Nurse Sherri

Yes...this movie is bad. After all, what did you really expect? It was directed by the king of low-budget exploitation films of the 70s....Al Adamson. He was, if you remember, the same cinematic genius that brought us Dracula Vs. Frankenstein, Brain of Blood, and the classic Blazing Stewardesses. Yet, despite all the negative response to this film, I liked it. There is no question at all that it is poorly acted, poorly directed, has poor sets and scenery and terrible special effects. The story is ludicrous about a religious zealot who exacts his revenge on those people that would not let him die naturally. What the film DOES have is heart. The people involved really seem earnest about what they are doing, and it comes across the screen. The film is also a fountain of laughs. a fun time for anyone who likes to see the ridiculous treated like the sublime. If you like bad film-making, then look no further than Nurse Sherri. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Nurse Sherri (1978)

** (out of 4) - Erotic version

* 1/2 (out of 4) - Horror version

A religious cult leader is doing some sort of voodoo on a dead corpse when he suffers a massive heart attack. He's taken to the hospital where his spirit leaves his body and enters that of Nurse Sherri (Jill Jacobson). Soon the nurse is possessed with the spirit and goes on a killing spree.

Oh yes, here's another film from cult director Al Adamson. If you're familiar with Adamson's work then you probably already know that he would make a movie and often times it would be released under countless titles and sometimes different versions. NURSE SHERRI is one example of there being two different versions out there and thankfully Vinegar Syndrome has released them together. Both versions try to cash-in on the "Nurse" genre that was so popular in the 70s. One version adds in some CARRIE moments and tries to pass it off as a horror film while the other contains more softcore sex scenes.

Personally speaking, I thought the erotic version was much better simply because you've got some very beautiful women and seeing them naked was a major plus. As with most of Adamson's films, this one here has a rather sluggish pace but for the most part it's coherent and entertaining. I thought the softcore version worked the best because it didn't have as many boring dialogue scenes and instead we're treated to the beautiful Jacobson and Marilyn Joi doing what they do best. The horror version has them delivering more lines of dialogue than anything else so the spicy version is much more entertaining.

The horror version does contain some pretty bad special effects with a green animated thing floating around the screen and this here was supposed to be the spirit. I doubt this would have scared anyone who originally saw this at the drive-in. I think Jacobson was entertaining in the lead role and she certainly at least keeps your attention throughout. With that said, NURSE SHERRI certainly isn't a masterpiece but if you're a fan of Adamson then it's worth watching.

The introductory prologue to Nurse Sherri has a small devil-worshipping cult in the desert trying to bring a man back to life. In the midst of conjuring up the forces of evil, the head necromancer Reanhauer has a heart attack and is rushed to hospital. Whilst in hospital he is attended to by Nurse Sherri and he speaks to her in long monologues regarding the supernatural. Reanhauer's condition rapidly worsens and he ends up on the operating table under the scalpel of Peter, Sherri's surgeon boyfriend (with the assistance of Sherri) where he eventually expires. Later on when Sherri is at home masturbating on her bed, a strange animated green ethereal fog floats into her room and rapes her(although she doesn't really put up much of a fight). This is definitely one of the "trippiest" rapes I've ever witnessed on celluloid, and probably the highlight of the film.

It turns out that the green fog was the blasphemous cult leader's spirit and now Nurse Sherri is possessed! You can tell cos she speaks in a man's voice and bugs her eyes outta her head. She then goes a killing spree, massacring a few doctors - one is dispatched via pitchfork impalement, another is stabbed in the chest. A blind ex-footballer hospital patient whose grandmother is a Haitian Voodoo priestess says the only way to exorcise Nurse Sherri's evil possessor is to dig up and burn the corpse of Reanhauer, so a couple of Sherri's nurse friends cruise to the cemetery for some good ol' grave desecratin'.

I actually dug this cheapie from Al Adamson quite a bit more than I'd expected to. I mean yeah, there are a lot of slow parts, the ultra low budget sets and amateurish acting are blatant and the films theme song is stolen directly from The Godfather, but that just goes to show this flick for what it essentially is - a typical slice of 70's exploitation fare, designed to draw in the crowds who are eager to see some gratuitous nudity and a bit of blood.

And there's enough exploitable elements here to make for some entertaining (if slightly tame) sleaze, mainly of the sexed-up female nurse variety. Whether it be pointless flashbacks to "the craziest sexual experience'' Sherri and her boyfriend have ever had (a lesbian encounter and a naughty blowjob), patient "relief" that goes far beyond the call of duty, some semi-bloody kills, and a grand finale that has a bugged out Nurse Sherri covered in blood with a meat cleaver in each hand preparing to slaughter her boyfriend Peter. All in all one of the more enjoyable pieces of trash I've seen from schlock-maestro Adamson.

"Nurse Sherri" is proof positive that even a hack genre filmmaker like Al Adamson can still have it in them to produce something interesting and worthwhile. Compared to much of his output, this is actually pretty good. The acting (some of it, anyway) and the script (by Michael Bockman and Greg Tittinger, who also edited the picture) are above average. Dare I say it...Adamson crafts some striking and memorable horror here, especially the scene in the foundry.

The film is still rather crude if you put it up against slicker, more mainstream horror, and the animation effect is primitive, but this viewer still has a good time with this one.

Jill Jacobson plays the title role, who was present for an operation performed on a cult leader / necromancer named Reanhauer (Bill Roy). The trouble is, this was an operation that the patient did NOT authorize himself, so when he dies, his angry, vengeful spirit comes to rest inside Sherri, and compels her to murder the doctors who were involved. Sherri's lover (Geoffrey Land) and two of her co-workers (Marilyn Joi, Katherine Pass) all try to do something to reverse this possession.

There is some stiff and awkward acting, but the actors and their characters are engaging nevertheless, especially lovely exploitation veteran Joi, whose nurse lusts after star football player Marcus Washington (Prentiss Moulden), who was blinded in a car accident. Although quite serious overall, there is time for levity as Pass demonstrates a very sexy bedside manner to a male patient. Jacobson isn't really given enough to work with to make her character all that sympathetic, however. It's the devilishly good Roy who manages to steal the show, although J.C. Wells gives him some competition as a follower who is terrorized by the dead mans' spirit. John F. Goff, another prolific actor in exploitation features of the time, does a fine job as a psychiatrist.

It appears that the music used is stock music, but it's wonderfully theatrical schlock horror movie music that suits the material. And Adamsons' filmmaking may not be that slick, but it's clear that after a decade or so in the business, he'd honed his craft to some degree.

Good fun, for undemanding genre fans.

Also available in an 85 minute alternate version which puts the accent on sex rather than horror.

Seven out of 10.

I first saw this movie at the local drive-in as part of a double bill with "Eyeball" - What a complete laugh-fest! The "acting" and production values are definitely par for the course for Al Adamson (In one scene alone is it daytime or night - or just blue filter over the camera lens? Who cares? Apparently not Mr. Adamson) I had to buy this one as soon as I found a copy and now that it's on DVD, I highly recommend this to any fans of the genre...I think it's Al Adamson's...uhhh...masterpiece (?!) One that truly has to be seen to be believed...

Oh yeah! Jill Jacobson's breasts should have had their own credit in the movie (if you know what I mean) Whatever happened to Jill Jacobson??