A Monja de Monza

Bruno Mattei's 1980 take on the notorious Nun of Monza scandal is a curious blend of Gothic atmosphere, lurid exploitation, and accidental comedy that never quite manages to find its footing. The film's visual style leans heavily on shadowy convent corridors and candlelit chambers, giving the proceedings a faint air of menace, though the cinematography often feels flat and uninspired, lacking the artistry or tension that could have elevated the material. Instead, the camera lingers on the more salacious elements, which quickly become repetitive and lose their initial shock value. The atmosphere, while occasionally evocative, is undermined by the film's uneven tone, oscillating between somber melodrama and outright absurdity, sometimes within the same scene.

Among the cast, Zora Kerova stands out as Sister Virginia, bringing a certain vulnerability and conviction to a role that could have easily slipped into caricature. Her performance is serviceable, if not particularly nuanced, and she manages to anchor the film amid the chaos. Franca Stoppi, as the stern Mother Superior, injects some much-needed energy, though her screen time is disappointingly brief. The supporting cast, unfortunately, fares worse, with many performances veering into the unintentionally comedic, especially as the script requires them to navigate increasingly preposterous scenarios. Dialogue is often stilted, and character motivations are paper-thin, leaving little for the actors to work with beyond the surface-level provocations.

The film is ultimately a textbook example of nunsploitation, prioritizing shock and titillation over genuine storytelling. While Mattei's direction occasionally hints at a more serious critique of religious hypocrisy, these moments are drowned out by gratuitous scenes and a lack of narrative discipline. The result is a film that is neither as provocative nor as entertaining as its premise suggests, but it does offer a kind of campy, trashy charm for those with a taste for exploitation cinema's oddities.

I got this recently as part of the "Nunsploitation Box Set" (yes, there really is such a thing), and I was disappointed because I thought this was the original late 60's "Nun of Monza", the film that really inspired the whole modern "nunsploitation" genre. Actually though, it's the later 80's version by the immensely untalented Bruno Mattei. Mattei is a considered by many to be a "sleazemeister". Well, the "sleaze"part might be right, but he's not a "meister" of anything. Besides, plenty of TALENTED Italian directors were positively wallowing in sleaze by the early 80's. All Mattei really brought to the party was a staggering cinematic ineptitude.

For a Mattei film though, this isn't that bad. He actually sticks pretty much to the classic story of the nun of Monza, who is put in a convent by her wealthy father, rises to a position of power within the convent after her father's death, and brings about her own downfall when she gets involved with a man. There are,of course, some exploitative digressions--an orgy here, some gratuitous hardcore horse porn there. There's a priest who takes confession dressed in a red devil outfit (he's just come from an orgy, you see) and then tries to rape the penitent nun. The priests here are ridiculously horny (and for women--I don't know where all the altar boys are). This probably resembles contemporary sex romps like Joe D'Amato's "Images in a Convent" more than it does the original, no doubt more serious "Nun of Monza", but for better or worse it lacks a lot of the supernatural hokum of the D'Amato film. And god knows it's better than Mattei's truly unwatchable follow-up "The Other Hell".

It's interesting to see Eastern European actress Zora Kerova in a lead role. Kerova was kind of (to put it frankly) a perennial piece of ass in various Italian sleaze classics like "Terror Express". "Escape from a Women's Prison", "Cannibal Ferox", and "The New York Ripper". She was probably better suited to that, but she's not completely terrible here. I'm sure Anne Heywood was better in the original movie (and she certainly is in "Nuns of Archangel", which is also in the box set). The movie itself is not completely terrible, and back-handed as it is, that's a genuine compliment for a Bruno Mattei flick.

