This is the obscure home movie that Madonna made a few years ago, the one that's been hyped by the press as being an "X-rated scandal" and "not for the kiddies." Actually, the video company is doing nothing to straighten out the slew of misinformation about the epic, as they've advertised A Certain Sacrifice as "A New Musical" and "Destined To Be A Cult Classic" on their box cover. Shame on them.

The movie was made in Super-8 (of all formats) by a New York amateur named Stephen Jon Lewicki. Madonna, billed with her full real name, plays a secondary character, a woman who is raped by a sleazeball who wears a cowboy hat and hangs out in coffee shops. In order to get revenge on this sub-human culprit, Madonna's boyfriend, an angst-ridden teenager, enlists a group of nihilistic punks to perform a —dum-de-dum-dum— "certain sacrifice." That is kill the voidoid, then rub the blood on Madonna in order to cleanse her soul.

Indeed, Madonna's breasts are visible in two brief scenes. But if you've looked at either the Playboy and Penthouse photo spreads, you've seen more of the "material girl" than you'll catch here. If there's anything interesting about her appearance in this low-rent thriller, it's that you can sense a special free-spirited sexuality and energy about her.

Most of A Certain Sacrifice plays like a film professor's bad dream, what with pointless slow-motion, jumpy hand-held camerawork, and quick distracting editing. There's also annoying narration and a dreadful synth-pop score.