7 DEADLY SINS (2019) Reviews and overview

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7 Deadly Sins is a 2019 American supernatural horror film about some teenagers being killed one-by-one after a Spring Break party in a mansion. It was originally titled Charlie Charlie.

Directed by Glenn Plummer (The Sanctuary; VooDoo Curse: The Giddeh) from a screenplay written by producer Tony Mercedes, the movie stars Tori Vild, Tom Sizemore (Abstruse; The Pining; Hell Girl; et al), Eric Roberts and Ana Walczak.

Review:

I tend to be forgiving of low budget horror films. Some of my favourite films are low-budget horror films. I respect any director who can create a frightening scene or maintain an ominous atmosphere on a low budget. If you can make the paranormal seem real even when you can’t afford CGI, I have a tremendous amount of respect for your filmmaking skills.

My point is that when I tell you that this is not a good film and that it’s actually one of the worst horror films that I’ve seen in a while, I’m not just saying that because of the low budget. I’m saying it because the movie freaking sucks.

After a flashback set in Mexico, 7 Deadly Sins takes place at a Spring Break house party being thrown by the least likeable teenagers on the planet. Most of them are celebrating because it’s their last Spring Break before college. Jamal (Steph Santana), on the other hand, is celebrating because it’s his last weekend before he starts a five-year prison sentence.

At the start of Spring Break, Jamal was pulled over by a cop who discovered a huge amount of weed in the trunk of his car. Apparently, in the world of 7 Deadly Sins, the justice system moves a lot quicker than it does in the real world because it only takes Jamal a few days to be found guilty and sentenced to prison.

Jamal’s girlfriend, Kim (Tori Vild), was in the car as well. However, because she’s rich and she’s white, she’s only sentenced to a few months of house arrest. She has to wear an ankle bracelet and listen to her racist mom and her creepy stepfather complain about her boyfriend. Kim swears to Jamal that she’ll wait for him to get out of prison. Jamal suggests a threesome to help him prepare for life behind bars. Kim kicks him out of her room. It’s that type of party.

Sara (Gladys Bautista) has been hired, by Kim’s stepfather, to keep an eye on Kim for the weekend. Kim is upset because Sara is Mexican and they’re both the same age. Sara is upset because everyone screwed up the Charlie Charlie game. “You have to play the game,” she repeats, “You have to repent your sins.”

At one point Jamal says: “Shit’s fucked up,” He’s probably right.

7 Deadly Sins is one of those films that tries to be both a horror film and a comedy but it doesn’t work as either, largely because the characters aren’t sympathetic enough to care about and none of the actors is particularly comedic. You don’t care when they die and it’s hard to be amused when someone says that Mexican Sara should be selling oranges along the freeway.

7 Deadly Sins does feature two semi-celebrity cameos. Tom Sizemore plays a dude in a mental hospital while Eric Roberts is the judge who sentences Jamal and Kim. Eric Roberts has a lot of fun with his role, railing about how much he hates drug dealers and marijuana. Unfortunately, Roberts only gets one scene and then he’s out of the film.

Anyway, 7 Deadly Sins is pretty dumb. It takes forever to get to the “Charlie Charlie” game and it doesn’t do anything particularly creative with any of the sins. (At one point, we see written in blood: “Envy is a sin.” Well, no shit.)

As far as Spring Break horror films go, you could just go down to Galveston and shoot your own and the end results would probably be superior to this one.

Lisa Marie Bowman, guest reviewer via Through the Shattered Lens

Other reviews:

“You know a film has issues when you’re impatient for the demon to show up because everyone in the film is so obnoxious you want them dead ASAP. And that is exactly how I felt about 7 Deadly Sins. With dialogue like “Do you really think I look like Kim Kardashian?” and nothing in the way of horror until nearly the one hour mark this was a challenge to sit through.” Voices from the Balcony

Choice dialogue:

Kim: “We have to build the wall!”

Cast and characters:

Tori Vild … Kim
Tom Sizemore … Richard Gates
Eric Roberts … Judge
Ana Walczak … Laurie
Gladys Bautista … Sara
Noel Gugliemi … Uncle Juan
Glenn Plummer … Jamal’s Attorney
Samson Crouppen … Ted
Bart Voitila … Brandon
Steph Santana … Jamal
Anthony Del Negro … Sean
Orit Morami … Raquel
Shanna Forrestall … Sherry
Jaslyn Ome … Jasmine
Joshua A Furtado … Young

Technical credits:

85 minutes
Aspect ratio: 1.78: 1

Related:

Charlie Charlie (2016)

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