BEHIND CONVENT WALLS aka INTERNO DI UN CONVENTO

Walerian Borowczyk, 1978

Starring: Ligia Branice, Howard Ross, Marina Pierro, Gabriella Giacobbe, Rodolfo Dal Pra, Loredana Martinez

Inside a convent, a dictatorial Mother Superior tightly controls her nuns — or at least attempts to. This loosely plotted film is an adaptation of Stendhal’s novel Roman Walks and spends much of its running time following scantily clad nuns as they succumb to desire. The Mother Superior tries to suppress the girls' inevitable sexuality, frequently catches them in the act, and then punishes them. This is mostly presented as a series of vignettes featuring different ways to misbehave: masturbating with a violin, naughty yoga, a dildo with Jesus's face painted on the end, and so on. There is also a romantic subplot and a murky twist where a disturbed sister poisons several people, including herself.

Walarian Borowczyk is, perhaps, an acquired taste. The type of crowd drawn to his early arthouse films was inevitably alienated by his later erotic works like Immoral Tales and The Beast. And then many cult film fans delighted by those two were perhaps confused by his follow up films, The Story of Sin and La marge, two gloomy, arty classics about doomed love. While he seems to have jumped back on the cult film train with Behind Convent Walls, anyone expecting a run-of-the-mill nunsploitation film is likely to be quite shocked, though hopefully pleased -- though I don't expect anyone to approach the same levels of rapturous enthusiasm that I feel for the film.

Behind Convent Walls is nunsploitation at its core, but it is also so much more. Where some of the genre’s directors like Joe D'Amato focus on the sex, violence, and sacrilegious material inherent in erotic nun movies, Borowczyk somehow transcends this to effectively recycle one of his beloved themes: the inevitably and irresistibility of human sexuality. Like La marge, the film has a deceptively simple plot that conveys a surprising amount of emotion through the passions of some loosely sketched minor characters. With some sort of directorial sorcery, Borowczyk emphasizes the emotional aspect of natural, innocent sexuality seeping (OK, gushing) through the cracks of a disciplined culture like Roman Catholicism -- fittingly, this is his only Italian production -- specifically in the physical and emotional pressure cooker of a convent. 

While the strict Mother Superior does all she can to suppress sexuality and sin in her young charges, the sisters innocently and exuberantly display a talent for fun, mischief and, unsurprisingly, masturbation. What sets Behind Convent Walls apart from other nunsploitation films is that most of these sexual acts are presented as natural, inevitable acts not associated with sin; even more shockingly, they are often committed out of love for Jesus. Yes, you heard me. They whack off for Christ. Which is, I suspect, why Behind Convent Walls has suffered extensively from some damaging censorship. Most Borowczyk retrospectives and film festivals have neglected it, I assume, because of this message. While it is one thing to say that corrupt, evil, immoral, or insane nuns can indulge in sex, it is another thing entirely to say that they commit the same acts in the name of innocence, affection, instinct, and, above all, love for God.

The casting here is also excellent. This marks the final appearance of Borowczyk’s dazzlingly beautiful first muse, his wife Ligia Branice, who is in fine form and gives one of her most lively performances. It’s also Borowczyk’s first time working with actress Marina Pierro, the Italian beauty who would star is most of the films in the second half of his career. Also keep your eyes peeled for cult movie figures like Howard Ross as the priest's charming nephew — he also happens to be the man with the missing finger from New York Ripper. I'm probably the only person who cares about this, but there he is alongside Gabriella Giacobbe (Keoma), Mario Maranzana (Lady of the Camelias), Alex Partexano (And the Ship Sails On, Zeder), and many others.

I'm reviewing the uncut, PAL region 2 disc, though I really hope something better (and fully restored with lots special features) gets released sometime soon. There are some extras here, such as a nice, though too short documentary from some of Borowczyk's biggest fans, most of whom seem to be other film critics. Regardless of the DVD edition, the film comes with the highest possible recommendations and it’s one of my favorites. Though I’m at the point where nearly half of Borowczyk’s catalog is on that list, Behind Convent Walls and I have had a long term romance. Having the opportunity to see it in the theater a few months ago at the Lincoln Center Borowczyk retrospective was one of the highlights of the last five years of my life.

