When the Mother Superior of a convent dies, various nuns vie to succeed her, including the crafty Mother Giulia (Anne Heywood). In the midst of the drama, Giulia’s wild niece (Ornella Muti from Flash Gordon) comes to stay at the convent. Naturally, she wants to run off and be with her boyfriend, not realizing Giulia has plans to pawn her off on a rich nobleman in exchange for her new role as head penguin. Meanwhile, a church official (Torso’s Luc Merenda) arrives on the scene hoping to weed out the corrupt Giulia.
The Nun and the Devil is a bit more plot heavy than your typical Nunsploitation fare. The early scenes of the power struggle within the convent and the hypocrisy and corruption in the church is a bit on the bland side. Yes, Heywood’s character is devious and shrewd as far as real nuns go, but she’s small potatoes compared to other nuns in these kinds of films. She’s more of a plotting and scheming nun than the sexy and naughty ones I prefer.
There is some sex, nudity, and torture here, but honestly, not as much as I was expecting/hoping for. The moments that flirt with sleazy Nunsploitation territory (like the part where Heywood has to do a virgin check on Muti before she can enter the convent) have potential. It’s just that the filmmakers never quite lean into the tawdrier aspects of the story.
When it comes time for the inquisition scenes, they are surprisingly decent and easily the best thing in the movie. The most memorable part has an inquisitor lowering a straddling nun onto a sharpened V. Still, it’s a long time coming, and it ultimately lacks the punch of say… Mark of the Devil or something.
Being a fan of Muti and Nunsploitation in general, The Nun and the Devil was worth a look just to see her in a nun’s habit. As far as genre efforts go, it was a rather middle of the road entry. There are some scenes that will placate devotees of the genre, just not enough to make it an essential watch.
AKA: Innocents from Hell. AKA: Sisters of Satan. AKA: The Nuns of Saint Archangel.
No comments:
Post a Comment