Originally released as Dværgen, this Danish/American production introduces Olaf (Torben Bille), an evil and perverted dwarf who lures young women back to a boarding house run by his alcoholic and scar-faced ex-cabaret performer mother, Lila Lash (Clara Keller).
There, he chains his victims up naked in an attic room, pumps them full of heroin and rents them out as sex slaves, with the deviant customers fulfilling their darkest fantasies.
When newlyweds rent out one of the rooms, the beautiful blonde wife, Mary (Anne Sparrow), stumbles upon the sordid den.
Her curiosity leads to her own captivity and abuse, while her neglectful writer husband, Peter (Tony Eades), investigates her mysterious disappearance.
The rape, bondage, whipping, and voyeurism are offset slightly by Lila doing her Carmen Miranda routine.
A subplot involving a local shop owner nicknamed Santa Claus (Werner Hedman) doesn’t go anywhere. His only function is to provide the evil dwarf and his mother with the heroin (stuffed inside teddy bears) they use to dope up the kidnapped girls.
Sleazy and depraved (it was initially deemed too shocking for release and was banned in Sweden and West Germany), The Sinful Dwarf is a genuinely disturbing movie.
Shot in Denmark with an English-speaking cast and released in the US by Box Office International guru Harry Novak, it’s like a John Waters movie without the humour.
Filthy, depraved and unforgettable, it’s not easy to watch, and you’ll need a shower after seeing it.
Olaf the Dwarf
Torben Bille
Mary
Anne Sparrow
Peter
Tony Eades
Lila Lash
Clara Keller
Santa Claus
Werner Hedman
Winnie
Gerda Madsen
Dwarf’s Customer
Dale Robinson
Sex Slaves
Jeanette Marsden
Lisbeth Olsen
Jette Koplev (as Jane Cutter)
Director
Eduardo Fuller (as Vidal Raski)