With Immaculate and The First Omen just around the corner and The Nun II releasing last fall, scary nuns are back in style. Not all of these movies would quality as nunsploitation in the most technical terms. Exploitation films – movies that ‘exploited’ our tendency to want to see lurid subject matter – proliferated in the 1970s following the dissolution of the Hayes Code. As the title implies, nunsploitation are movies that put nuns into, well, compromising situations involving sex and violence. But creepy nuns have frequently popped up in horror movies if for no other reason than shock value. Below are eight movie selections featuring creepy or vengeful nuns from the silent film era to exploitation movies to pure horror.
Haxan (1922)
A Swedish silent film from 1922, Häxan is sort of a documentary or early mockumentary look at the history of witchcraft. At the time of its release,
A Swedish silent film from 1922, Häxan is sort of a documentary or early mockumentary look at the history of witchcraft. At the time of its release, Häxan and its imagery of medieval torture, Satan-worshipping, and mix of sex and violent prompted controversy. Only one part of the movie features a nun – Sister Cecilia – tempted by Satan to desecrate a consecrated host and steal a statue of baby Jesus. Nevertheless, the underlying themes of sexual repression in these scenes predicted the wave of nunsploitation of the 1970s. Arguably, Häxan would be tame for many horror fans today, but there’s still some unsettling imagery here.
The Devils (1971)
Try finding Ken Russell’s 1971 The Devils – the original version that earned an X-rating. Good luck. Maybe the original nunsploitation, The Devils follows the downfall of the real 17th Century Catholic priest, Urbain Grandier. At the heart of Grandier’s downfall is the obsessed and sexually repressed Sister Jeanne des Agnes who incites a wild sexual frenzy among the other nuns in her convent. An arthouse portrayal of religion and political corruption, The Devils remains a powerful and shocking drama that crosses several different lines. Its final scene involving Sister Jeanne and the remaining femur of the burned Grandier is more unsettling than anything you’d find in most horror movies today.
Killer Nun (1979)
Not surprisingly, Italian cinema produced a lot of exploitation movies, including nunsploitation flicks. If there’s movie that defines ‘nunsploitation’, Killer Nun is that movie – it also made the UK’s video nasties list. The plot is pure exploitation movie – Sister Gertrude, recovering from a tumor, spirals into paranoia, drug use, sex, and violent. Starring Swedish film star Anita Ekberg, Killer Nun has enough film-making craft to avoid being labelled pure sleaze. But it also borders on being softcore pornography with a plot that’s ridiculously lurid and detached from reality. Maybe there’s some commentary on the oppressiveness and hypocrisy of the Catholic Church. Or perhaps it’s just a sleazy 70s movie about a nun who goes crazy.
Ms. 45 (1981)
Ms. 45 was among a handful of rape-revenge thrillers from the 1970s and early 1980s. After a mute seamstress Thana is brutally sexually assaulted twice in one day, she begins targeting men in the streets of New York City with a .45 caliber pistol. Consider Ms. 45 a seedy successor to Death Wish from one-time porno director Abel Ferrara (The Driller Killer, Body Snatchers). Technically, Ms. 45 isn’t really nunsploitation as Thana only dons a nun costume for the climatic Halloween party scene. Like I Spit On Your Grave, it’s an exploitative, misguided attempt at some statement about feminist power that would not fly today. But Ms. 45 has gained cult status among some filmgoers.
The Crucifixion (2017)
French film director Xavier Gens was responsible for one of the betters examples of New French Extremity, Frontier(s). Unfortunately, The Crucifixion feels like a generic and undercooked demonic possession thriller. The basic synopsis – a New York journalist investigates a failed exorcism that resulted in the death of a young nun – sounds like any number of horror movies. There’s a few serviceable ‘bump in the night’ scares and Gens also keeps the generic story moving along. Bottom-line, The Crucifixion isn’t likely to bore you, but you’re not likely to remember much about it when it’s over. Nothing here that will resonate beyond the closing credits.
St. Agatha (2018)
From director and Saw alumni Darren Lynn Bousman (Spiral: From the Book of Saw), St. Agatha is a bit of a middling horror effort. Set in 1950’s Georgia, a single and pregnant young woman finds refuge in a convent where the Mother Superior has other plans for her unborn baby. Neither ‘serious’ horror nor 100% crazy exploitation, St Agatha does enough right to make it a worthwhile watch for horror fans. Come for some creepy visual imagery, stay for Carolyn Hennesy’s delightfully nasty ‘Mother Superior’. Almost immediately from the outset, Bousman immerses the audience in St Agatha’s strange world. Discordant lighting and disturbing images quickly create a nightmare world. Like the Saw movies, St Agatha also startles with some surprisingly offbeat violence. A couple of scenes involving regurgitation may turn some stomachs. It’s a good horror movie, just not a particularly great one.
The Nun (2018)
To date, The Conjuring Universe’s major antagonist, Valak, has appeared in several movie. To date, The Nun remains the highest grossing movie in The Conjuring franchise. Both The Nun and its recent sequel are perfectly serviceable horror movies. Neither of Valak’s standalone movies are particularly good horror movies. On one hand, The Nun is haunted by an underdeveloped story and over-reliance on jump scares. Yet each and every one of those scares hits its mark. While it certainly falls short of the expectations set by The Conjuring movies, The Nun is still a scary and wildly entertaining popcorn horror film. Still there’s no denying that Valak deserves a better movie than what it’s received so far.
Consecration (2023)
Following the apparent suicide of her brother, Grace travels to a seaside convent in Scotland where she discovers a deadly secret. Director Christopher Smith has made some good movies including Severance, Black Death, and Triangle. Sadly, Consecration is not one of those movies. What a mess of a movie! And no, Consecration doesn’t have cult or ‘so bad, it’s good’ status in its future. If this were a poorly made movie starring unknowns with boom mics dangling in plain view, you’d forgive the result. But Smith is a talented filmmaker and the cast here is strong. Yet the story is a convoluted mess that relies heavily on incomprehensible flashbacks. And if you’re hoping for some nunsploitation, forget about it. A consistently dour tone ensures you won’t have much fun with this one.