Seijû gakuen

School of the Holy Beast (1974)

*** (out of 4)

Notorious Japanese nunsploitation film from director Norifumi Suzuki has a simple storyline but borrows heavily from the Euro erotic genre. A rebellious woman enters a convent so she can learn the truth behind her mother's death eighteen years earlier. Her rebel attitude doesn't sit too well with the higher up nuns who aren't afraid to resort to torture by whip. The first half of the film is mostly an erotic movie and I'm not going to lie, Japanese women are quite sexy so the erotic nature of the film worked for me. Japan censorship laws were pretty heavy back in the day so the director comes up with a couple very good scenes to get his point across without having to resort to hardcore scenes, ala Euro flicks. There's an oral sex scene, which isn't shown how you'd expect but it's highly erotic and gets its sexuality across better than most Euro films of this genre. The second half of the film slows down quite a bit as the "mystery" surrounding the mother's death is revealed. The direction is quite strong and the cinematography is excellent.

You'd be forgiven for thinking a Japanese nunsploit flick helmed by snazzmeister Norifumi Suzuki would be cheap schlock with shower scenes to pad out the running time. No, this is a well made film as much concerned with inverting and subverting religious imagery as it is with aesthetics and sensuality. Certain set-pieces stand out as a testament to that: a nun flagellated in slow motion with roses, rose petals falling all over her bloodied body, a procession of nuns holding candles walking through the convent's corridors, a church interior photographed like a Mario Bava set, a priest falling dead in the shape of an inverted cross, stabbed with one no less.

Although School of the Holy Beast is definitely blasphemous in the imagery it employs and the way those who preach God's word are portrayed (a convent hiding vice and corruption the perfect hiding ground), it's never outrageous enough to shock because everything is done with a sense of artful style that will have all but the most fundamendalist of christians accepting it for what it is. There are a couple of false notes, like the 'witch trial' scene where a nun suspected to be a witch is forcefed salt water then forced to sit upon an image of Christ; if she pees, she's a witch. The method is so medieval that it's hard to picture taking place in the contemporary world the movie is set. Overall the film is enjoyable, mildly violent and sleazy, with perhaps a dash of religious angst that comes out as juvenile, but in good taste and a worthwhile watch.

Movies involving suppressed sexual desires in a convent erupting into violence/rape/bizarre sexual behaviour (y'now,like THE DEVILS) are usually of European origin.But this cracker from Japan is one of the best of it's kind.It has some of the most disturbing yet hauntingly beautiful scenes of blasphemy i've ever seen.It has been screened in English as CONVENT OF THE SACRED BEAST,but i'm not sure how you'd track it down.But if you can,it's well worth seeing.

This is a beautifully shot movie and is definitely not a cheaply made porn. It's made to stand up as a legitimate movie and entertainment for adults.

Maya Takigawa (Yumi Takigawa) is enjoying her last day of freedom, having a wild time, because tomorrow, she will be entering a convent. She meets a good looking guy Kenta Aoki (Hayato Tani) and becomes friends with him. He wants to go steady with her but she declines. What's driving her to enter the convent ? 18 years ago her mother was at this convent and committed suicide while being pregnant with her. She aborts early but survives. She's now on a mission to find out why her mother had to die and who is her father. After she enters the convent, it's nonstop erotic violence with nuns beating up each other in name of God with beautiful breastages, and naked bodies shown at every opportunity.

The movie is high quality as it has real story, beautiful "real" actresses who can actually act, and crisp cinematography that's top notch.

How did such far out, and excellent movie come out from a rather conservative Toho studio ? I can put all the credit squarely on the director Norifumi Suzuki's capable talent. Suzuki is not well known in the west because he himself prefers not to be in the front line, but he is an unmistakable genius of Japanese cinema, and have directed many famous (and some considered masterpieces) of movies and movie series such as "Torrakku Yaro" (Trucker Guy) series starring Bunta Sugawara and "Hibotan Bakuto" (Hibotan Gambler) series starring Junko Fuji. Sugawara and Fuji both became famous after starring in Suzuki's movies. Suzuki's movies are all known to be somewhat eccentric and squarely focused on entertainment value. He is very versatile as he can direct movies of many different genre all with very high quality.

Seijyu Gakuen (Holy Beast School) gets all it's quality and entertainment values from the talent of its director. Beautiful Yumi Takigawa makes her debut in this movie, and she enjoys a long career as a movie and TV actress in the proceeding years.

Nunsploitation is a sub genre more often associated with trashy cheap Italian cinema; but Japan made a few as well, and while the bizarre Wet & Rope was worth seeing - their real masterpiece was this film, School of the Holy Beast. The most popular religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism, so it's rather strange to see Japanese women dressed in habits in a Roman Catholic convent, but even so - that hasn't stopped director Norifumi Suzuki from creating a fine slice of nunsploitation. One of my favourite things about this sub-genre is the fact that the films are often well photographed, and the directors take care with shooting the convent itself, and this is something that is adhered to with this film. There isn't a great deal of plot to speak of, but the central thread follows a beautiful young woman named Maya, who gets bundled off to a convent shortly after having sex with some guy. It soon becomes apparent that, like every other nunsploitation film, not everything at the convent is completely above board - as the nuns themselves are subjected to all manner of sexual punishments.

The attention to detail in the film is stunning, and the director delights in dishing up some stunning shots of the locations and his actresses. Japanese cinema is well known for being stylish, and that is certainly true of this film. There's plenty of sleaze on offer, but it all feels very artful and despite the fact that we're watching things such as whippings, lesbianism and rape, it never feels very shocking and that's because it's all very easy on the eyes. The script doesn't extend well to characters and character development, but it's not all that important and it is good to see that the story does develop past the basic plot layout - which certainly can't be said for every film of this type. Debutant Yumi Takigawa takes the lead role, and does well with it. Admittedly, it's not really because of her acting talent; but she does look good with her top off, and the director obviously knew that as he makes a meal out of scenes that see her half naked and bound with ropes. Overall, this is a fascinating cult film and comes highly recommended to anyone that enjoys this sort of cinema!