La monja de Monza

Among the collection of films known as "nunsploitation", 'La Monaca di Monza' stands out as one of the finest achievements of them all. This is no Jess Franco or Joe D'Amato schlock, although Franco's 'Love Letters of A Portuguese Nun' is a fine film as well. The story of Virginia DeLeva, the nun who falls in love, or perhaps lust, with the handsome nobleman, whose affair brings down a convent, has been retold in several adaptations. This is the best version in my opinion. Featuring gorgeous sets, impressive camera work and high production values, and including some of the most wildly erotic soft core footage I have seen. Alessandro Gassman and Myriem Roussel are quite aesthetically pleasing to the eye, clothed or otherwise. A sense of foreboding, and evil permeates the convent as Sister DeLeva carries on her torrid affair with her less than holy lover. Beautiful, repressed nuns are forever hiding in shadows and wringing their hands. The tension builds nicely as the presence of this man inside the convent walls begins to corrupt the other nuns, eroding their own morals. As an erotic film this one is a must see. There is good nunsploitation, and there is trash. Among the good, "Nuns of Verona", "Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun", "Behind Convent Walls", and the Japanese epic "School of the Holy Beast". There is the bad; "Images in A Convent", "Les Demons" etc. This is one of the good ones, and deserves a proper DVD release. For fans of the genre, this is worth tracking down.

To call this film "nunsploitation" really does a disservice to this gorgeous Italian production. As the so-called exploitative elements only occur within the middle section of the film. nothing graphic is seen for 40 minutes into this one, and nothing graphic is shown during the last 40 minutes. In other words this movie was not produced for the purpose of showing sex scenes, but to tell a serious, diabolical tale of evil and corruption inside convent walls. The true story of the illicit affair between a highly respected nun and a not-so-respected Nobleman, is one of the most insidious studies of the nature of Evil ever to be captured on screen. When Sister Virginia interrupts Ossio's plan to bed the young, virginal Isabella, by banishing her from the convent, the decadent man takes it upon himself to prove that even the haughty "bride of Christ" can be a victim to her own carnal desire. With the help of his corrupt father, he sets into motion a diabolical plan to slowly seduce the woman away from her pious life, and from the protection of the convent walls. Ossio methodically breaks down her defenses, and once he gains entry into the cloister that no man is allowed to enter, it is finished for Sister Virginia. The most effective part of "Sacrilege" is the way it shows how evil slowly spreads to others in it's midst. Soon the other nuns are seduced and brought under the sexual spell, which is shown in some sinister looking erotic scenes that pits the once close nuns against each other, for sister DeLava's two cell mates are equally starved for the physical contact that their Superior shamelessly flaunts in front of them. As rumors begin to circulate of the scandal brewing, lust eventually turns to murder, as seen in some shocking scenes that follow. When people start to die, a feeling of sickness settles in the stomach, due to the dark nature of the murders. Artistically speaking, "Devils of Monza" is a true visual stunner with it's sumptuous period costumes and gothic sets. The score by Pino Donaggio is sweeping and romantic and fits the imagery perfectly. But the most impressive thing about this one is the photography. It's use of natural light is absolutely stunning. The way the outside light streams in through windows and plays off the figures within the cloister, the furnishings, the crucifixes, the stained glass and the nuns themselves, makes the movie take on the look of an actual baroque painting, the works of Caravaggio in particular. Outdoor scenes appear dreamlike, and tinted in some ethereal mist. Even the awful VHS print i viewed this on looked absolutely stunning. This is truly a film that deserves the digital restoration that so many of these obscure gems are receiving these days. Of course this most likely won't happen as some reviews here claim the movie to be "slow and boring." Those people obviously were watching this for the wrong reasons, looking for cheap exploitation. You won't find that here. Of it's genre "Devils of Monza" is one of the finest examples.

The nunsploitation genre is loved by cult fans mostly thanks to films by the likes of Joe D'Amato and Jess Franco. Anyone who loves the genre because of those films will be highly disappointed with this one; as not only is Devils of Monza not exploitative at all, it's also extremely boring. The plot, as you would expect, focuses on a convent. The convent is next door to a noble man's house, and one of the nuns gets into trouble when she is caught flirting with the nobleman next door. The nun is thrown out by the head of the nunnery, Virginia, leading the nobleman to try and win her heart instead. The film moves very slowly and the love story is not particularly interesting, which makes it hard to care for the film at all. It's made even more difficult to care thanks to the fact that there's no sleaze. There are a few sex scenes, but it's not the slew of depravity I've come to expect from films like this. To the film's credit, it does at least look nice; although the period setting didn't do much for me. 'Monza' seems to be a popular name in the nunsploitation genre, but the more exploitative Nun of Monza and the later The True Story of the Nun of Monza are both better than this boring effort. I'd have a hard time recommending that anyone tracks Devils of Monza down.

The great thing about Italian B-flicks is that they are often technically competent, even beautiful to look at, despite being trash. Set in the late 16th century, this flick gives us the lovely Myriem Roussel as a troubled nun/noblewoman in a muddled story about convent intrigue. The nun has an affair with a nobleman. The story meanders. Fans of Mlle. Roussel can glimpse her topless in a passionate scene with her suitor, but there's not much else going on here. Those hoping for something along the lines of Ken Russell's "Devils" will be disappointed.

If you have any doubts that the Italian film industry is run by Communists, watch this movie. The only reason that this even exists is to show nuns having sex, priests acting like a**holes, and the Catholic church in general being (yawn) hypocrites. Whatever, but did this have to be so boring?

It's actually not as offensive as Flavia The Heretic, Killer Nun, The Excommunicates of San Valentino, or Satanico Pandemonium but the lack of anything interesting makes this the worst of about half a dozen or so "nunsploitation" movies that I've seen. Those other films didn't just bash Catholicism but also told interesting stories.

Watch this only if you are an insomniac looking for a miracle sleep aid!