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From Ken Russell's 'The Devils' to Jesus Franco's 'Love Letters Of A Portuguese Nun,' from Sergio Grieco's 'Sinful Nuns Of St. Valentine' to Gianfranco Mingozzi's classic 'Flavia The Heretic' and everything in between, I am a self-confessed nunsploitation freak. I wanted to embrace Killer Nun uncritically. I also like to check out any film featuring Joe Dallesandro, who is always interesting. Except, maybe, in this movie. But it would be unfair to ask Joe to save a failure like Killer Nun. The basic problem with this movie is the misleading title. With a title like Killer Nun, you are compelled to either deliver the goods, or condemned to disillusioning your audience. As a viewer, I haven't felt so disillusioned since I saw 'Blow Up' and not a single cast member exploded. I actually fell asleep the first time I tried to watch this film, right after Anita Ekberg stomped on the old lady's dentures. I did not pass out from tiredness but from the surprise agony of boredom this film inflicted upon my vulnerable brain. I trustingly placed my fragile psyche in the hands of cruel and insensitive filmmakers who betrayed me! By the time I fell asleep on the initial viewing attempt, I had long wearied of chanting "Kill, Nun, Kill!" every time a nun appeared on screen. Maybe if the film had been marketed under the title "Horny Junkie Nun" or "Nun With Occasional Psychotic Episodes" I wouldn't have felt so ripped off.

The second time I settled down to inflict Killer Nun upon myself I was prepared. I sat through it with steely determination, thankful for my preternaturally high pain threshold.

There's some soft sex and nudity, but only one scene between Sister Gertrude (Ekberg) and her younger lesbian nun lover contains any hint of eroticism or interest. Sister Gertrude humiliates her submissive girlfriend, Sister Mathilde (Paola Morra, an Italian Playboy Playmate who also had a small role in the nunsploitation flick 'Sex Life In A Convent'). Ekberg forces her to dress in silk stockings to satisfy her admitted fetish, and demands that she repeat the words, "I am the worst kind of prostitute!" Unfortunately this is a case of too little too late. This scene could have been deliciously lascivious... another opportunity to deliver the prurient goods utterly wasted.

The same can be said of the gore. Yeah, people die in this movie but the first outright killing occurs nearly halfway through the film. The gore, such as it is, is almost entirely implied, and will only irritate fans of graphic violence FX. Another killing carries genuine potential for thrills and terror, as the victim is sadistically tortured with pins. Somehow the filmmakers actually succeed in making scenes like this boring. Doesn't cut it with a film called Killer Nun, babe.

As for the other half of the reason I was looking forward with some pleasurable anticipation to watching this movie. Joe Dallesandro. His role is negligible. Aside from a lame soft sex scene with Morra, he's given nothing to do at all. Dallesandro is usually more than watchable in genre films. While he never gives a bad account of himself, in this instance his presence is wasted. A significant letdown for this fan.

I never imagined I would be disappointed in a nunsploitation entry. The biggest shock this film delivers is what a dud it turned out to be. I've had more laughs filming myself vomiting than I had watching this movie. If you want nunsploitation then consider Killer Nun as a last resort. Instead try one of the films mentioned in my opening remarks, or maybe you'd enjoy my personal favorite, Pedro Almodovar's 'Dark Habits.'

Sister Gertrude, in the 1978 Italian horror film "The Killer Nun," is certainly not your typical, garden-variety nun. Addicted to mainlining morphine (Sister Morphine?!?!) as a result of a recent brain tumor operation, she also smokes cigarettes, drinks liquor in bars, hallucinates, has up-against-the-wall sex with casually picked-up men, wears makeup, steals, engages in domineering lesbian sex with her roommate, and, perhaps most shocking of all, refers to her Mother Superior as "bitch." Still...does that mean she's responsible for the wave of recent murders in the French hospital where she works? What would YOU think? As played by Miss Sweden 1951 herself, Anita Ekberg, Gertrude really is a sight to behold, both in and out of the, er, habit. Sadly, this picture, though great sounding in synopsis, is a real mixed bag, never dishes out quite enough in the sex and violence departments, and will probably leave most viewers wanting more in terms of sleaze, shocks and scares. Still, there are some pleasures to be had here. Giulio Berruti's directing is occasionally quite stylish, and the film's score, by Alessandro Alessandroni, is freaky (especially during Gertrude's "shooting sprees") and really quite excellent. Film buffs will also be happy to see Alida Valli and Joe Dallesandro in small roles, and one of the film's murders, featuring multiple hypodermic needles in an old woman's face, should satisfy all the gorehounds out there. The DVD that I just watched, from the good folks at Blue Underground, looks fine but has been poorly dubbed; subtitles would have been infinitely preferable. I had to watch the film twice to make sure I understood the ending correctly--the hushed, fast-talking dubbing doesn't always make things easy--and, if I may make a, um, confession, did appreciate it more the second time around.

