The Killer Nun

I loved this film, 'Killer Nun' (aka Suor Omicidi 1978). When I first found out about it, I knew I had to see it! This came out a year after 'Communion' (aka 'Alice, Sweet Alice') and both of these seem very similar in their approach by their directors. Both seemed to be from the same vein of film-making. European! The film is about a Nun (and a sexy one at that, played by Anita Ekberg!) who is addicted to morophine and who is losing her mind...or is she?! What's wild is that she can get away from the convent and stalk the streets for a casual sexual liason, which is one of the high-lights of the movie! She goes back to the convent and really bad things start to happen, people die....at first, they seem like 'accidents' or 'suicides', but as the film goes on, you start to see what is really happening - but I won't spoil it for others here! Just see it, rent it, buy it if you find it. The DVD is excellent. There's an interview with the director at the end and it gives insights of how they filmed this movie - inside an actual convent! And how they were able to get away with filming so many sexy scenes! There's plenty of hot sexual situations and nudity in this Euro-trash nunspoiltaion film, as well as some 'tasteful' violence! A must see for ANY Euro-horror, babe-loving film fan! I give it about a 7 1/2 out of 10! *******1/2

Far better than I remember thinking on my first viewing but that was a while ago and now I think of it one of my first in this field. Probably not a good one to encounter first because it really is such a strange one. Pretty surreal with nuns drifting down corridors, gowns splayed out behind and the dreams, imaginings and nightmares punctuated with goring killings and lusty couplings. Ekberg is fine but so is everybody and they all play weird so that this also helps to give the film an unreal feel even though it is firmly set in a convent and supposedly based upon a true case. A stand out moment is the crushing underfoot of the poor old lady diner's false teeth, as we cut from the vicious trampling to the squirming old lady, hands to her mouth. Music is pleasant enough and effective if a little derivative and if Dallesandro seems the most normal person on the screen that just goes to show something about this true one off.

I'm really surprised at the lack of comments for this classic piece of Nunsploitation! This movie is really, really odd! Anita Ekberg plays a cancer obsessed Nun who works as a nurse. Old people start getting killed, and she starts flipping out. She stomps on an old lady's false teeth, shoots up morphine, picks up a guy and screws him, and gets sexually involved with a fellow disturbed nun. Is she the killer? Does she even know herself? Watch 'Killer Nun' to find out.

Warhol regular Joe Dallesandro appears as a doctor but isn't very memorable. Ekberg's lesbian lover is though! One of the hottest nuns you'll ever see!

"Suor Omicidi" aka "Killer Nun" of 1978 is a stylish and pleasantly demented Nunsploitation Horror flick that is quite vastly underrated. While it is certainly not very typical for the Nunsploitation-sub-gene, this is a very atmospheric, at times mesmerizing and very well-acted psychological Horror film that lovers of Exploitation cinema should certainly miss. The great Anita Eckberg, cult-actress of the 50s, stars in the leading role of Sister Gertrude, a nun working in a Christian mental hospital. After having a tumor removed, Gertrude is convinced that she still has cancer, and, along with a proceeding morphine addiction, gradually gets more obsessed with this idea. Suddenly, people at the hospital end up dead... Unlike most other Nunsploitation films, "Suor Omicidi" is not about devil-worshiping or satanic possession. While the film does include sex and nudity, as well as a variety of perversions, the sleaze-level is maybe not quite as high as in typical Nunsploitation flicks. It is quite demented, however, and even though sometimes a bit slow, "Killer Nun" always has a tense, creepy atmosphere. The score by Alessandro Alessandroni is downright ingenious and effectively enhances the film's eeriness in a brilliant manner. Anita Eckberg is outstanding in the lead, and beautiful Paola Morra is also very good in the role of her young roommate and fellow nun Sister Mathieu. The supporting cast includes a bunch of familiar faces for fans of cult-cinema, such as Joe Dalessandro ("Blood For Dracula"), Alida Valli ("Suspiria", "Inferno"), Lou Castell ("A Bullet For The General") and Massimo Serato ("Macchie Solari", "Solamente Nero"). Over-all "Killer Nun" is a creepy, atmospheric and effective flick with a very strong lead that I highly recommend to all my fellow fans of Exploitation and Italian Horror!

Killer Nun is a crossover between two of sleaze cinema's most popular subgenres; the graphically titled 'nunsploitation' and the more popular Italian thriller known as Giallo. I can't say I'm very experienced with the former, but I'm a big fan of the latter; and the fact that this film was a part of the Video Nasty list back in the eighties ensured that I had enough reason to see it. As a Video Nasty, this film isn't all that good and is unfortunately one of the more tame entries on the list, and to be honest; I can't see a good reason for banning it, other than the obvious implications of a nun taking it upon herself to begin killing people. As a Giallo, this film isn't all that good either - as there isn't a lot of mystery going on, and the murders aren't too imaginative. However, as a slice of sleaze; this film works a treat! The plot follows a nun who finds herself addicted to morphine after having an operation on a brain tumour. However, this isn't the most dangerous element of her psyche; as the patients at the hospital she works at believe that she is behind a series of murders!

The film clearly knows what its main strengths are, and director Giulio Berruti delights in showing things such as lesbianism and torture to his audience. The idea of one of God's disciples going around murdering people isn't the most original idea ever conceived, but it's well worked as the film always appears to be completely serious and manages to stay away from the comic book styling's of many Giallo, which would ultimately have harmed the film. Cult actress Anita Ekberg takes the lead role and delivers a strong performance, which despite not winning her any plaudits; works well in the context of the movie, and she does carry off the nun look well. Joe Dallesandro joins in the fun, and the rest of the unknown cast are good enough for this sort of film. The lesbian scenes in the movie are well done and actually rather erotic, thereby guaranteed to delight the movie's target audience. The plot is always secondary to the sleaze, and therefore isn't too interesting; but it plays out nicely, and while the ending isn't particularly strong; this is a good example of sleaze cinema and is recommended to the relevant people.