none other than the one and only Eddie Van Halen. As it becomes more and more common for mainstream musicians to work on adult films it's interesting to see who pops up where. It makes sense that you hear Rancid over top of a couple of Burning Angel scenes and Deicide playing over Porn Of The Dead seemed to make sense but who would have guessed that Eddie Van Halen would score something for Ninn Worx? Well, he did, and he did a damn fine job of it at that. The music really works well in this movie, it compliments the sex scenes without taking away from them and the more dramatic and intense non-sex moments really benefit from the ethereal sounds that Van Halen has laid down for this release.

With that in mind, Sacred Sin is not a perfect film. The biggest problem is the same one that plagues pretty much every attempt at legitimizing pornography from Pirates to Camp Cuddly Pines and that's the acting. Almost every performer involved with this production over does it, the exception being Heather Vuur who is pretty decent as the tormented woman wrestling with her faith and her loss and the downward spiral that it brings upon her. Whereas in last year's Catherine Ninn was able to work around things by making a movie that didn't really need a lot of dialogue, here there is a need for more vocal acting and some scenes and key moments do suffer in this regard.

Even with some of the ore forced deliveries, however, Sacred Sin is a winner. This is one of, if not the best looking pornographic films ever made, it's miles ahead of most of what is out there in terms of ambition, scope, set design and cinematography and on top of all of that the sex is full of attractive performers and is genuinely hot. If you're open minded enough to embrace the subject matter and adjust to the strange and rather heavy storyline that Ninn's asking you to swallow, Sacred Sin is definitely a trip worth taking.

The DVD

Video:

Pure Play/Ninn Worx present Sacred Sin in an excellent 1.85.1 (though sadly non-anamorphic) widescreen presentation that does a great job handling the many different hues of colors that Ninn has worked into his compositions and that keeps the black levels solid and strong. For a shot on DV presentation there's a nice level of background detail present although some scenes are given an intentional softness in which some of the picture appears faded. With that being an obviously intentional artistic decision, however, you really can't fault it. This movie looks as good, if not better, than any other adult feature I've yet to see. Aside from a little bit of line shimmering, there's nothing to complain about here.

Sound:

The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound mix also earns high marks, though it is disappointing to not find a 5.1 track on here anywhere. Dialogue is always clean and clear and the numerous sound effects used throughout the movie come through with plenty of punch. The soundtrack heightens the mood nicely when it's needed and is wisely toned down a bit when it's not, resulting in a well mixed track with properly balanced levels and a very unique audio experience.

Extras:

Spread out over a two disc set, here's the breakdown of what else you'll find lurking within the confines of this limited edition two disc collector's set…

Disc One: :

Aside from the animated menus and the sex scene selection option, the only extra on the first disc is an audio commentary with Michael Ninn who is joined here by L. E. Smith who co-wrote the film with him. The most interesting aspect of this talk is hearing Ninn discuss where he and Smith got a lot of the ideas for this film from in the first place and where his head was at as he made this picture. From the sounds of things it was not at all an easy shoot and the cast and crew ran into more than their fair share of problems along the way but it definitely sounds like he got his vision up there on the screen. There's quite a bit of dead air, mostly during the sex scenes where it seems that they run out of things to talk about but when things are moving this is a really interesting dissection of the film at hand.

Disc Two: :

First up on the second disc is a documentary entitled The Making Of Sacred Sin which is, as the title implies, a look at the making of the film. This lengthy piece is broken down into eight pieces – Introduction, Heather Vuur, Jassie, Dee, Brooke, Nick Manning, Neaveah & A.J., and finally, Random Q & A. There's plenty of behind the scenes footage in here as we see each of the core scenes being shot, and we see how some of the effects, make up and stunt work was accomplished. Each of the sections titled after one of the performers features an interview with that performer in which they talk about their experiences on the movie and what they liked about the project. The last part, the Random Q & A section, and features a plethora of random questions about the production with the actors and the actresses involved in the shoot, most of which relate to the sex scenes. At an hour and thirteen minutes this is far more involved and detailed than your average adult movie documentary and it's actually worth sitting through this to learn more about the movie.

From there we find a selection of bonus scenes: Heather & Jassie (8:49), Neveah (2:12), A. J. Bailey (3:04), Brooke (2:29), Monica (5:12) and Jassie (4:28). Aside from the first one, which is girl on girl, these are all solo sessions. They're all dressed in fine lingerie and they're all shot very well – if you're into watching girls doing the solo things, these bonus scenes are a nice treat indeed.

Ninn Worx has also supplied three music videos by Eddie Van Halen. The first is Rise and it runs 4:58 (Eddie actually shows up in this one), this one is followed by his collaboration with Louren Alexander, Catherine (from last year's movie of the same name) and it runs 6:31(Eddie appears here again) while the third one is also from Catherine and runs 6:33.

Once you're tired of looking at Eddie Van Halen, check out the deleted scenes where you'll find more blowjob on the piano footage (3:05), then more outdoor hummer footage (2:29) from the Bride scene. These are both good clips but they were probably removed to improve the pacing of the sex scenes because as they are presented in the film they are definitely leaner.

Closing out the extras on the disc are a huge photo gallery of glamour and hardcore shots from the film set to some of the film's score (16:14) as well as trailers for In The Garden Of Shadows (3:07), Innocence: Wet (1:47), Faith (2:46), Pushed (1:45), Catherine (3:36), and Allure (1:19).

Also worth noting is that Ninn Worx has done an exceptionally good job on the packaging for this release. Both discs are housed inside of a gatefold that rests inside a slipcase featuring a striking image from the film. Inside the gatefold, aside from the two discs, is a booklet containing credits, some still photographs, and a breakdown of the performers for each scene and a chapter stop listing for each scene.

Final Thoughts:

Ninn fan's rejoice, as Sacred Sin is everything you'd hoped it would be and more. It's a fantastic and surreal blend of hardcore pornography and frightening, even thought provoking, storytelling. It's gorgeous to look at and completely pretentious and it is, in this reviewers opinion, the finest and certainly the most interesting adult DVD to come out in the first three quarters of 2006. This one fully deserves the highly recommended rating and if it had had an anamorphic transfer probably would have gotten the Collector's Talk stamp!