Nunsploitation is as typically European as cultural excellence, Fascism, hairy armpits on women, and football hooliganism. So what the hell did Japanese director Norifumi Suzuki think he was doing when he made School Of The Holy Beast?
Only giving us one of the best and most outrageous examples of the genre, that's what!
Suzuki takes the standard nunsploitation elements (Catholicism, lesbianism, masturbation, repressed sexual desires, violence, hot nuns, shower scenes, blasphemy, rape), adds a murder/mystery plot and ramps up the levels of depravity to bring us a superbly sacrilegious sleaze-fest. And if that wasn't enough, the whole thing is beautifully shot, and accompanied by an excellent haunting soundtrack.
Yumi Takigawa plays Maya, a beautiful young woman who enters a convent in order to find out exactly what happened to her mother, who died when she was born. Whilst there, Maya discovers that the place is a hotbed of lust and violence, with the sisters in charge of the establishment being the most depraved of all, punishing any nuns who fail to obey their strict rules with a variety of painful and degrading tortures.
During the course of events, viewers are treated to such delights as flagellation with rose stems, death by acid bath, mother superior masturbation, gang rape (seemingly played for laughs!!!), priest-on-nun rape, and a witch trial which involves a crucifix and the denial of lavatorial facilities. Only after all of this, does Maya finally solve the mystery of her mother's death, discover the identity of her father, and get to even the score with several nasty nuns.
I give School Of The Holy Beast 7.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 8 for IMDb) and recommend it to all fans of deviant cinema (who should also check out Suzuki's Beautiful Girl Hunter, which I enjoyed even more!).
Only giving us one of the best and most outrageous examples of the genre, that's what!
Suzuki takes the standard nunsploitation elements (Catholicism, lesbianism, masturbation, repressed sexual desires, violence, hot nuns, shower scenes, blasphemy, rape), adds a murder/mystery plot and ramps up the levels of depravity to bring us a superbly sacrilegious sleaze-fest. And if that wasn't enough, the whole thing is beautifully shot, and accompanied by an excellent haunting soundtrack.
Yumi Takigawa plays Maya, a beautiful young woman who enters a convent in order to find out exactly what happened to her mother, who died when she was born. Whilst there, Maya discovers that the place is a hotbed of lust and violence, with the sisters in charge of the establishment being the most depraved of all, punishing any nuns who fail to obey their strict rules with a variety of painful and degrading tortures.
During the course of events, viewers are treated to such delights as flagellation with rose stems, death by acid bath, mother superior masturbation, gang rape (seemingly played for laughs!!!), priest-on-nun rape, and a witch trial which involves a crucifix and the denial of lavatorial facilities. Only after all of this, does Maya finally solve the mystery of her mother's death, discover the identity of her father, and get to even the score with several nasty nuns.
I give School Of The Holy Beast 7.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 8 for IMDb) and recommend it to all fans of deviant cinema (who should also check out Suzuki's Beautiful Girl Hunter, which I enjoyed even more!).