Tweet
Released by: Olive Films
Released on: January 27th, 2015.
Director: Uwe Boll
Cast: Michael Pare, Casper Van Dien, Eric Roberts
Year: 2000
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
Let the good times Boll.
I like Uwe Boll. There. I said it.
Because of deeply silly but entertaining junk like HOUSE OF THE DEAD and BLOODRAYNE that came out of Boll working with video game source material, the German director got tagged as some kind of talentless hack. But before Boll got sucked into the Xbox adaptation vortex he was ripping off thrillers like AMERICAN PSYCHO and running them through a B movie meat tenderizer. Call it Grindhouse circa 2000. Boll would get MUCH better at this kind of film in his post-video game work like the brutal RAMPAGE, but SANCTIMONY is where he got his feet wet in the American market.
Boll's first American film kicks off with a desaturated title sequence that pilfers SEVEN. And it's pretty clear right off the bat that the mad German has a strangely "off" vibe. Star Michael Pare, playing a cop hunting a serial killer delivers his lines in a weird and halting manner at first. But he's oddly compelling. In fact, the completely generic plot (killer stalks rain soaked streets gruesomely hacking up victims) isn't the show here. The show is Boll's wacky but fun cast mouthing alternately absurd and "profound" dialog. Paré's detective Renart has a heavily pregnant wife (Catherine Oxenberg) that he mournfully complains to about the human condition. He's bummed because he and his female partner Dorothy (played by Jennifer Rubin) just can't catch a serial murderer the media have dubbed the "monkey killer". This freak is cutting out eyes, ears, and now tongues. He's done six killings in the first two categories and is now three deep into the final. Six-six-six, get it? Turns out they finally have a leading suspect - equities trader Tom Gerrick (Caspar Van Dien).
Paré and Rubin have good chemistry and share some nice repartee about coffee and the meaning of life. Their boss - Eric Roberts playing a police lieutenant - is quirky as hell. He enunciates cliched dialog with aplomb. Roberts has always been a ham and he doesn't disappoint here. But it's Van Dien who steals this thing. It's a cheap copy of Christian Bale's AMERICAN PSYCHO yuppie, but the STARSHIP TROOPERS pinup boy gives it some evil zing. When he humiliates his dimwitted Barbie doll fiancé in a restaurant he's blackly hilarious. There's always something deeply disconcerting about the pretty boy psycho who revels in sadism (think Andrew Stevens in THE SEDUCTION) and Van Dien plays it up for all he's worth.
SANCTIMONY, as any kind of police procedural, is an utter joke though. The dialog scenes are just stitches linking the violent episodes in the film. Van Dien's golden boy trader makes moves so dumb it's a miracle he wasn't caught after one murder. He kills people on TV for crying out loud. And Boll stages a ridiculous final slaughter/confrontation where Mr. GQ suddenly morphs into a dual pistol wielding gun-fu master out of a John Woo flick. But is it fun? Hell yes!
Video/Audio/Extras:
Though SANCTIMONY was shot in standard definition, Olive/Martini's DVD looks pretty good. Previously only available on a pan and scanned DVD, this anamorphic widescreen edition restores the film to its native 2.35:1. aspect ratio. Stability and detail are decent with some edge enhancement popping up a couple of times but overall this a significant improvement over the last DVD.
The English Dolby digital stereo audio track won't win any awards but it gets the job done. Gunshots have decent oomph and dialog, music and sound effects ate well balanced. Overall this is an unremarkably acceptable presentation.
The only extra is a brief intro by director Boll where he talks about the genesis of the project, his continuing friendship with actor Paré and location shooting in the USA.
The Final Word:
Dumb as a bag of wet hammers plot wise, SANCTIMONY retains some sleazy charm due to its offbeat and committed cast and weird dialog. Van Dien is a hoot and the film is never dull. As far as B-movie serial killer flicks go, you could frankly do a hell of a lot worse.
