Killer Nun

"If you ever watched La Dolce Vita wishing that Swedish sex siren Anita Ekberg would get out of the Trevi fountain, turn junkie, torture some pensioners and stalk young innocent nuns for kinky sex in a convent then Killer Nun is the film for you!"

Killer Nun tells the tale of Sister Gertrude(Enita Ekberg) a faithful daughter of God, but just prior to the movies beginning Sister Gertrude has been unwell, she had to undergo major brain surgery in order to aid a tumour. Now back at work Gertrude is not quite the same person, whereas before she was calm and serene now she flips out at the least thing; smashing false teeth and giving the elderly patients in her care heart attacks. Suddenly however her outbursts get worse, and the patients begin dying, can Sister Gertrude be controlled?

Killer Nun was one of the original video nasties, banned in the UK in 1984 when scum newspaper The Daily Mail decided to be the voice of the people and force government to impose radical censorship on over 70 movies (this was just the start). In the 1990's the ban on the movie was lifted, but the movie was released in an edited form. Now however and for the first time ever the movie is released fully uncut in the UK.

Surprisingly enough, and something quite unusual in any horror movie or exploitation piece of this type the movie is based on true events surrounding a German Nun who killed patients, and stole their worldly possessions, selling them so she could lead a less than conventional life, again all caused after an operation on the brain, this time though due to a metal plate being installed. Many of the incidents portrayed on screen did actually occur.

Killer Nun is also a surprisingly good film; I would go as far as to say a damn near excellent piece of Italian cinema. The story has great motion to it, none of the ridiculous sidetracking that occurs during a lot of Italian horror movies. Also having now watched it in its uncut I can honestly say i'm not sure what all the fuss was about, why did this movie get banned and for so long? I guess all I can put it down to is the references to the church, maybe the Daily Mail's vigilance started at the church with this movie.

Anita Ekberg is exceptional in the role, obviously a little older than in La Dolce Vita, all the movie you feel sorrier for her character than you do any animosity. Deeply troubled by her warped world, and her often skewered views Ekberg plays the role of the mad woman incredibly well. Other supporting cast include Warhole favourite Joe Dellasandrio, sex siren Poala Morra, Cassandra Crossing star Lou Castel and horror veteran Alida Valli.

The movie has a nice clean print, the downfall of its editing however that is has mixed language; as was the case with all Italian movies of this time period (the 70's) Killer Nun has been dubbed into English, however when the movie was restored it was impossible to gather the same vocal artists again so rather than dubbing the movie slips into Italian with English subtitles.

I saw Killer Nun back in the 90'swhen the ban was lifted and to be fair I was not overly impressed, however watching it this time round I found it a far more enjoyable experience, so much so that I have to say it is one of the more enjoyable Italian offerings I have seen for a considerable amount of time. The fact that the story is more thriller than horror, and there is no over the top sexual reference as is often the case with these nunsploitation films. Killer Nun is an enjoyable movie, with a rather clever final twist worthy of any blockbuster movie.

The movies soundtrack is a real winner by guitarist and vocalist Alessandro Alessandroni, not a name I was overly familiar with but one I'll be looking into now. The main theme is highly addictive, in fact so much so I find it difficult to get out of my head, despite its nun like simplicity.

The movie was directed by Giulio Berruti and sadly at least according to the internet movie database this seems to be the last work of the director's career, while his work was more varied than some there were few highlights other than assisting Mario Bava on the movie Baba Yaga.

Picnic At Hanging Rock

On Valentines Day 1900 a group of students from the Appleyard College left for a day trip to Hanging Rock, in Australia’s Mount Macedon area. Enjoying the beauty of the rock several of the party are slightly bemused by the sudden failure of their watches, all of which stopped at exactly 12 o’clock, although Miss McCraw puts this down to a magnetic force from the once volcanic rock. Having enjoyed a day of wonder in the sunshine at the base of Hanging Rock, four of the students decide to embark on a hike to the top of the rock formation, led by Miranda (Anne Lambert) the schools most admired pupil. After a lengthy climb the girls lay out just minutes from the top to embrace in the warmth of the sun, and take chance to rest.
One of the girls known as Edith awakens to see her three classmates venturing further up the rock without her, and although attempts to catch up with them cannot. Edith returns to the base in a state of shock, unable to speak of what has happened other than her three classmates have disappeared, what she can recall however is a bright red cloud, and passing Miss McCraw as she made her way up the hill, in a strange trance and without a skirt, McCraw too disappears.

Picnic At Hanging Rock is one of the greatest mysteries of all time, but bigger a mystery is the fact that so many believe the story to be true.

