News

Arrow Video resurrects one of nunsploitation cinema’s greatest outliers with the Anita Ekberg headlined Killer Nun, a 1979 oddity about a morphine addicted nun whose bad habits lead to the murder of long-term patients housed within the hospital she works. Infamously listed as one of the ‘video-nasties’ during the moral panic of 1983’s list of violent horror cinema collected by the UK’s Director of Public Prosecutions, the second and last film directed by Giulio Berruti defies the conventions of both the giallo and nunsploitation genre it mimics. Neither as sleazy or violent as its packaging suggests, Berruti captures the indelible presence of a gone-to-seed Ekberg as a drug addict with repressed sexual tendencies for an unforgettable camp experience.…...

Anita Ekberg in Killer Nun will be available on Blu-ray October 15th from Arrow Video

Aging blonde-bombshell Anita Ekberg gives a full-bodied performance as a sex-crazed sister with some seriously bad habits in the lurid cult classic Killer Nun.

One of the most notorious nunsploitation films, Killer Nun tells the sordid story of Sister Gertrude, a disturbed woman of the cloth who degenerates into a perverse mire of drug taking, sexual perversion, sadistic torture and murder. Joe Dallesandro, Alida Valli and the ample Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls) offer spirited performances and able support to Ekberg, in this outrageous tale based on real events.

Boasting an incongruously classy score by legendary composer Alessandro Alessandroni (Women’s Camp 119) and stylishly rendered scenes of sex and murder, Killer Nun takes the viewer on a hair-raising journey from the heights of religious ecstasy to the depths of devilish degeneracy. Now Giulio Berruti s...

DVD Playhouse—April 2012

By Allen Gardner

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) An eleven year-old boy (newcomer Thomas Horn, in an incredible debut) discovers a mysterious key amongst the possessions of his late father (Tom Hanks) who perished in 9/11. Determined to find the lock it matches, the boy embarks on a Picaresque odyssey across New York City. Director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Eric Roth have fashioned a film both grand and intimate, beautifully-adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, thought by most who read it to be unfilmable. Fine support from Jeffrey Wright, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis and the great Max von Sydow. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (Anchor Bay) Adapted from Koushun Takami’s polarizing novel (compared by champions and detractors alike as a 21st century version of A Clockwork Orange) and set in a futuristic Japan,...

A Planet Fury-approved selection of notable genre releases for April.

Night Gallery: Season 3 DVD Available Now

The third and final season (1972–73) of Rod Serling’s underrated series finally comes to DVD. Season 3 (with episodes downsized to half an hour) is generally considered inferior to the first two years, but it still contains several classic episodes. Best of all, Jim Benson and Scott Skelton, co-authors of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour, helped put together a “lost” episode featuring four segments that were heavily altered for syndication. Guest stars this season include Mickey Rooney, Vincent Price, Burgess Meredith and gorgeous Joanna Pettet (The Evil).

Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except (1985) Blu-ray/DVD combo Available Now

One of the last great exploitation films of the ‘80s to receive wide theatrical distribution, this gonzo action/horror hybrid from director Josh Becker features many names from the Evil Dead team, both...

Just today I received Blue Underground's Blu-ray edition of Night Train Murders for review, and I have news to pass along as well.  In what may very well be the first nunsploitation film to hit HD, Blue Underground have announced Killer Nun, starring Anita Ekberg, will hit stores shelves on April 24th!Uncut! Uncensored! Unholy!Legendary Swedish sex bomb Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita) stars as Sister Gertrude, a cruel nun who discovers depraved pleasure in a frenzy of drug addiction, sexual degradation and sadistic murder. Joe Dallesandro (Flesh For Frankenstein), Lou Castel (A Bullet For The General), Alida Valli (Suspiria) and the luscious Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls) co-star in this notorious 'Nunsploitation' based on actual events that took place in a Central European country not...