Search - Secret Sins on DVD

Realistic Story Without Hollywood Ending...

Blaze Jericho | Blashyrkh, New York | 07/23/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Melissa "Secret Sins" Review...

I first want to say I would not consider this a softcore movie at all... The film is actually closer to something they would play on lifetime. The bulk of any nudity happens at the strip club, the only other time is a photo session that leads to sex. That sounds hotter then it really was and the girl was droopy in the wrong places. On the bright side at least the produce was real if you know what I mean haha.

Pros: Nicole Eggert gives perhaps her best acting performance (as Melissa Anderson)... She plays a woman who had a very rough time in her life but still seems innocent. She is trying to make it as a dancer, though she can't sing which limits her. Eventually a friend in her dance class gives her the idea to start stripping to make money. This career allows her to gain her own place and the most independance she has ever known. You don't see her naked as much as you might hope or think by the title and her job. She looks a bit like Alyssa Milano at times with the way her hair is done. I have to admit, I wonder if they used a body double in a few scenes. Keep in mind the word few, since that is all you will see of Nicole naked. I'm glad this wasn't one of those women behind bars type movies, no there are not any sexual prison scenes.

CONS: Sadly I have to admit there are a fair degree of negatives about this movie. The camera work left a lot to be desired, it was a bit on the amateur side at times. There are too many scenes where people are too far away to see them clearly. You feel like you are about ten feet away watching them, yet you can hear as if you were right next to them. Several scenes look to me as if they had the actors standing in front of a movie screen. The strip club parts were really nothing to speak of or hot to be honest. Some of the acting was below even that of what could be expected from a B movie. The songs they picked for the movie were pretty horrible and they played them too often. For such a short movie it seemed like they looped certain footage that wasn't worth playing in the first place. I will mention One segement in particular that involved Nicole dancing around her new place fully clothed. It was on par with the Alyssa Milano video from her teens showing her dancing around in her bedroom, only less stimulating hehe. During that dance you only see Nicole's stomach and her clothes are not sexy either. A hot shower scene would have been nice, that could have been worth a looping :). Sadly you barely see any shots of Eggert's naked feet the entire movie.

Blazed Bits: I like how this movie is at least realistic and does not have a Hollywood ending like you might expect. This could be based on a true story, I'm sure there are many who could relate to this. I like how Melissa's crazy X keeps calling her, while she don't ever answer or return his calls. Then later in the movie Nicole is calling a guy she likes and getting the same treatment. Both her and the crazy X react the same way to a degree in different situations, I liked the limited irony in that. I was a fan of Nicole from the Charles in Charge Days, I didn't get the hot steamy action I had hoped from her :). Though if you can get over that, the film really is no worse than average to be honest. I've paid more for movies that I was less satisfied with or totally hated. I hope this review gives you some idea what to expect. This was done around the same time "Embrace of the Vampire" was, Sadly Nicole didn't put in the sexy performance Milano did in that :)... Perhaps that is one reason Alyssa's career took off and she was able to seperate herself from the "Whose The Boss" character. I do think if they did a score instead of playing songs it would have worked better for the type of movie this was.

PS (Possible Spoilers)... I have to say I found the rape scene in this movie rather upsettingly unrealistic... For starters the girl raped is not even naked when she wakes up the next morning. The closeup shot of her face (for a person who supposedly was beat until she was knocked out), seems to show no damage. They portray stripping in a negative way, though for a while Melissa is doing fine and making money. I can't say I blame stripping for her problems and the movie really does not seem to either. The strip club owner was shown in the stereo typical mafia style image you might expect. He does at least say no drugs or prostitution, those are the two only positive things about him in the entire movie though. I like how it shows even those you might think are nice really are not what they often seem. The problems facing them often were at least realistic and not things you can't relate to. Nicole's character should have at least talked to Steve instead of ignoring him all that time. She got the same treatment from the guy she liked and then showed up on him uninvited. Funny how she was upset when he came to her work with his clients she had walked in on. I think this movie might make people think about their perspective in a situation fully, instead of judging who is right and wrong. Perhaps if people did that more and communicated with people instead of ignoring, we might avoid some tragic events depicted in this movie. Nobody was really right in this movie, they almost all made mistakes. Just like we are in real life, none of us are perfect. I'm sure we all have made some bad decisions, watching this movie might be another one :).

Only buy this if you are ready to watch a drama/thriller type movie and don't expect a skin flick unless you want to be shafted."

Don,t Bother

Music Lover | South Jersey, USA | 11/12/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Not worth your money, time or effort. From a talent aspect, this may well be he the poorest effort at film making I have ever seen. It has absolutely nothing to offer."