Thinking back I first saw Picnic At Hanging Rock about 25 years ago, and I must confess I was less than impressed, however rather like a might fine wine the movie has grown in wonder to me as I have grown older. In the last six or seven years it has become one of my favourite movies, and despite it’s UK imposed PG certificate its possibly one of the most disturbing movies currently available on DVD.

While Weir’s direction is mesmerising, showing us a variety of beautifully framed shots; the heart of the movie is in its chilling soundtrack by Bruce Smeaton, a little used composer. Using the traditional pan pies so native to Australia, a variety of classical numbers played by orchestras, and electronica. The effect of the music, gives the movie a real feeling of menace, almost to the extent that you feel like you have stumbled upon something you should have not have. To the other extreme, your given musical moments of extreme beauty so sublime you forget the horrors of earlier scenes.

The wonder of Joan Lindsay’s story, Cliff Green’s screenplay, and Peter Weir’s direction is that every single scene is pivotal to the story, those airy fairy moments that seem throwaway in their nature are all incredibly important to the story; casual references in conversation such as issue of time are so terribly important, and this is what sets the movie apart from so many other movies, nothing is irrelevant.

The horror of the events on Hanging Rock, are nothing compared to the horror that takes place at the Appleyard School, strangely this somehow overshadows the other issues of the film, not in a bad way, but it gives it a whole new dimension. The curious Mrs. Appleyard rules the school strongly, but no more than any other school of the day, what is however different is the subtle bullying of Sara a girl with a less fortunate home life than any of the other girls. This brings about a real tragedy bigger than anything else in the movie.

It’s an interesting view that the movie gives us, turning the clock back 108 years, how much has changed. This is best delivered to the viewer in one particular scene where the girls are told as soon as they are miles away from the college that they may have permission to remove their gloves, if they so wished.

The cast is a gathering of beautiful people both female and male, and I believe this is deliberate because it makes the loss so much more tragic, even Miss McCraw an older lady has a certain older beauty about her. McCraw of interest was played by actress Vivean Grey who is best known as Mrs. Mangle from TV show Neighbours, Grey’s career was cut short by a series of tragedies, firstly her character in TV show the Prisoner was virtually cut out completely due to a law suit bought about by a party that claimed her performance was far to similar to a real life character, and her experiences as Mrs. Mangle were so extreme due to the popularity of Neighbours that people in public found it difficult to tell the difference between the character and the actress, in 1988 Grey retired in acting distraught by events.

Of the other cast member you have Rachel Roberts one time wife Rex Harrison, here as Mrs. Appleyard her performance is forthright and exacting. Apparently so harsh was her performance that the young actresses literally hated her, so much so that often she would ask that the girls were removed from set, because should could not bear to be hated by them. There is even a train of thought that the performance was not in fact acting, rather like Appleyard she liked both men and a good drink. Roberts committed suicide five years later, the horrors she endured her co-workers with seemingly the start of the end.

Meanwhile the young and inexperienced cast literally performed as they would in real life, sought out due to the fact that they came from backwaters where culture had not quite got hold, while City actresses were into pop music, the cast were selected mainly of Adelaide actresses whose biggest interests were the crafts scene, no interest in music or boys. Leading these was Anne- Louise Lambert, an actress as stunning now 33 years on as she was back then. Long after the movie has ended you remember the beauty of Lambert.

The wonder of Picnic At Hanging Rock is that it is a story without end, when novelist Joan Lindsay sent the book to publishers back in 1967, ingenious minds decided to remove the final chapter leaving the story open ended. It’s this careful editing that made the story so famous, and ultimately if you like one of the biggest hoaxes of all time, with people convinced to this very day that the events in the book and the movie are true. The story begins with a cleverly written prologue, and a final epilogue, this is carried forward from the book to the movie. In 1975 when the movie was made, only the clever editors at the publishing house and Joan Lindsay knew the truth, this truth was not revealed until 12 years after the movie was made and can be found in the book The Secret Of Hanging Rock, those purchasing the book Picnic At Hanging Rock will find no conclusion.
I should add that this lack of ending does not weaken either the book or the movie (both equally as good) in fact it’s the real essence of the magic, had that final chapter have been included this would not be something we would talk about now. It should be pointed out that Picnic At Hanging Rock was the very first blockbuster Australian movie, with sales across the world being massive. This being said the movie failed to please audiences in the US, who desperately wanted an ending.

It’s not very often that when a directors cut of the movie is released that the original is somewhat lost altogether, but this is exactly what happened, the original print disappeared completely for over ten years. Then after being considered lost the original print returned, sadly though preservation of this print was impossible due to the source material the print was found on.


It’s important to point out before I finish that Hanging Rock and Ayres Rock (also known as Uluru) are very different locations, though I note that people reviewing this over the years often have this fact confused.