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Killer Nun
Directed By Giulio Berruti
Released: 1978
Starring: Anita Ekberg, Paola Morra, Alida Valli, and Massimo Serato
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Released By Blue Underground
After her recent brain surgery, Sister Gertrude (played by Anita Ekberg)
is having some trouble readjusting to her life as a nun serving in a
geriatric hospital. It seems that the surgery has left her with terrible
headaches, a wicked addiction to morphine, and a propensity for casual
sexual encounters in the city. When patients start turning up dead and
Sister Gertrude’s behavior becomes even more erratic, the staff and
surviving patients begin to suspect the worst. With only the unrequited
love of Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra) to protect her from herself, Sister
Gertrude’s life begins to spin completely out of control. But is she
really capable of murder?
Hey there, Sister Gertrude! Why do all the boys pass you by? Is it because
you’re a track mark-laden nymphomaniacal Killer
Nun!?! What the damn hell did I just watch? As entertaining
(for me) as it is mystifying (for everyone else), it’s not surprising that
this film has had a hell of a time finding an audience that can appreciate
its… um… specialness. Truly a love-hate experience,
Killer Nun comes from co-writer/director
Giulio Berruti (editor of Corrado Farina’s Baba
Yaga) who never directed another feature film. Go figure. The
plot is a coin toss of scenes thrown together with an ultra-thin mystery
going on in the background. That’s not to say that
Killer Nun isn’t smarter than it looks.
Not when there is some seriously twisted religious imagery mixed into all
that sweet exploitation to be found here. Killer
Nun’s thoroughly strange film score comes from Alessandro
Alessandroni, composer for films such as The
Devil’s Nightmare and Any Gun Can Play.
Anita Ekberg (Death Knocks Twice,
French Sex Murders) friggin’ rocks as
Sister Gertrude, a woman torn between her religious conviction, her
morphine habit, and her insatiable sexual desires. A highlight in
Killer Nun is the dizzyingly hot Paola
Morra as Sister Mathieu. I may never, ever stop drooling. The excellent
Massimo Serato (Autopsy,
The
Bloodstained Shadow) doesn’t get nearly enough to do here
as Dr. Poirret, a man whose career is going completely to pot as the
hospital seems to be self-destructing around him. And yes, that’s Joe
Dallesandro of Blood For Dracula in
one of his greatest appearances due to fact that he’s been dubbed by
another actor! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Alida Galli (Suspiria,
Lisa And The Devil) as Mother
Superior, who is more annoyed than concerned with Sister Gertrude’s
problems.
Killer Nun is a cursed beast trapped
somewhere between Giallo and Nunsploitation and will likely annoy fans of
both. The film’s positives barely outweigh its negatives; yet, in some
strange way, Killer Nun thoroughly
entertained me. Although bloodshed is relatively low, the brutality of the
murders is impressive and the seediness of the sex scenes will ultimately
impress the rogues’ gallery. Not to mention the bizarre moments of cruelty
such as kicking a crippled man to death and stomping an old woman’s
dentures to pieces in front of her. Good times! Folks who dig blasphemous
Italian garbage should check this one out but please, whatever you do,
don’t expect a Eurotrash classic.
Quotes:
Sister Gertrude: “I need more… Morphine!”
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