Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Steineded How sad is this?

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Scott LeBrun Swedish sex symbol Anita Ekberg plays Sister Gertrude, a veteran nun / nurse who is starting to lose her grip on reality. After she herself has been the subject of an operation, she has become a morphine addict, and she also goes about experiencing sexual satisfaction with a stranger. She even begins to take delight in being cruel to the patients in her care, with one memorable scene of dentures smashing. And to top it all off, the patients are now either having "accidents" or getting killed. Could Sister Gertrude be the one responsible?Full of striking imagery, director Giulio Berruti's sleazy and sexy combination of the Giallo and Nunsploitation genres is deliberately paced and very well acted by some of its cast. The co- stars include Paola Morra as the enticing young Sister Mathieu; the delectable Ms. Morra delivers a fine performance and does some full frontal nudity. Alida Valli ("Suspiria") plays the Mother Superior, Massimo Serato ("Don't Look Now") is the dedicated Dr. Poirret, Lou Castel ("The American Friend") is the cynical Peter, and Andy Warhol film graduate Joe Dallesandro, wooden as always, is Patrick Rowlands, the young man who replaces Poirret as the doctor.It's not exactly hard to figure out where all of this is going, but getting there is still reasonably fun. Supposedly "based on actual events that occurred in a central European country not that long ago", it works on the level of good trash, with a fair bit of gore, the aforementioned nudity, and an overall sense of surrealism. Standout sequences include the torture of one poor patient (it's guaranteed to make some viewers wince) and the struggle of the crippled Peter to make it up some stairs without the use of his crutches.People who enjoy Italian sleaze pictures will likely have a good enough time with this one.Seven out of 10.

MARIO GAUCI I first became aware of this via the Blue Underground DVD, though I was not intrigued enough by the online reviews to acquire it; however, coming my way recently while being in a "Nunsploitation" frame-of-mind, I could not very well let the opportunity pass me by (in hindsight, the English dubbing is atrocious – even if the print reverted for a couple of brief scenes to the original Italian language). I have never been a fan of voluptuous Anita Ekberg and watching her as a demented, dope-addicted and sex-starved nun promised non-stop camp; with this in mind, obscure director Berruti lent the proceedings a matching deliriousness – but, alas, the end result is considerably less than the sum of its parts. The rest of the cast is interesting but, apart from Paola Morra – who, perhaps not to give the game away too early, effectively underplays her role as Ekberg's devoted 'room-mate' (incidentally, she would don the habit again that same year for Walerian Borowczyk's BEHIND CONVENT WALLS), clearly operating below-par: Joe Dallessandro (completely out of his element as a young doctor whom Morra effortlessly manages to keep in check at the climax – if you get my drift), Alida Valli (literally phoning in her performance as the Mother Superior), Lou Castel (as a nosy crippled patient) and Massimo Serato (as the irascible elder doctor who, however, continually cuts Ekberg's clumsiness some slack because she was the most valuable assistant he ever had!). Mildly interesting is the fact that THE KILLER NUN is book-ended by two confessional scenes (the second of which abruptly terminates the film without a proper resolution!) in which each of the protagonists spit out their hatred of the male species; for what it is worth, though clearly unbalanced and given to foul-mouthed outbursts, Ekberg is not the homicidal sister of the title but a victim of circumstance and rejected affection. Noted for its blending the "Nunsploitation" genre with the typical Giallo formula, these elements ought in fact to have made for a doubly enticing proposition; yet the two styles never properly jell, so that the film is too often ludicrous as opposed to gripping (much less scathing). In its favor, we do get Alessandro Alessandroni's score – which has an agreeable 'hard rock' vibe to it particularly redolent of Led Zeppelin's music! Unsurprisingly, the film is most memorable when it goes over-the-top – such as the irate Ekberg crushing an old patient's dentures under her feet (with the latter expiring soon after!), all the murder set-pieces but especially the one where a nurse has needles painfully stuck in her face (years before Takashi Miike!), and its two risible sex scenes (an old wheelchair-bound patient being serviced out in the rain by a young nurse and Ekberg herself picking up a man at a café and then making love in the corridor of his apartment-building).

Flowbeer I loved this film, 'Killer Nun' (aka Suor Omicidi 1978). When I first found out about it, I knew I had to see it! This came out a year after 'Communion' (aka 'Alice, Sweet Alice') and both of these seem very similar in their approach by their directors. Both seemed to be from the same vein of film-making. European! The film is about a Nun (and a sexy one at that, played by Anita Ekberg!) who is addicted to morophine and who is losing her mind...or is she?! What's wild is that she can get away from the convent and stalk the streets for a casual sexual liason, which is one of the high-lights of the movie! She goes back to the convent and really bad things start to happen, people die....at first, they seem like 'accidents' or 'suicides', but as the film goes on, you start to see what is really happening - but I won't spoil it for others here! Just see it, rent it, buy it if you find it. The DVD is excellent. There's an interview with the director at the end and it gives insights of how they filmed this movie - inside an actual convent! And how they were able to get away with filming so many sexy scenes! There's plenty of hot sexual situations and nudity in this Euro-trash nunspoiltaion film, as well as some 'tasteful' violence! A must see for ANY Euro-horror, babe-loving film fan! I give it about a 7 1/2 out of 10! *******1/2

missmonochrome Many of my fellow reviewers seem to have very poor opinions of this film, but "Killer Nun" does deserve a second look.What plot there is (loosely based on actual events) concerns Sister Gertrude (a still luscious Anita Ekberg), who was once a respected nun, but is spiraling into madness due to a post brain surgery addiction to morphine.Before long she's abusing her patients, neglecting her duties, seducing her young room mate Sister Mathieu (Paola Morris)and turning a host of ordinary objects (lamp bases, needles, wads of cotton) into implements of death for anyone who dares stand in her way, while stealing their stuff to support her habit.As an added bad taste bonus, we also get Sister Gertrude having anonymous sex in an alleyway and admitting a fetish for humiliation and silk stockings during Sapphic trysts.Unlike most other nunsploitation fare, this movie isn't as explicit as it could be (on the interview on Blue Underground's recent DVD this was revealed as a gesture of respect from director to his star), but it doesn't suffer too much for it, as there is plenty of suggestive and evocative imagery.Ekberg doesn't show much of her famous curves, but nails a cruel seductress hauteur that does plenty to suggest what the character is capable of. Wheather surveying the residents for her next victim or prowling a café for a sexual conquest, there's something distinctly predatory behind those blue eyes, like a hungry cat looking for something small and helpless to torture.Her drug mania scenes are also beautifully shot, with visual references both psychedelic and sacrilegious. Several scenes use sly visual references to Catholic Mass as a way of indirectly connecting religious ecstasy and the more base and carnal kind.There's even a nice, (if somewhat predictable) "twist" ending.All in all, "Killer Nun" is a stylish slice of delightfully trashy exploitation, worth the hour and a half of your time and 7 stars.