P.S. I’ve seen the film a number of times over the years and I remember a particularly beautiful lesbian sex scene taking place in the convent’s garden. But when I saw the film at the Lincoln Center, it was missing. Did I imagine this? Or just splice in a memory of a scene from another film? If I find the answer, I will let you know.

SATÁNICO PANDEMONIUM

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THE SINFUL NUNS OF ST. VALENTINE

Sergio Grieco, 1974
Starring: Francoise Prevost, Jenny Tamburi, Paolo Malco

The newest release in Kino Lorber and Redemption’s series of cult films on Blu-ray is Sergio Grieco’s Le scomunicate di San Valentino aka The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine (1974), which they released together with Enzo G. Castellari’s crime/suspense film, The Cold Eyes of Fear. By all rights, with a title referencing sinful nuns, Grieco’s film should be a solid entry in the Italian nunsploitation pantheon — at least that’s what my 16 year old self was expecting when I first sought out a bootleg of the film many years ago — but instead Grieco delivers a middling medieval drama that riffs on Romeo and Juliet and Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, with just a dash of licentiousness and Inquisition-flavored sadism.

Esteban and Lucita are determined to be together, but Don Alonso, Lucita’s father, is so intent on keeping them apart that he locks her away in the St. Valentine convent. Regardless, they plan to run away and elope, but Esteban is accused of murder and heresy and, badly wounded, must hide out in a secret room in the convent. When Lucita’s amorous roommate is also found dead, Lucita is tortured and forced to confess, then sentenced to be burned alive. Esteban vows to save her, but the depraved abbess gets in his way and a hysterical inquisitor sentences everyone in the convent to death.

Director Sergio Grieco (The Mad Dog Killer, Violence for Kicks, and co-writer of Enzo G. Castellari’s war film Inglorious Bastards) fails to deliver a truly shocking nunsploitation film of the likes of Bruno Mattei or Joe D’Amato, nor does he reach the dizzying heights of nun-themed art house films like Ken Russell’s masterpiece The Devils or Walerian Borowczyk’s Behind Convent Walls. There is nothing particularly wrong with The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine other than the almost unforgivable sin of tempting us with such a fantastic title and then delivering an Inquisition-period melodrama with very little sex, nudity, sadism, violence, or Satan worship.

The worst that happens here is the enraged Inquisitor orders execution by slow death for all of the convent and seals the nuns up inside. Starvation, dehydration, and insanity set in almost immediately and the nuns engage in lesbianism and some mild attempts at devil worship via a painting on the wall. Instead of following on the coattails of other nunsploitation plots, Grieco attempts to blend various elements from classical literature. Perhaps his film suffers because he takes what is essentially a genre of blasphemous softcore porn and attempts to instill some seriousness and highbrow drama. The silly sets and occasionally painful cinematography from Emore Galeassi don’t do the film any favors either.

Though the acting overall is decent, Paolo Malco (House by the Cemetery) is a boring male lead and Jenny Tamburi (The Psychic) is wasted as the passive Lucita, whose character could get into a lot more trouble than she does here if a little more attention was given to the script. Her stern father, played by Franco Ressel (Seven Deaths in a Cat’s Eye), contributes to the absolutely ridiculous surprise happy ending, where he banishes himself to a monastery for being so wrong about her love for Esteban. Bruna Beani (What the Chambermaid Saw) as Lucita’s would-be lesbian lover and Françoise Prevost (Spirits of the Dead) as the deranged abbess, the only characters who try to make this the true exploitation film it should be, are simply not given enough screen time.

