HORROR MOVIES 101

Nun Horror ...

   Much like Zombies and Cannibals there is an entire sub-genre of Horror films called 'Nun-Horror' ...   I was recently in another group where a guy mentioned a preference for 'nun' films (including The Sound Of Music!) ...   and I said that if you are going to watch movies about 'nuns', why not watch some good ones like...

   Demonia 

   Sisters of Satan

   The Other Hell

  Flavia The Heretic

   Psycho III  ...

   And then it occured to me that there are MANY such films about 'nun-horror'!   Probably more than I know of!   In fact, I can think of a couple more right off the bat...

   The Sentinel 

   and the one I have chosen to talk about first...

  To the Devil, a Daughter ...

   I recently read that this was the last movie to come out of Englands Hammer Studios.   And while I would agree with most critics that this movie lacks the style and flair of most Hammer productions, it has something that no other Hammer film has had before...   Nastassja Kinski nude.   To put it quite simply, that is worth the price of admission right there.   But, aside from Nastassja showing off her lovely body, this is quite a good film in other ways as well.   Cristopher Lee is priceless (as he is in ALL of his films) as an insane and evil priest who has abandoned God and chosen to worship Satan instead.   He is also the 'godfather' of the young nun, Catherine (Kinski), who has been released from the convent to visit her father - who mysteriously refuses to see her.   Instead he sends her to his friend, an American novelist played by Richard Widmark, to look after her.   When he leaves Catherine with a couple of his friends while he is researching a story he is writing, they are myseriously murdered in a most brutal fashion and soon other supernatural events begin occuring...   This all leads to a final confrontation between Widmark and Lee and the forces of evil in a convoluted ending that doesn't do justice to an otherwise very good movie.   This one is recomended for some intense murder scenes and (as mentioned above) the always beautiful Nastassja showing off some of her, um, assets...

                                                                          < GOR > 

Re:Nun Horror ...

   The next one I would like to talk about is  The Sentinel  ...   This is one of my all time favorite horror films and is one of the scariest and most disturbing I have ever seen.   Coming fresh on the heels of The Exorcist, The Omen and Rosemary's Baby, The Sentinal is a lost and forgotten classic of Satanic horror.   Based on the best selling novel by Jeffrey Konvitz, who also wrote the screenplay, it is the story of young New York fashion model Allison Parker (played by a scene-stealing Christina Raines), who breaks up with her fiance (Chris Sarandon of Fright Night and The Princess Bride fame) and moves into a beautiful and inexplicably affordable brownstone apartment.   The fun begins when she meets her rather eccentric new neighbors beginning with a nosey but likable Burgess Meredith who introduces her to other neighbors that range from mildly amusing to rather disturbing...   Oh, and there is a blind priest living upstairs who nobody talks to and who never leaves his apartment...   Suddenly, Allison's health begins to fail leading to regular fainting spells and much concern from her friends and estranged boyfriend.   When Allison asks her real estate agent (Ava Gardner) about all of her eccentric nieghbors she is in for a bit of a shock to learn that, aside from her and the blind priest upstairs, the building is quite deserted!   It turns out that the building is the gateway to Hell and the old blind priest (John Carradine) is the guardian who's job it is to keep the Legions Of Hell from invading the Earth!   And Allison, it turns out, has been chosen to be his replacement...   Some truely horrifying scenes, especially at the end, and just enough splattery gore to keep most gorehounds satisfied make this a standout picture that never quite got the attention it deserved.   Also look for Jeff Goldblum, Crisopher Walken, Beverly D'Angelo and others in "before they were stars" roles.   As with many of these old classics, I was a huge fan of the novel before the movie ever came out and I was not dissapointed in the movie in the least...   this is a truely terriffying experience that you won't soon forget.   It is also interesting to note that director Michael Winner visited hospitals and circus sideshows to hand pick the "freaks" and human "oddities" that were used in the movies finale...   when the legions of Hell begin to spill forth...

                                                                      < GOR >

   Oh yeah...   what does all of this have to do with nuns?   You will have to see the movie (or read the novel) and find out for yourself...

Re:Nun Horror ...

And wasn't Freddy Krueger's mother a nun and raped by a hundred madmen?  It is amazing how many nun films there are, I guess I never thought of it before.  Let's see, there is also the movie The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine, The Nun, Killer Nun for a few more...

BUT the scariest nun story is a true story that I just HAVE to tell.  When I was in college I lived in a house filled with male strippers and drag queens, it was quite the party atmosphere.  We had this one housemate named Joey who was obsessed with nuns.  He had nun pictures everywhere in his room.  He also loved to dress up as a nun and go walking in the graveyard at 5:00 in the morning where we used to live in Springfield, Missouri.  Anyway, he was also very manic depressive and one day, one of the guys in the house ate Joey's food.  Joey had a horrible meltdown, blaming all of us and we were all going to pay for that and we were ALL against him.  So for 3 days he just glared at us and slammed doors and picked up knives and just stared at them and then stormed out of the house.  After that incident a few of the guys and I were laying in my bed, scared to death and of course I just had to say..."Oh my god, guys, can you just picture a NUN with a knife flying through that door and stabbing us all?"  Of course then we were even more terrified.  The next morning we all came out and saw that Joey had come home but laying on the kitchen table was a very big knife and his nun's habit was laying on the couch.  I think it was just a week later that I decided to move out...now that was terrifying.  - anyway, just had to share.

Re:Nun Horror ...

   Wow, June!  THAT is some story!   I guess the only thing scarier than Norman Bates dressed as his mother would be Norman Bates dressed as a NUN!   It sounds like that young man had a really bad 'habit' ...

   And thanks for the movie recomendations!   Aside from the Freddy movies, I haven't seen those yet...   I will put them on my list!   Thanks Again!

   And you are QUITE correct about Freddy's Mother...   She was a young, virginal nun who was accidentally trapped in the basement of the insane asylum with a THOUSAND maniacs for several days and repeatedly raped by all of them...   leading to Freddy's nickname,   'the bastard son of a thousand maniacs'...   Good Job!

                                                                       < GOR >

Re:Nun Horror ...

June that is a crazy story!  I love it!  Although it probably wasn't that entertaining at the time.

I've only seen one nun movie that I can think of, which was already mentioned, The Nun.  I don't remember much, whether because it was a long time ago or because my friends and I were all slightly inebriated, but I do remember that it was pretty bad... and not laughably bad, just bad.

Re:Nun Horror ...

I havent posted lately! All I want to say is I watched, The Sentinel. It was brilliant and one of the best movies I seen lately. Something that i really enjoyed! Anyone that hasn't seen it, needs too. Just for the ending alone! 

Re:Nun Horror ...

I agree too, the Sentinel is a MAJOR Goosebump movie - just majorly creepy.  It is right up there on the top of my list. 

Macabre_FilmNut:

I havent posted lately! All I want to say is I watched, The Sentinel. It was brilliant and one of the best movies I seen lately. Something that i really enjoyed! Anyone that hasn't seen it, needs too. Just for the ending alone!