Sacred Flesh

Porn in Britain has an unusual history, often presented in bowdlerized versions (like horror releases, given to local censorship), and this distributor Redemption/Salvation Films released many a mainstream U.S. porn video of the '90s with all the explicit sex removed.

Here we have a sex film about nuns, made to capitalize on that genre and the ongoing popularity of Ken Russell's breakthrough "The Devils", that takes itself so seriously as to sap the energy and arousal potential out of a softcore feature. That being said, the attention to detail and visual creativity make it of interest nonetheless.

The story such as it is has a convent in turmoil, with the mother superior (an earnest NonSex performance by Sally Tremaine) seemingly going crazy, having conversations with Mary Magdalene (played acidly by Kristina Bill) who is presented (in her mind) as sort of a Devil. Many scenes of nuns having sex are presented but most of the film (shot on video) is a talkfest with protagonists wondering whether some satanic cult is at work.

I was interested to see several topflight Adult Cinema actresses (of the future) participating in the most explicit, though strictly softcore, action, notably Michelle Thorne masturbating with conviction but hardly recognizable as this was shot before she had her iconic huge breasts surgically created, the naturally buxom Hannah Callow in a lesbian twosome, and lovely Majella Shepherd pawed by two lustful clergymen, years before she so memorably (and comically) took on Mandingo in the American porn video "Chasing the Big Ones 13".

British nunsploitation, made as a tribute to the European nun flicks of the 70s (director/writer Nigel Wingrove is actually the founder of UK media company Salvation, which distributes work by directors such as Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, Dario Argento, Mario Bava, Bruno Mattei, and Lucio Fulci).

In the past (we don't know exactly when, but people travel around on horseback) a Mother Superior has become obsessed with lustful thoughts after hearing confessions from some of her young nuns. In her agitated state she imagines having a conversation with Mary Magdalene and (for some reason ) a zombie nun, during which she recounts four of these confessions. As she does so we see them played out.

All the young nuns are played by 'adult entertainment' actresses - not surprising given the scenarios are nude soft-core involving self-flagellation and/or sex between nuns. The acting is atrocious, and the 'story' is nothing but an excuse to show... stuff. However... compared to most skin-flicks (IMDb classifies this simply as 'horror', but let's call it what it is), it clearly has a budget, with a nifty title sequence, good location work (inside and outside), costumes, props, a (relatively) large cast, and a 1 hr 15 min runtime. The camerawork is also pretty good, and the girls are hot (although obvious boob jobs, lipstick, and nail-varnish do look out of place on nuns; no wonder so much stuff was going on!). Oh, for Brits there's a cameo by cult actress and sometime TV presenter Emily Booth. 5/10.

I saw this in London. There were five people in the audience. I think the intent was to make an arty euro porn film, but it looks like it was shot on beta and suffered from dropout and poor colouring. The story goes nowhere, just a tempted mother superior and various nun couplings. I really made the effort to see this one after enjoying the far superior RAZERBLADE SMILE, but Eileen Daly is truly wasted in this mess. Pity.

What we have here is a film designed to shock. Anyone who goes about making a film about the repressed sexuality of nuns realises and no doubt encourages the fact that some will be shocked by this. In my opinion this film makers tangle with this has left nothing but a laughable piece of amateur soft porn hoping to fool people into thinking it has deep, important themes by topping and tailing the sex scenes with terribly written and awfully acted discussions about the morality of sex and sexual repression. 'The Devils' walked the line between exploitation and art but due to the superb performances and clinical direction managed to avoid desending into voyerism, something this film can not claim.

I am sad to see that some people commenting have actually been taken in by the "moral arguments" that run through the film. All I see is a very weak device to allow a group of soft porn scenes to run their course. The rapid editing and camera movement does little to disguise them for what they are either.

The acting is terrible. I got the impression that the actors either had no clue what they were saying and therefore lacked any sort realism or were trying their hardest to remember the reams of dogmatic nonsense they spewed - which had much the same affect.

One hilarious element are the performers in the scenes of "sexual gratification". Most appear to have breast implants, full make up including lipstick, eye make up and nail varnish, and some even have pierced tongues, belly button rings and tattoos not to mention their incredibly neatly trimmed pubic hair. I'm no expert but I doubt that these things would have been common place in most Convents. This does not add up to a high level of realism and is just another example of the fact the film-maker's intentions were as far from high art or art house as you can get.

Avoid this film, if God exists he'll help you resist.

Now there are some people who watch porn movies who say they like to see a bit of a story and there are some who like to see just action and no story (i fall in the second catagory). In Sacred Flesh we see have a film that fits into neither catagory. This joke of a film does try to show a story but it is so full of religious clap trap that you can't help but reach for the fast forward button to search for the fleshy good bits. Thats were we have the other problem, apart from a couple of flashes of soft porn we see nothing that would get anybody exited .If your thinking of seeing this for the sex ,watch something else because this wont do it for you.

The costumes look like they had been made at the local primary school and the acting was so laughable , especially from the men , that it provides the only entertainment. Dont touch this with a barge pole. 1 out of 10.