[Mini-Review] Sexploitation - School Of The Holy Beast (1974)
Title:
"Sexploitation - School Of The Holy Beast" (1974),
aka Convent of the Sacred Beast,
aka Seijû gakuen (as listed on IMDb),
et al.
Genre tags:
Nunsplotation. (apparenly a popular sub-genre in Italy and Japan).
Japenese.
Erotica.
Live Action.
Drama.
XXX-Rated.
My Mini-Review Rating: 5/5.
My IMDb Rating: 10/10.
Mean IMDb Rating currently: 6.5/10.
Well, I now have an IMDb account, so, I think you can read all of my mini-reviews at [this url]. However, I am unsure of that, since IMDb hides it deep within its email notifications. Anyhow, my account there is "dhyvdking"/ David Keing, so you can check me out if you want. I'll update this with direct and accurate links if I find them, let me know if the URLs work or not please.
I was gonna just copy-paste what I wrote there, but I somehow did some minor edits:
This movie is in Japanese (although subtitles are available; I watched it with English subtitles), so even people who might like it probably didn't watch it or understand the plot. This is an unsung classic that deserves to be up there with "Shogun Assassin (1980)". What sets it apart is the storyline. Judging from the some comments (on IMDb), most people don't "get the story line", so I'll introduce it:
Although set in Japan, this movie is located in a Roman-Catholic nunnery. The impression I get is that the nunnery is in Japan, within walking distance of a metropolis, but due to its high walls, etc. perhaps isolated from the town center totally. It's also rather big and might be in the country-side, but since they are greenhouses it could also just be in the suburbs of, say, Japan. There's a scene where a nun arrives from Rome, and all of the rituals are based on Catholic canon, including reverence for the Virgin Mary, Jesus on the cross, etc.
I found that the main characters are well fleshed out, and the plot is revealed in interesting sections. Also, despite the "taboo" nature of the sex, it actually all fits into the plot, it's not like the typical "I'm bored, so let's do it" porn which is so common in the "Western" world. Nothing is just there for the sake of sex, every time you see an exposed nipple, it is related to the plot directly. If this was such a thing as "tasteful" use of nudity and violence, this would definitely be an example thereof.
If you don't want to know anything about the story, stop reading here!
The protagonist decided to have a bit of fun before joining the nunnery, and so has a one-night stand with a total stranger (we know this because he only tells her his name after they're done having sex and lying next to each other). She joins because she doesn't know anything about her biological parents except that her mother was one a none at this nunnery.
Apparently, she's recently turned 18, and decides to fulfill her adulthood by joining "undercover" to investigate. They're several story arcs which unfold and are resolved, as the corruption and true nature of the nunnery as a "demonic" city of destruction is revealed. Right until the very end, the three main anti-laws which it is devoted to observing: lust, murder, and theft, are evidently what they have sustained themselves on for nearly 2 decades, if not longer.
Without spoiling the story, it is very engrossing, although I was initially put off by the slow opening (which shows a slice of the protagonist's life before joining), after about 10 minutes when the drama started unfolding within the monastery, it was extremely engrossing and just as gripping as any modern drama, if not more so.
They are several creative scenes which use good effects (esp. for 1974), and show a lot of thought went into design of the "world" of the monastery (such as the "trap door" scene, you'll know it when you see it).
They are a few minor problems in terms of availability and translation, I'm working to fix them now, drop me a message or leave a comment if you are interested in obtaining a copy.
"Sexploitation - School Of The Holy Beast" (1974),
aka Convent of the Sacred Beast,
aka Seijû gakuen (as listed on IMDb),
et al.
Genre tags:
Nunsplotation. (apparenly a popular sub-genre in Italy and Japan).
Japenese.
Erotica.
Live Action.
Drama.
XXX-Rated.
My Mini-Review Rating: 5/5.
My IMDb Rating: 10/10.
Mean IMDb Rating currently: 6.5/10.
Well, I now have an IMDb account, so, I think you can read all of my mini-reviews at [this url]. However, I am unsure of that, since IMDb hides it deep within its email notifications. Anyhow, my account there is "dhyvdking"/ David Keing, so you can check me out if you want. I'll update this with direct and accurate links if I find them, let me know if the URLs work or not please.
I was gonna just copy-paste what I wrote there, but I somehow did some minor edits:
This movie is in Japanese (although subtitles are available; I watched it with English subtitles), so even people who might like it probably didn't watch it or understand the plot. This is an unsung classic that deserves to be up there with "Shogun Assassin (1980)". What sets it apart is the storyline. Judging from the some comments (on IMDb), most people don't "get the story line", so I'll introduce it:
Although set in Japan, this movie is located in a Roman-Catholic nunnery. The impression I get is that the nunnery is in Japan, within walking distance of a metropolis, but due to its high walls, etc. perhaps isolated from the town center totally. It's also rather big and might be in the country-side, but since they are greenhouses it could also just be in the suburbs of, say, Japan. There's a scene where a nun arrives from Rome, and all of the rituals are based on Catholic canon, including reverence for the Virgin Mary, Jesus on the cross, etc.
I found that the main characters are well fleshed out, and the plot is revealed in interesting sections. Also, despite the "taboo" nature of the sex, it actually all fits into the plot, it's not like the typical "I'm bored, so let's do it" porn which is so common in the "Western" world. Nothing is just there for the sake of sex, every time you see an exposed nipple, it is related to the plot directly. If this was such a thing as "tasteful" use of nudity and violence, this would definitely be an example thereof.
If you don't want to know anything about the story, stop reading here!
The protagonist decided to have a bit of fun before joining the nunnery, and so has a one-night stand with a total stranger (we know this because he only tells her his name after they're done having sex and lying next to each other). She joins because she doesn't know anything about her biological parents except that her mother was one a none at this nunnery.
Apparently, she's recently turned 18, and decides to fulfill her adulthood by joining "undercover" to investigate. They're several story arcs which unfold and are resolved, as the corruption and true nature of the nunnery as a "demonic" city of destruction is revealed. Right until the very end, the three main anti-laws which it is devoted to observing: lust, murder, and theft, are evidently what they have sustained themselves on for nearly 2 decades, if not longer.
Without spoiling the story, it is very engrossing, although I was initially put off by the slow opening (which shows a slice of the protagonist's life before joining), after about 10 minutes when the drama started unfolding within the monastery, it was extremely engrossing and just as gripping as any modern drama, if not more so.
They are several creative scenes which use good effects (esp. for 1974), and show a lot of thought went into design of the "world" of the monastery (such as the "trap door" scene, you'll know it when you see it).
They are a few minor problems in terms of availability and translation, I'm working to fix them now, drop me a message or leave a comment if you are interested in obtaining a copy.