The Coming of Sin Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.5

The Coming of Sin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz.

Arrow Video continues to mine the world of cult cinema, offering releases that few fans would probably have ever even hoped would be coming out in high definition, in handsomely packaged editions that also offer some really interesting supplements. That commendable tradition on the part of Arrow continues with a new three disc set devoted to the little remembered (at least to mainstream film aficionados) Spanish director José Ramón Larraz, an exploitation auteur whose representation on Blu-ray has been arguably pretty spotty, but is at least there. Previous Blu-ray releases of Larraz's work include Symptoms, a film of Larraz’s which perhaps unexpectedly was screened at the Cannes Festival and evidently was in competition for the Palme d’Or that year. (A number of entries in our database seem to suggest there may have been some releases of Larraz films by Code Red, though none of them seem to have been reviewed yet.) The only prior domestic Blu-ray release of a film included in this particular set appears to be Blue Underground's version of Vampyres, which was released close to a decade ago.

The fact that one of the many titles that The Coming of Sin was released under was Violation of the B****, and that an Italian version of the film contains hardcore porn interstitials, may more or less make apparent that The Coming of Sin is probably not for the prudish or tame of heart, even with a somewhat less controversial title and without any actual real sexual interaction on screen. In a way, The Coming of Sin might be seen as a raunchier, more surreal, take on at least some elements of the 1967 film The Fox, with two women in an isolated setting having their own nascent romance interrupted by a mysterious male stranger. Of course, the fact that The Fox was culled from the writing of D.H. Lawrence might offer a hint that that film is decidedly more literary than The Coming of Sin.

Triana (Lydia Stern) is a gypsy girl staying with artist Lorna (Patrice Grant), and it’s pretty obvious from the get go that Lorna may want Triana to do more than only model for her. Triana is unfortunately haunted by dreams (nightmares?) of a naked guy on a horse who keeps chasing her. When Chico (Ralph Margulis), the guy from her dreams, shows up (naked and on a horse), Triana is understandably a little rattled. Sexual headgames and at least glancing depictions of assault ensue. This is most definitely a kinky outing by any stretch, but it is another Larraz offering that is almost weirdly suffused with a near hallucinogenic, dreamlike ambience, despite some of the more shocking aspects of the visuals.

The Coming of Sin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Coming of Sin is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The booklet included with this release has the following information on the restoration:

The Coming of Sin / La Visita Del Vicio is presented in both English and Spanish versions in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono audio.

The original 35mm camera negative element was scanned in 2K resolution on a 4K Scanity, graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London. Some instances of damage remain, in keeping with the condition of the original materials. The original mono mixes were remastered from the optical negatives by Deluxe Madrid.

All materials for this restoration were made available by Paul Rich and Jose Frade P.C.

While I'm rating The Coming of Sin just a bit lower than its "siblings" in the Larraz set, the differences are mostly due to just a couple of instances where, perhaps due to the damage cited above, grain spikes to really high levels, becoming almost pixellated, with a somewhat degraded image and lack of clarity. You'll see it during the credits, where I'm assuming the opticals play into things, but it recurs later during the big flamenco scene. Otherwise, while there is certainly a very heavy grain field, things tend to resolve much more naturally. The palette is really vivid looking throughout this presentation, with bright blue skies and the almost psychedelic pink blouse of Triana really popping extremely well. A lot of the film utilizes soft focus, and several outdoor scenes are kind of bathed in a dewy ambience, so fine detail levels can understandably diminish at times.

The Coming of Sin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is the only film in the Larraz set with two language options, English and Spanish, both presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. I didn't notice much if any difference in overall amplitude levels between the two mixes, or the mix levels themselves, other than to say the Spanish dialogue sounded just a bit more forward than the English. Sync is almost comically loose no matter which language is chosen, but dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Some of the supposed "authentic" music sounds rather good, with some of the guitar cues especially having a lot of vibrancy.

The Coming of Sin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Variations of Vice: The Alternate Versions of The Coming of Sin (1080p; 6:10) is a brief but fun and interesting piece which features Marc Morris on the film's controversial history.


• Memories of Larraz (1080p; 35:03) offers the reminiscences of Simon Birrell. This comes with a spoiler warning.


• Short Film - "His Last Request" (1080p; 28:23) is a 2005 piece by Birrell, done with Larraz's involvement.


• Archival Interview with Jose Larraz (1080p; 4:55)


• Image Gallery (1080p)


• Original Spanish Trailer (1080p; 3:19)


• Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan

The Coming of Sin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another really rare Larraz title that may have some fans gobsmacked simply by dint of its very release. Arrow offers another cult item with generally solid technical merits and some outstanding supplements, for those considering a purchase.