This is one of those Italian "nunsploitation" films (others include FLAVIA THE HERETIC and THE OTHER HELL), made in the decade after THE DEVILS and made to cash in on the same religious frenzy and sadistic depravity that seem to fill the minds of the holy in the movies. Sadly, THE KILLER NUN is a disappointing film due to the lack of violence on display, and moreover the lack of real power in the film. Due to this it's completely unmemorable, although not without its moments.

The film follows a strict, repetitive plot; a murder occurs, which is then followed by investigation and much suspicion, then another murder, and so on up until the twist finale (which isn't really that surprising, seeing as you never really see Ekberg commit the crimes she is accused of). As this is an Italian movie, there's a certain style to it which makes it watchable, and the crisp photography is nice to look at too, along with an expressive score.

The acting is pretty good as well, especially from Ekberg as the confused, tormented nun. The supporting cast may be full of unrecognisable Italians, but they all act professionally with the exception of a few over-the-top hysterical nuns. Gentle stalwart Massimo Serato plays a harassed doctor and cult star Joe Dallesandro has a minor role. Sadly it is the lack of incident which results in this film's downfall, that and the ending which makes you think "is that it?". It simply looks like they ran out of budget and had to draw the film to a premature close.

The murders, when they occur, are pretty good; they include death by suffocation, a bludgeoning followed by a fall from a window, and in the film's grisliest scene, a woman has pins pushed into her face - ouch! There are also individual scenes like when Ekberg stamps on an old woman's dentures which stick out as being quite powerfully portrayed. Although the sex was quite hyped up before the film, it's actually not that explicit, and instead kept to a sizzling undercurrent of lust and passion. THE KILLER NUN may be a pretty forgettable movie, but thanks to the Italian influence it's quite watchable as these things go.

The film opens with the on screen paragraph 'this film is based on actual events that took place in a Central European country not many years ago'. Yeah, course it is. During the credits we see a yet unknown nun in confession. Then we are introduced to Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg) who works in a hospital with a Dr. Poirett (Massimo Serato) and her roommate and friend Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra), other people work there obviously but these are the only ones you need concern yourself with at this point. Sister Gertrude has recently undergone surgery to remove a brain tumour and has been experiencing headaches, black outs and a loss of control. Dr. Poirett says that he thinks she is suffering from post operative shock and the symptoms that she describes are purely psychosomatic. In actual fact Sister Gertrude has become addicted to morphine. Sister Gertrude receives no support from her Mother Suerior (Alida Valli) as she tells Sister Gertrude that "it's a nun's vocation to suffer". After Dr. Poirett refuses to prescribe her anymore morphine, Sister Gertrude steals a ring from a dead patient and pawns it in the city buying the drug with the proceeds. Sister Mathieu steals morphine for her as well from the hospital. The patients and Dr. Poirett begin to notice that Sister Gertrude's personality has begun to change, for the worse. One night Sister Gertrude notices that a patient named Josephine (Nerina Montagnani) has put her false teeth into her glass of water on the dining room table during dinner. Angry Sister Gertrude throws them on the floor and stamps on them. Later that night Josephine has a heart attack in her room and dies, this is when Sister Gertrude steals the ring. Soon after this incident Sister Gertrude senses Dr. Poirett is becoming suspicious and talks to the director (Daniele Dublino) of the hospital and convinces him to fire Dr. Poirett. Things become worse for Sister Gertrude as Father Janot is bludgeoned to death and thrown out of a high window to make it look like suicide. More deaths occur as the new Doctor, Patrick Roland (Joe Dallesandro) can't quite believe what is happening at the hospital and he too also starts to have his suspicions about Sister Gertrude. Is Sister Gertrude a drug-addicted killer? Since the hospital doesn't want a scandal they try and cover up the deaths as accidents but eventually the truth is revealed............ Co-written and directed by Giulio Berruti I really didn't think too much of this European exploitation film. The script by Berruti and Alberto Tarallo is quite slow at times and surprisingly shy's away from the stronger sleaze and exploitation elements you may expect from a Euro film from this period and of this type. A bit of nudity, a sequence where a female patient gives a man in a wheelchair a blow-job and has sex with him and a scene where a woman has needles stuck into her face is about it. The film is set almost entirely in the hospital and the fact that Ekberg plays a nun is totally irrelevant and not really used to it's full potential. There are not enough suspects on show either, I always felt that it was going to be one of only two potential killers and I was proved right. And the films title 'Killer Nun' tells you just about everything you need to know as well. The killers motives are never really made that clear and the way they are revealed at the end is one of the poorest and most unimaginative I've ever seen, the killers unmasking is better in an average Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996) episode! I just didn't care about anyone or anything in this film, and that's never a good thing. Quite well made on a certain level but there are so many more better films out there in this genre. Dull, unexciting and somewhat uninteresting. Not worth spending good money on that's for sure.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

"Killer Nun" baby. What a title. I couldn't resist. I was helpless. A nun. Who's a killer! Had to see it.

