The World's Greatest Sinner

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Audience Member Roger Ebert's review of "Pink Flamingos" stated "stars not relevant." The same could be said for this wack-a-doodle piece of underground cinema. It's so-bad-it's-good and fantastically entertaining. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member weird cult movie with music from frank zappa Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Little seen vanity piece by Carey (shown once on TCM!) is an amazing, ahead of its time, story of a rock and roll preacher turned cult leader. No one else but Carey could have played this - in his typical crazy, real and hangdog fashion. I thought I was dreaming when I watched it. A sort of masterpiece. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Timothy Carey is an interesting, often compelling, presence on screen. The movie, though, is a mess. Occasional good lighting and camerawork. Good score by a young Frank Zappa. The sound design falters and often fails completely leaving us in silence - when it isn't loud and echoey. The editing varies from competent to puzzling. The ending is abrupt and unclear. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Demented and bizarre satire about religion and cultism. It's, well, something to see on account of how damn strange it is. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Timothy Carey, best known for his roles in The Killing and Paths of Glory (his firing squad lament "I don't want to die" is one of the few instances of an ad lib appearing in a Kubrick film) was an eccentric. Prone to severe hamming (see Crime Wave) and unwanted improvisation, he often frustrated his directors and fellow actors. Marlon Brando stabbed him with a pen. He made his career playing small and supporting role, never the lead... except once. Written by, produced by, directed by, and starring Tim Carey, this movie is a whole lot of crazy. It's the story of insurance salesman who gets bored with life and becomes a street corner prophet, preaching that through medical science all people can be gods (or something). He becomes a rock star, renounces religion, changes his name to "God", and runs for President. It's often difficult to discern exactly what parts are satire and what parts are sincere, but at the very least it's a humorous take on organized religion. The film is undeniably rough, as would be expected of a vanity project. The acting, besides Carey, is uniformly awful. The editing is shabby, to put it nicely. The dialogue needs work. But there are quite a few very good shots, and the Frank Zappa score is very interesting. It's not a really a case of "so bad it's good" but more "so unusual it's worth tolerating the bad". If you want to see Timothy Carey cackle maniacally, wear a snake, make out with an elderly woman, and stab a communion wafer to see if it bleeds, this is the place to go. Very clever ending credits, too. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The World's Greatest Sinner

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