The Film (5/5)

    There's a line in the supplements of Severin's Sinful Dwarf disc that states something along the lines of “The title the Sinful Dwarf is like a warning in itself, buyer beware.”  Truer words were never spoken. You do not need a synopsis going into this movie, the title says it all.  This is not a complaint, if you're the type of person that finds the title The Sinful Dwarf appealing, you will LOVE this movie.  To put it simply this movie makes Joel Reed's Bloodsucking Freaks look like a bunch of V8 sipping normal people. 

    The film is about a dwarf (obviously) named Olaf(Torben Bille), who according to the box looks like “Jack Black in a trash compactor.”  Olaf lives in a boarding house with his Mother, and together they run a prostitution ring consisting of kidnapped girls in the attic of the house.  These girls are kidnapped by Olaf who keeps them submissive to their capture by getting, and keeping them addicted to heroin. 

    As the movie begins a newlywed couple Mary and Peter who are unemployed, and low on finances, reluctantly rent a room in the boarding house.  Almost immediately Mary begins to get suspicious about the noises she hears at night, and begins to investigate.  Meanwhile Peter looks for gainful employment, to support his new bride.  When he finally gets a job, he is forced to leave his bride in the care of Olaf and his Mother while he goes to Paris.  Once left alone, Mary's curiosity gets the best of her, and she becomes a victim of the Sinful Dwarf.

Video (3/5)

Severin has presented this film in a 1:33:1 full frame transfer.  The transfer itself is not perfect, it's quite grainy, and has multiple cigarette burns in the print.  Aside from those minor details it is a pretty good print, and besides I would not expect a film of this kind to look any other way.

Audio (2/5)

The Sinful Dwarf is presented with a dolby digital mono track in English.  There is on going background noise on this track, that does not detract too much from the film, and the dialogue is clear enough to understand throughout.

Extras (3/5)

The extras on this disc are fairly slim.  Severin has added a short mockumentary called “The Severin Controversy,” that interviews 2 films fans who accidentally stumbled upon a VHS copy of the The Sinful Dwarf in 1991, and haven't been the same since.  The only other listed extra is the American theatrical trailer which is titled The Abducted Bride.  It's run about 3 and a half minutes.  Also, a U.S. TV spot under the Sinful Dwarf is hidden as an Easter egg on the disc.

Conclusion

This movie is amazing, I have watched it twice since receiving it.  This film is as sleazy and dirty as films get.  Torben Bille is the penultimate Grindhouse dwarf.  The DVD itself is light on extras, but the film is well worth the price of admission.  This film comes extremely highly recommended.

-Scott MacDonald