The Nuns of Saint Archangel (1973)

Director: Domenico Paolella

Starring: Anne Heywood, Luc Merenda, Ornella Muti, Martine Brochard, Muriel Catala, Claudia Gravy, Maria Cumani Quasimodo, Pier Paolo Capponi, Claudio Gora, Dullio Del Prete, Luigi Antonio Guerra, Gianluigi Chirizzi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: In the convent of St. Archangel, there is a struggle for lust & love.

Plot: 1577. There's a campaign to choose a new Mother Superior for the Convent of St. Archangel. One Machiavellian sister (Heywood) tries to get the edge on her two rivals, who have more wealthy and influential family connections on the outside, by slowly poisoning one and arranging for the other (Brochard) to be caught with her male lover (which she easily manages since this bisexual nun is also HER lesbian lover). She also forms an alliance with an unscrupulous nobleman by promising to deliver her virginal niece (Muti) to him. All of these machinations eventually bring down the corrupt, patriarchal church authorities on the convent.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Part of the Nunsploitation Project (July & August 2013). Click here for more naughty nun insanity!

This Nunsploitation picture focuses on the greedy and vengeful Church but not forgetting the finer things in life.

It turns out the Church hates lesbians.  They dole out some harsh punishment for that.  If you're looking for a dramatic political Nunsploitation flick then look no further.  It's quite good.  There's enough nudity and exploitation business to keep it firmly within the genre but without being all that sleazy.  It's no Jesus Franco joint.

I'm posting some of the naughtier bits but most of the film focuses on the political drama that goes on behind the scenes.  These men of the Church are despicable assholes.  Good score by Piero Piccioni and it's sparsely used.  I particularly liked the absence of music during the trial at the end and it quietly sneaks in at the end of something terrible a couple of minutes before the close of the film.  Very good film.  So far I'm just a few films into this giant swan dive into Nunsploitation over the next few weeks and I'm really enjoying it.  A couple of years ago I did this with Nazisploitation and it was brutal.  Nearly 30 Nazisploitation films in as many days.  Most of the films were closer to bad than good and I felt exhausted at the end of the month.  I realize it's early yet with these Nunsploitation pictures but so far it's a fun ride.  And this coming from an atheist.