Japan's most notorious Nun-Exploitation film: School Of The Holy Beast (Sei Juu Gakuen) directed by sexploitation guru, Norifumi Suzuki, plunges into a maelstrom of hidden torture, secret masochistic desires, and blasphemous rites as Yumi Takigawa takes religious vows to find out what terrible things happened to her mother inside the Sacred Heart Convent. When she finds out - with the help of a lecherous archbishops, a lesbian mother superior and a line-up of fellow nuns ready to whip her (in the films most deliriously over the top scene)with a gauntlet of rose-thorns - hell is loose. Beautifully shot, a shocking unforgetable Masterpiece by the director of "Beautiful Girl Hunter" - Dario Argento meets the Marquis de Sade.
Strange and sometimes haunting. This is one of the strangest movies I've ever seen, and I'm a fan of alternative, extreme, outcast film.
In some ways "Beast" uses conventional plot devices--a child going "under cover" to try to found out what happened to a parent, and her discovery about the evil shenanigans hidden behind the scenes. But the goings-on in this convent are especially nasty, blasphemous, sadistic, and erotic. This is not old-school soft porn, nor cutting-edge torture porn, but a bizarre reflection of Japanese attitudes toward God, religion, and sexuality post-Nagasaki.
It's hard to pin down exactly what the film thinks about things, although there is a certain consistent nihilism that threads through the main story, punctuated by moments of vivid--almost beautiful--scenes of punishment and eroticism. This movie is so very much not for everyone, and I can only recommend it to those with a taste for the offbeat and puzzling.
This is not by any stretch a great movie--it's probably not even a particularly good movie. But it does have the single characteristic of a movie I consider worth having seen: It stays with me.
Nasty Nuns of Nippon I sat down to view this expecting a typical nunsploitation flick. Sure there is some whipping, torture, lesbianism and even some mention of Satan. But this Japanese product available in a widescreen, uncut version by Cult Epics is an absorbing and gripping story of demons that lurk within the hearts and minds of humans, not beasts of the holy or unholy kind. Medieval Catholicism mixes with Japanese themes of family, honor and revenge to produce a hot mess that is beautifully presented and mesmerizingly performed. Tumi Takigawa stars as Maya Takigawa, a young woman who "infiltrates" a convent to discern the truth about her biological mother, a nun who died after giving birth to Maya 18 years before. She encounters greed, lust, subterfuge, hatred, betrayal, corruption, violence and many other vices while navigating the curious caste system of the abbey that pits "choir nuns" against "assistant nuns". Although sometimes over-the-top in its depiction of religious beliefs, it fascinates nonetheless.
AKA Convent of the Sacred Beast The beast being the Rasputin look alike priest? Or is it the Mother Superior?
Yes, its sexploitation or nunsploitation, but the lead is avery strong and resourceful woman.
Is there a difference , besides the titles, between the two versions? More material, less?
If you really want to buy, go for the less expensive used 'Convent'
"I can smell the foul odor of witches, servants of Satan." For having such a promising name SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST sure was a letdown. There's no Satan worshipping or hot demon possessed nuns with large spider legs coming out of their backs, instead we get an average looking young lady who joins one of those nun hangouts so she can figure out who her parents were...the only thing she knows about them is her mother was a nun at this location.
Anyway once there she doesn't discover a secret lesbian factory instead it's your run of the mill pent up sexuality, backstabbing and jealousy with some excessive punishment thrown in (whippings, stabbing with thorns, forced salt water drinking and even a vat of acid!).
The story's ok, I guess, but it's boring and goes nowhere. I was glad when it was over. Plenty of topless females, but nothing remarkable, SATANICO PANDEMONIUM was better, but even then nobody was hot.
Fantastic Japanese Nunsploitation A wonderful film - as amazing as Female Prisoner 701 - fantastic visuals - fantastic music - only the Japanese can make such trash with such style. Highly recommended!
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