Die Nonnen von Santa Fiora

Yes friends, D'Amato does it again with another sleaze film that is sure to burrow it's way into all TRUE trash lovers hearts...IMAGES IN A CONVENT is that rare kinda film that D'Amato is sooooo good at. A good mix of atmosphere and filth that works well on both levels. I found the story a little convoluted, but here goes:

A girl is brought into a convent against her will to keep her Uncle from abducting her. Around the same time a wounded male traveler is allowed to stay in the convent to recuperate from his wounds. He tries to bone everyone in sight. There's a Pan-like statue that means something - maybe it's the Devil, maybe it's not. The nuns all touch each other inappropriately. A head nun is sent to fetch a Father to expel the Devil and is raped along the way. The Father comes to the convent anyway because he "felt" that he was needed and all the nuns try to screw him...The End.

Honestly, I couldn't really make heads or tails of the storyline, but there is enough tits, ass, and 70's puss-fros to not really care what the hell is going on plot-wise. The dual assault on the traveling nun is suitably sleazy as she's subjected to some graphic forced fellatio. The nuns all going' buck at the end is cool as one of 'em is ravaged with a wooden dildo. I don't know if this film had any real "point" - but it sure delivered some "goods". Not as "well-done" as some of the other nunsploit films, and doesn't quite beat out my favorite, SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST...but it comes close if for nothing else than pure sleaziness. I love you Joe D'Amato...8/10

This is a well shot, good looking erotic outing from Mr D'Amato making full use of his convent setting and realistic looking nun costumerie. There is a good old mix here of sex action, mainly but not exclusively girl on girl. Pretty explicit and suddenly, surprisingly hardcore for, of all things, the double rape in the woods. A story of sorts but this is really much as you would expect from nunsploitation but with just a bit more style and variation than usual. Slows just a tiny bit when the wizened little 'man of God' turns up to exorcise the place but we are soon storming to a super finale as the poor man walks the corridors splashing his holy water whilst the girls are inside their rooms making their own little splashes. In fact so carried away do they get that they are soon chasing after the little chap in various stages of undress eager to get him stripped off, God or no God!

Images in a Convent (1979)

*** (out of 4)

Joe D'Amato's notorious nunploitation film is considered by many to be the most disgusting and brutal. At a local convent nuns find themselves possessed by Satan, which soon gives them the temptation of sex. As is to be expected, this film certainly delivers in the nudity/sex department, although it never gets too hardcore and the reputation is a tad bit misleading because this is actually a fairly well made film. D'Amato, who also served as the DP, makes the budget look a lot higher than it actually is and the story is entertaining, or at least the sexual nuns are. Not nearly as trashy as some of its ilk.

Images in a Convent tries really hard to be this deep, contemplative piece about faith, sexuality, and repression within convent walls, but it mostly just comes across as slow and self-important. The cinematography has some genuinely beautiful moments, all soft lighting and careful compositions that make the religious setting feel appropriately austere and mysterious. You can tell the director had some real artistic vision here, but the execution just doesn't quite live up to the ambition.

The pacing drags something fierce, and while I get that it's supposed to be meditative, there's a difference between thoughtful silence and just plain boring stretches where nothing much happens. The performances are fine enough, but the whole thing feels like it's trying too hard to be profound without actually having much profound to say. It's the kind of European art film that makes you feel like you should appreciate it more than you actually do.

Set in a convent long ago, Isabella is sent there to punish her, as her choice of men did not pass muster. There, she is told she won't have to take the vows, as her lifestyle would desecrate the convent, and she wouldn't obey them anyway. Interestingly, one of the nuns has the mark on her arm of having received the smallpox vaccination. (Yes, the camera gets very close at times.) There is a statue in the garden, and the convent was built upon 'troubled' soil, evil deeds in its day. One day, in the garden, a man is found wounded. It is forbidden to have a man in the convent, but they are a very poor convent, and far from any village, so the Mother Superior allows the man to be treated, trusting the one nun to not ever be tempted. Isabella sees a chance to get the man to get word out that she is locked away at the convent. There is a lot of nudity, and a couple of scenes are very explicit. But the presence of the man turns a lot of the nuns into very randy women. Yes, there is a connection with the appearance of the man and the statue.