Eriprando Visconti's 1969 film 'The Nun of Monza' is often hailed as one of the founding entries of the nunsploitation genre; and one of the best, but Bruno Mattei obviously didn't feel that Eriprando Visconti told the story properly and so, for reasons of artistic integrity I'm sure, decided to make his own version; entitled 'The True Story of the Nun of Monza', in order to right whatever wrongs were present in the earlier version of the film. Well, it would seem that the older one simply wasn't trashy enough and didn't feature enough nudity, and Mattei certainly corrected that; although the rest of the film suffers as a result. The plot focuses on Sister Virginia de Leyva; a nun who becomes the Mother Superior of her convent in Monza. However, all is not rosy as the nun is plagued by dreams involving various forms of debauchery; and her problems aren't just limited to her sleep either, as it turns out that the convent is also a place of sin as her fellow nuns enjoy lustful encounters with one another.

This film was apparently shot at the same time as Mattei's other nunsploitation flick, The Other Hell and while this film is not very good; it is at least better than the more well known one. The original Nun of Monza was actually quite a high quality nunsploitation flick; and while this one is of a higher quality than some entries in the genre, it's still clearly a trashy eighties film. Still, the film is not a complete dead loss. Bruno Mattei may have hit the nunsploitation genre a little bit too late; but he still manages to create an often interesting tale. Much of the film is taken up by various sex acts and demonic imagery; but the director does manage something in the way of a foreboding atmosphere and the film is usually somewhat interesting. However, too much of it is dragged out and it feels like its never really going anywhere; which is even more disappointing considering how heavy the story in the original film was. However, Mattei fans may find something to like here and I wouldn't hesitate to call this the director's best foray into this genre.

Groan, this is the second Bruno Matti nunxploitation film I've seen this week. I could simply copy and paste my review of Matti's 'The Other Hell' and it would still be an accurate review.

It only reinforces how nunxploitation is by far the laziest of the exploitation sub genres. And that's saying something! Rent some nun costumes, use a church as your set, use classical public domain music, have some orgies of both blood and sex, cut print done in one take.

At least 'The Other Hell' had a coherent plot. Silly and boring but there was a beginning, middle and end. 'The True Story of the Nun of Monza' is impossible to follow! And I really did try. It's just one nun orgy after another and another. While this is typical of a nunxploitation film, this time Matti seems to be going for the record. There's a nun orgy every 30 seconds! The only reasons for the breaks in between is for them to find another decomposing dead body. Who are these dead characters? How did they die? Are they being murdered? If the film doesn't know or care why should the audience? Back to the nun orgies! Seriously! There's no explanation for these dead body scenes!

I honestly cannot describe the plot because there is NONE!

Note how all the positive reviews praise this as a dark comedy. If nun orgies are your thing there are far more entertaining nunxploitation films to choose from.

The positive reviews also praise this a not being one of Bruno Matti's worse films. That's like saying a root canal is more fun than castration.

This is one to skip even if you're going through Bruno Matti's entire filmography. Let's not and say we did.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA opens with Sister Virginia de Leyva (Zora Kerova) taking her final vows. This is inexplicably intercut with scenes of extreme equine copulation (!) in front of a smiling group of admirers.

Sister Virginia soon finds herself on the radar of the supremely cranky, Mother Superior (Franca Stoppi), when a man begins pursuing her -Virginia- romantically. Plagued by erotic Jeezuz dreams (!!), Virginia begs her roommate to punish her with a whip, which she does in grand style.

What is it with these naughty nun movies, anyway?

Meanwhile, the convent priest shows that his "calling" is just a job to him when he has a deep, personal relationship with a nun.

Like most of these films, the main point is to poke at the sanctimonious church, using sensuality and shocks to be as offensively blasphemous as possible.

Actually, the best character in this movie is Mother Superior, because Ms. Stoppi always plays these pious roles with gusto. Alas, she's in it far too briefly. The rest is rather dull and utterly absurd. The birthing scene is especially ludicrous!

Even the nudity and carnality wear out their welcome fast, since plot gives way to one-trick exploitation. It's astounding that so many similarly themed films were made!...