Sin by Murder (2004) (V)

Director:

Mark Baranowski

Writers:

Mark Baranowski (additional material)
Stephen Downing (screenplay)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A little murder among friends.

Plot:

On the night of their tenth anniversary, corporate lawyer Michael Barnes' wife is brutally murdered...

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Ryli Morgan	...	Amy Cobb
Mark Baranowski	...	Jack Burns
Tim Ross	...	Michael Barnes
Jyllyan Dixon	...	Sharon Sloan
Rachelle Williams	...	Michelle Barnes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jennifer Calhoun	...	Jennifer Daly
Stephen Elliott	...	Arthur Willis
Michael Hicks	...	Lee Sloan

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Company:

On Mark Productions

Trivia:

Former title of film: "Blackmail".

Yikes.

While it's somewhat obvious the filmmakers enjoyed this foray into a genre I can only describe as "crime/drama/soft-core porn," the end result is a test of endurance for those on the receiving end. Granted, one can only do so much on what must have been a shoestring budget, but this... words seem to elude me. The production, let's just say, isn't the only thing that comes across as cheap.

The story, filled with more holes than the finest of Swiss cheese; and the dialogue, with pauses between sentences that you could drive a cargo train through; serve only to bring the viewer to the inevitable sex scenes, complete with Casio keyboard music, slow motion writhing, and dissolves that take us to equally unappealing camera angles of the same loathsome characters moaning and groaning between the sheets.

Allow me to illustrate. In one of the painfully drawn-out scenes in the police investigators' office, which is clearly one of the filmmakers' studio apartments, the female cop (played by Rylie Morgan, wife of director Mark Baranowski) is distracted by another smartly-dressed woman, who might be a district attorney and has come to the office to interrogate a suspect, who might be the male lead. The two women exchange a glance that lasts what seems to be five minutes too long, and the scene simultaneously dissolves and deteriorates into a fantasy lesbian sex dream between the two. The scene ends right where it begins, the male half of the dull cop team (played by Baranowski), comments in monotone on the heated exchange of glances, before he and Morgan leave the room. And you never see the lesbian D.A. woman again.

The film is merely a drawn-out, hastily edited hodgepodge of scenes of people talking slowly, which eventually lead into gratuitous, tedious sex scenes. Throw in some prop guns, which are obviously pellet guns, some bare-breasted woman rubbing fake blood on her stomach, an excruciatingly long scene with the above mentioned woman talking on the phone another woman who might be the villainess, and you have a telling cross section of what this movie might be about.

The only satisfaction to be derived from this cinematic excrement is the ending. Nothing is really resolved, but the viewer knows it's finally over. That is, of course, after the viewer has endured the nearly 15 minutes of included "outtakes," which merely suggest that some of the actors are nearly as repulsive as the characters they play on screen.

For those gluttons for punishment who enjoy an ironic viewing of trashy cinema, "Sin by Murder" extends far beyond that thorny hedge of a thin line, boldly crossing that line with a sick bravado that leaves its viewers feeling unclean. Put frankly, there's not enough holy water to cleanse this movie from one's self. I've tried.

By looking at the credits to Baranowski's name on his IMDb page, one can tell the aspiring director/writer/actor/producer/composer/editor/set director/cinematographer/production assistant/special effects man/evil clown is trying to branch out into different genres of film. For the sake of humankind (or at least those unfortunate enough to stumble across "Sin by Murder"), let's hope he succeeds, learns from this egregious mistake and makes something mildly worthwhile, somewhat enjoyable and far less repulsive.