Whenever you finish watching a film, any film, it is extremely important to sit back and contemplate for a moment about what you've learned from this particular viewing experience. "Convent of Sinners" taught me quite a few things, actually. For example, nuns don't wear any underwear but some kind of easily removable diapers. Nuns apparently also never wash their hair, as they don't take off their caps when bathing. Nuns laugh, tease and make fun of each other naked in the washing rooms, exactly like college frat girls do. During the period of the Inquisition, convents kept around a mute caretaker who always walks around shirtless and the nuns insisted on washing him themselves. And the most important valuable life lesson taught here is: do not EVER get in trouble with an insane lesbian second-in-command nun, because she'll accuse you of satanic possession and ruin your life! Despite my slightly cynical tone, I must admit I enjoyed "Convent of Sinners" quite a lot and I was honestly surprised about how stylish and un-exploitative it actually was. Especially considering the man in charge was Joe D'Amato, who has a gazillion of adult movies on his repertoire as well as a handful of crazed horror/porn hybrids like "Erotic Nights of the Living Dead" and "Caligula: The Untold Story", but this rare & obscure 'nunsploitation' movie is fairly atmospheric and effectively attacking the Catholic Church's hypocrite & corrupt position back in the Inquisition era. The plot follows on the saddening life-story of a young and beautiful girl named Suzanna. The film opens with the brutal & explicit scene depicting Suzanna getting raped by her stepfather. Unfair as life is, she's the one punished for the committed sins, and she's sent to a convent and forced to serve God as a nun. Suzanna's natural beauty and friendly charisma rapidly cause the Mother Superior, as well as the resident young priest, to fall in love with her. But Mother Superior is terminally ill and the convent's second-in-command nun, sister Theresa, is a jealous battle-ax who'll do everything to destroy Suzanna's life; even accuse her of worshiping the devil. "Convent of Sinners" is supposedly inspired by a classic novel and, it has to be said, the script is astonishingly coherent and well written. Particularly the last half hour is intense, with a witchcraft trial and a truly unforgettable exorcism-sequence in which our poor girl gets a holy water enema. Eva Grimaldi is very impressive (and stunningly beautiful) as Suzanna and the rest of the rest of the convent sisters do very adequate jobs as well. The climax sequence is phenomenal and very saddening at the same time. This is easily one of Joe D'Amato's finest accomplishments. It's thought-provoking, involving and even a slight bit historically accurate.
Review of Convent of Sinners
