Having somehow not seen any other movies from writer Sergio Grieco (working here with writer Luigi Mordini), as far as I am aware, I must start this review of The Sinful Nuns Of Saint Valentine by saying that I look forward to anything else in his filmography that I might one day stumble across. This is a nunsploitation film that focuses on heightened emotional states and treachery ahead of simple sex and sleaziness, and it ends up being all the better for it. Not that I am a hater of sex and sleaziness in the right films. I just ended up being pleasantly surprised by this.
There are two “star-crossed” lovers at the heart of the plot. Jenny Tamburi is Lucita, confined to a convent and just days away from being forced into a commitment for life. Paolo Malco is Esteban, the man who loves her, but can only communicate with her in secret while he recuperates after a skirmish that saw him apparently kill a man. Between the two of them is the abbess (played by François Prévost), a woman who becomes aware of the whole situation, and schemes to have Esteban to herself. Meanwhile, the convent is being investigated and dark secrets are uncovered.
Taking very familiar elements of this sub-genre and tweaking them ever so slightly is enough to make this film both satisfying for those who know the tropes and more interesting than a film that might just slavishly mark them off a checklist. The power held by the abbess, for example, is soon shown to be precarious, at best, and affected by her unchecked impulses. The nuns being investigated from someone outwith the convent also shows a heirarchy of power that can ebb and flow, depending on who maintains their moral superiority (often while hiding their hypocrisy).
Malco and Tamburi are both fine, the latter doing especially good as the conflicted innocent, but the real star here is Prévost, who chews up her scenes as eagerly as she wants to chew up the man she has in her sights. She’s the kind of villain you can have a lot of fun watching, and her performance helps to ensure that. Corrado Gaipa is also good value, the “inquisitor” looking to root out evil and save the convent, if possible, and the rest of the supporting players do a good job of looking stressed, sanctimonious, or majorly struggling with their repressed desires.
There’s not much else to say about this, although it is worth noting that you watch it for the performances. The production design, score, etc. are all perfectly serviceable, I guess, but nothing stood out. That’s fine though, especially when you have such enjoyably twisted relationships and scheming to hold your attention.
Perhaps not nasty and sleazy enough for some, and I would point those people towards numerous Jess Franco movies ahead of this one, The Sinful Nuns Of Saint Valentine is still a bloody good nunsploitation flick, even if it doesn’t sit up there with the very best of them.
7/10
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