As with most Kino/Redemption Blu-ray releases, The Sinful Nuns Of St. Valentine is mastered in high definition from the original 35mm negative, though Kino does a natural looking restoration without dramatically cleaning or restoring the print. Presented in an AVC encoded 2.36:1 transfer, in a resolution of 1080p, Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine certainly looks better than the previous releases, including the Redemption DVD, but still has a fair amount of age damage. Some grain and scratches are evident and there are a few scenes that look more faded and washed out than others. Over all, the detail is much clearer than the earlier releases and this is a decent Blu-ray print, particularly when you consider that this is a largely ignored Eurocult film.

There is only one LPCM Mono audio track available in Italian with English subtitles. The audio sounds decently balanced, though there is some slight age damage and occasional hissing and cracking is noticeable. The dialogue is clear enough, though chances are most U.S. viewers will be relying on the subtitles. The Italian track is certainly better than the original English dub, which is how I was first introduced to the film, but to be fair, the Italian dialogue is also a dub, as most films from this period were habitually dubbed over in a variety of languages. The decent, if very melodramatic score from Coriolano Gori sounds relatively well-mixed and doesn’t compete with the dialogue.

Though I would love to be able to recommend every nunsploitation film ever made, even I have to admit that The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine leaves a lot to be desired and is maybe only suitable for genre newbies that are afraid to dive right into the hard stuff. Though there are a few topless scenes, some murders, and a bit of torture on the rack for Lucita, this is one of the most milquetoast entries in the nunsploitation subgenre. What should have been named “The Mostly Chaste Nuns of St. Valentine” is presented on a decent Blu-ray from Kino/Redemption and is definitely an improvement on earlier prints, but due to the disappointing film and lack of special features, this is hardly a must-have in their otherwise excellent output of ‘70s and ‘80s cult cinema.

SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST

1974, Norifumi Suzuki
Starring: Yumi Takagawa, Emiko Yamauchi, Yayoi Watanabe, Ryouko Ima

Known as the most notorious Japanese nunsploitation film of all time, Seiju gakuen is a production of the infamous Toei studios, known mostly for their pinku eiga or pink film subgenre. Holy Beast definitely falls into this category, so if you are expecting it to be like some of the Italian nunsploitation greats, beware. And in case you are unaware, pink films are essentially small studio productions featuring softcore pornography, occasionally violence and, more towards the second half of the period, plots dealing with girl gangs, women in prison, and overall bad girls who kick a lot of ass and have a lot of sex. Check out the Pinky Violence box set for the best of the bunch. School of the Holy Beast fits into this category because of the sex and violence, though there isn't a whole lot of the former.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed by the film, mostly because of my expectations. I think I thought it would be like the best of the European nunsploitation films, with a lot of nudity, a good amount of sex, violence, preferably some Satan worship, lesbians, and some sort of corruption in the Church hierarchy. This film has a small amount of sex, some very beautiful torture scenes, no Satan worship whatsoever, a scant amount of lesbians, and a very corrupt, sex-obsessed archbishop. So, really, it doesn't meet all my standards. And I have no idea why this film is called School of the Holy Beast, as this takes place in a convent, there is no devil worship and no holy beast.

Other than being a misled by the title and my lofty expectations, the film is a little slow, but overall pretty successful. It concerns Maya, a young Japanese woman who willingly takes holy vows and enters a Sacred Heart convent to unravel the mystery of who killed her nun-mother many years ago. She endures standing around naked a lot, watching other naked girls get tortured by the senior nuns in some bizarre ways, and, in the most extreme and beautiful scene of the film, getting trapped in a frenzy of nuns whipping her with long-stemmed, thorny roses. The most extreme thing about School of the Holy Beast is the over the top punishment sequences, which includes the aforementioned rose-whipping and a somewhat difficult scene involving salt water torture. The entire film, but particularly these scenes of torture, have beautiful, dreamy cinematography reminiscent of the Gothic films of Mario Bava. The director, Norifumi Suzuki, does a solid job and this film is at least more artistically accomplished than his earlier Beautiful Girl Hunter.

