The best thing about "Echoes of Innocence" might be its title, which sounds like it's going to be soft porn, or maybe a Lifetime Network movie about child molestation. The funny part is that it's actually a movie about NOT having sex.

Innocence has been echoing in the ears of morose high school senior Sarah (Sara Simmonds) for years. A devoted Christian who goes to Catholic confessional but who attends her own makeshift church services out in the woods, complete with candles and fervent prayers, Sarah decided long ago that she would save herself for marriage. Ever since middle school, when she gave an impassioned speech on the chasteness of Joan of Arc, Sarah has been known as The Virgin, or just Virge. She's kind of pretty despite dressing all Gothy, and she's a frequent recipient of unwelcome advances by horny high school boys, each believing he can be the one to break her will.

If only they knew how deeply committed Sarah is! And also how deeply crazy. Not only does she have her own church in the woods, but she also has "visions" on a regular basis -- not the voice of God speaking to her, exactly, but vague foretellings of things to come and people to watch out for.

Anyway, Sarah doesn't even date any of her classmates, let alone sleep with them. When she was about 12, she and her then-boyfriend Christopher (Cody Linley) agreed that on her 18th birthday, they would a) get married and b) do it. In flashback, we see Christopher speed out of town in the back of a limousine, promising to return someday. We are never told why he had to leave so suddenly, nor why he had a limo, but never mind. The point is, Sarah is almost 18, and she's still waiting for the second coming of Chris.

Meanwhile, there are two new boys in school. One of them is named Dave (Jake McDorman), and he's a nice guy who wants to do a human-interest story about Virge for the school newspaper, which leads to a friendship -- but no dating! -- between them. The other boy is named Alec (Matt Vodvarka), and he's a prolific de-virginator who has set his sights on Sarah, the Mt. Everest of chastity.

Oh, and you should know that Sarah's mom (Dana Jackson) is an abusive alcoholic or manic-depressive or something, and also an unrepentant tramp. She lives in a trailer and awaits visits from her daughter so she can yell at her some more. Sarah lives safely on the other side of town with Grandma (Scottie Wilkison), who watches TV very loudly at all hours.

The movie, an indie flick written and directed by Nathan Todd Sims, is unabashedly a Christian allegory, so full of religious symbolism that it probably qualifies for tax-exempt status. Sarah is waiting for Christopher (note the name) to return as he promised he would, and she hopes to be one of the wise virgins who is prepared for him when he does.

Alec represents the devil, of course. He wears a black trenchcoat, listens to heavy metal music and -- I swear I'm not making this up -- uses yearbook photos of his conquests as low-impact voodoo dolls, causing brief and mild torment to Sarah when he does so. Later in the film, when he realizes she is slipping out of his clutches and into the respectful arms of Dave, he lurks behind trees devilishly before enacting a plan of actual violence, during which he stops being a Satan figure and actually sort of BECOMES the devil, deep scary voice and everything.

That's when it all goes off the rails. It's a bad movie anyway, weakly written and featuring many hilarious moments of over-the-top acting and silly plotting. (I challenge anyone not to guffaw whenever Sarah's mother is on the screen.) But the climax completely ruins it, turning supernatural and bizarre without warning, and culminating in an amazingly goofy resolution. The film means well, of course, but that's all it does well.

THE DVD

No frills, my friends. There are no alternate language tracks. There aren't even any subtitles. So deaf Christians are out of luck on this one.

VIDEO: It's a non-anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer, and a grainy, inky one at that. I've seen worse, but I've certainly seen better.

AUDIO: Simple digital stereo. It's good enough.

EXTRAS: The film's trailers are present, but I don't consider those extras, do you?

The only real extra is a director's commentary from Nathan Todd Sims. A congenial, friendly-sounding fellow, most of his observations boil down to this:

"This actor/actress was really good."

"Here is what is happening in this scene, in case you couldn't see or hear it for yourself."

A lot of stating-of-the-obvious, in other words. At one point, he has the chance to provide insight and tell us where a certain missing character had disappeared to, and he says he's not going to. So, um, thanks for that, Nate.

IN SUMMARY

There has been a recent upsurge in low-budget Christian films like this one, but they have suffered from the same problem as other niche genres: too many good intentions, not enough skillful screenwriters and directors. "Echoes of Innocence" is good for some MST3K-style heckling and laughs and not much else.

(Note: Most of the "movie review" portion of this article comes from the review I wrote when the movie was released theatrically. I have re-watched the film in the course of reviewing the DVD, however.)