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Nunsploitation is definitely not a strong suit of mine; going through a list to see which ones I’ve viewed has left me feeling ashamed and repentant. So after three Hail Mary’s and four Our Father’s I knelt down and witnessed The Other Hell (1981), Italian grimemaster Bruno Mattei’s take on fervid religiosity, rabid dogs, satanic offspring, and enough Catholic iconography to set a priest on fire. Which is a thing that also happens.

Released in Italy in late January and rolled out around the world throughout the year (North America would have to wait until ’85), The Other Hell is pretty much what I’ve grown to love about Italian horror of the ‘70s and ‘80s – outlandish characters, loopy plotting and jaw dropping moments – but is so far and above what I’ve seen of Mattei’s other work that it gives me a nosebleed.

So, let’s get thee to a nunnery,...

Joe D’Amato was a filmmaker that I only knew (other than his reputation for skin flicks and sleaze) from the one movie of his I had seen, Anthropophagous (1980), aka The Grim Reaper, aka "The One Where The Guy Eats The Baby Fetus." And going by that, I had a lot of trepidation upon opening Severin Films’ brand new Blu of Beyond the Darkness (1979), D’Amato’s exploration of necrophilia, icky maternal obsession, and stuffing the ones we love. I needn’t have worried. Beyond the Darkness, aka Buried Alive, aka Buio Omega, is not only vastly superior to Anthropophagous, it gives me hope that the D’Amato catalogue is filled with further gems to uncover. I mean, they’re not All porn, right? Right?

Take pity on poor Frank (Kieran Canter – The Devil in Mr. Holmes). The wealthy, single, orphaned taxidermist’s fiancé Anna (Cinzia Monreale – The Beyond) lies dying in the hospital,...

"Say your prayers" and witness the stylized carnage of Bruno Mattei's The Other Hell (1981), which will be available on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films on April 11th.

From Severin Films: “Note: This Listing Includes The Dark Waters Blu-ray Along With Our Limited Edition The Other Hell Inspired T-shirt Which Was Made In Collaboration With The Fine Folks Of Pallbearer Press.

Available on 04/11/2017

At the peak of his ‘80s excess, Italian sleaze maestro Bruno Mattei – using the alias ‘Stefan Oblowsky’ – stunned audiences with The Other Hell, a raging Nunsploitation shocker about a series of brutal murders in a depraved convent. And while his cinematic legacy may remain controversial, Mattei here delivers a surprisingly stylized yet undeniably blasphemous orgy of stabbings, stigmata, Satanism, sexual violence and graphic savagery that ranks among his very best. Franca Stoppi (The True Story Of The Nun Of Monza), Carlo De Mejo (Women’S Prison...

Taboo Tuesday is an exploration of some of the most outré sides of horror cinema.

In the previous entry, we speculated that one of horror’s most reviled offshoots may be poised to enter the mainstream, perhaps to the detriment of the genre’s role as an irritant to mainstream moral hypocrisy. The Walking Dead may well have paved the way for mass audiences to embrace the cannibal film, but it can’t possibly prepare one for the queasy thrill of necrophilia on film.

Jörg Buttgereit’s Nekromantic, perhaps the best-known and most widely-seen example of this micro-genre (there’s even a sequel), recently received the Blu-ray treatment after years out of print on DVD. It’s an odd choice given the film was originally shot on Super-8 (and benefits from the sheen of grittiness it adds) but also a testament to the film’s enduring power.

For this second,...