You can get School of the Holy Beast through Cult Epics in a widescreen, unrated and uncut release. The only extras are two interviews and a trailer, along with a reproduction of the poster art in a sturdy, large postcard style insert. Thankfully the audio track is in the original Japanese language with clear English subtitles, though I suspect they could use a new translation.

DARK WATERS

1993, Mariano Baino
Starring: Louise Salter, Venera Simmons, Mariya Kapnist

Winner of a few fantasic film awards, Dark Waters is a strange beast. It has been lauded by some as the most outstanding, original horror film of the last twenty years and criticized by others as being an atmospheric rip-off of Lovecraft and the Italian horror legacy of Argento and Bava. I think the truth lies somewhere between the two of these. For a first feature length film, it is definitely impressive. I think the biggest fault of this film is that the director, Italian born and educated Mariano Baino, had a hand in the screenplay and the editing. While he has the makings of a successful horror director, he is not a very strong scriptwriter or editor. As a result, the film suffers from a weak, frequently transparent script, clumsy editing, and a strong emphasis on atmosphere over story.

With that said, atmosphere is not something that can easily be taught to a fledgling director and Baino has it in spades. Though Dark Waters sometimes strays into a cheesy overemphasis on the creepy, most of the time it gets it right. Between the constantly blurred lines of memory, dream, and reality, the haunting images and bristling soundtrack, Dark Waters is the type of movie to show someone you want to scare the crap out of. Unfortunately, much like Session 9, it is a bit of a one trick pony with visual and atmospheric terrors that don't have much life beyond the first viewing.

Elizabeth, a young English woman, goes back to the medieval, isolated island where she was born. Her recently deceased father warned her to stay away, but her mother died there, and her repressed childhood memories of the place are surfacing. It is full of creepy, wrinkled nuns who are protecting a very ancient, Lovecraftian secret. And because everything I've ever read about this film ruins the surprise, I shall say no more.

Despite my misconceptions, Dark Waters does deserve a viewing or two. The acting is mostly strong, through there are several scenes where the actors seem confused -- and not confused in a "I just saw Cthulhu and now my mind is reeling with otherwordly madness" kind of way. Much of the problem lies in the fact that the mostly British actresses had to contend with an Italian director, an unfriendly Russian location, and an international crew. Though, surprisingly, the budget constrictions were never overly apparent, the stress of multiple language barriers and production challenges show their strain in the film. One of the first films to shoot in the former USSR after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Baino and crew faced numerous challenges. They had to contend with unreliable and unpredictable local workers, destroyed sets, missing props, and film stock sold on the black market. It is amazing that a film with such a rich visual atmosphere got made at all and for that I have to give Baino a lot of credit.

The thick atmosphere of dread, terror, and the unreal is Dark Waters' strongest quality. The scenes that blur dream, memory, and reality are truly beautiful and creepy, though they do borrow a lot from Hellraiser and Suspiria. The plot, in particular, is basically Suspiria in a convent with Lovecraft instead of ballet. The nuns are extremely weird and unsettling. Though they are not evil, they are willing to sacrifice their lives and do what is necessary to protect the world from an ancient evil, which gives them a strangely amoral quality. There is also a divide between the old nuns (completely devoid of character and, usually, dialogue) and the younger, attractive nuns, who are given a bit more screen time. On a final note, I also enjoyed the use of paintings to enrich the plot and atmosphere. Like A Draughtsman's Contract and Deep Red, the paintings also provide clues for the protagonist as she searches for her missing friend, her past, and a way to avoid being gutted like a fish.

The DVD I'm reviewing is the single disc, director's cut released through Ryko. The disc has a smattering of extras, but is otherwise nothing special. The Ryko box set, which is now out of print, is ridiculously over the top for a film that hasn't received much critical attention. It includes the first disc from the director's cut, an extra disc with Baino's short films, and a replica of the stone amulet. The film is also known as Dead Waters and is for some reason easier to find under that title.