Unfortunately "Killer Nun" was too good a title. It couldn't live up to the high sleaze bar it had set for itself. The main nun, Sister Gertrude, (Anita Ekberg), does not get naked. She wasn't a young nun but she still had it going on. She was looking good.

So Gertrude works in a hospital. She is also addicted to morphine. Patients start ending up dead. Gertrude is suspected of being a killer nun. Her young nun roommate tries to console her. She also gets naked a lot and longs to be with Gertrude. In a good scene, Gertrude says that she'll only make love to a woman if she's wearing silk stockings. But once again, the movie falls short and no nun sex scene. Rats.

All in all, not too exciting. If the point of a "nunsploitation" movie is to see women dress as nuns and be sexual, this movie falls flat.

I wasn't massively impressed with this. With a title like 'Killer Nun', it is no great surprise to find Anita Ekberg's Sister Gertrude behaving in a continually unorthodox manner, indulging in brief sexual dalliances (with both genders), drug taking and being horrible to those in her care. Ekberg plays the deterioration well, and Paola Morra is also excellent as Sister Mathieu - but on the whole, this is a very dull affair.

Director and co-writer Giulio Berruti lets some sub-par visuals pass, with background characters glancing at the camera and occasional scenes that would have benefitted from another take. Only towards the end do events become disturbing, and effectively so. At last Gertrude's hallucinogenic events are increasingly frenzied and you get the feeling the film is finally getting somewhere. Sadly though, this feeling doesn't last long, although there is a good twist at the end.

I get the impression 'Killer Nun' is quite happy simply to feature controversial scenes of a Nun (or Nuns) behaving badly and doesn't really seem interested in progressing any further than that.

There are more than one category when it comes to the exploitation genre. Certainly the oldest is sex followed by gore and then later by the various kinks and fetishes of people around the world. Nazisploitation combined Nazis with sex starved female prison commandants torturing and sexually abusing their prisoners. And then there was the nunsploitation films.

The nunsploitation films were popular in the 70s and didn't last long as a genre but they did make an impact at grindhouses at the time. The stories circled around nuns who due to celibacy usually ended up in sexual situations that their vows were definitely against. Not only did they find a way to have sex but for the most part it was what most would consider some deviant form of sex.

One of the earliest films in the genre was KILLER NUN. Perhaps what makes this film stand out among the genre is that the star is Anita Ekberg, an actress who was known for her career making roles in films like LA DOLCE VITA, WAR AND PEACE and 4 FOR TEXAS. For someone of her stature this was certainly a step down. And yet fans of the genre were probably getting more than they bargained for with someone of her caliber.

Ekberg stars as Sister Gertrude, recovering from a brain tumor she had an operation from and running a geriatric hospital. Insisting she isn't well enough to go on, the Mother Superior in charge basically tells her to buck up and deal with her life. Instead Sister Gertrude finds ways to get more morphine and eventually heroin to help her cope with her day to day routine. Not only that she finds comfort and assistance from her roommate Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra), another nun who's attracted to her and eventually begins a lesbian love affair with her.

Driven to psychotic rages Sister Gertrude takes out her frustrations and disabilities on the patients being left in her care and those around her. She stomps the dentures of one patient for taking them out at the dining room table. She reports a doctor on charges that are false. She has random sex with men outside of the hospital. Eventually it all leads to murder.

While watching the film I found myself wondering what the attraction was for this film. Perhaps the salaciousness of the film would hold more value if I was Catholic, so involved in my religion that the taboo aspects of this would make it arousing instead of exploitative. As a film on its own it was well made but felt forced rather than a movie that told a story in a straight forward manner.

With all the histrionics going on here it's difficult to call any performance as worthy and well done. The end result is a movie that fans of the genre will like but others might find themselves scratching their head over. And yet I'm still glad to see someone like Arrow Video releasing this film and saving it from disappearing for all time. Once more they treat the film as if it were something special and for film historians, exploitation fans and movie fans that in itself is cause for cheer.

Arrow is including several nice extras with the film as well. They include a new audio commentary track with film connoisseurs Adrian J. Smith and David Flint, "Beyond Convent Walls" a new video essay by Kat Ellinger, "Starry Eyes" a new interview with director Giulio Berruti, "Cut and Noise" a new interview with editor Mario Giacco, "Our Mother of Hell" a new interview with actress Ileana Fraia, the original Italian and international trailers, an image gallery and a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Daryl Joyce.

This is a beautifully filmed and well-written 70s thriller that continually gets darker and sicker. It's one of the darkest giallos I've seen due to the nature of the sadistic nun Gertrude and her descent into insanity and morphine addiction.

The only reason The Killer Nun even qualifies as giallo is because there is a twist at the end, exposing the real killer. However, the director Giulio Berruti chose a true and bizarre Seventies European murder case to exploit, and there's an unsettling contrast between the small, restricted lives of the residents of the nursing home - including the nuns themselves who are repressing various forms of sexuality and/or anger - and the brutality of both addiction and murder.