Devils of Monza (1987) Online

Among the collection of films known as "nunsploitation", 'La Monaca di Monza' stands out as one of the finest achievements of them all. This is no Jess Franco or Joe D'Amato schlock, although Franco's 'Love Letters of A Portuguese Nun' is a fine film as well. The story of Virginia DeLeva, the nun who falls in love, or perhaps lust, with the handsome nobleman, whose affair brings down a convent, has been retold in several adaptations. This is the best version in my opinion. Featuring gorgeous sets, impressive camera work and high production values, and including some of the most wildly erotic soft core footage I have seen. Alessandro Gassman and Myriem Roussel are quite aesthetically pleasing to the eye, clothed or otherwise. A sense of foreboding, and evil permeates the convent as Sister DeLeva carries on her torrid affair with her less than holy lover. Beautiful, repressed nuns are forever hiding in shadows and wringing their hands. The tension builds nicely as the presence of this man inside the convent walls begins to corrupt the other nuns, eroding their own morals. As an erotic film this one is a must see. There is good nunsploitation, and there is trash. Among the good, "Nuns of Verona", "Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun", "Behind Convent Walls", and the Japanese epic "School of the Holy Beast". There is the bad; "Images in A Convent", "Les Demons" etc. This is one of the good ones, and deserves a proper DVD release. For fans of the genre, this is worth tracking down.

The nunsploitation genre is loved by cult fans mostly thanks to films by the likes of Joe D'Amato and Jess Franco. Anyone who loves the genre because of those films will be highly disappointed with this one; as not only is Devils of Monza not exploitative at all, it's also extremely boring. The plot, as you would expect, focuses on a convent. The convent is next door to a noble man's house, and one of the nuns gets into trouble when she is caught flirting with the nobleman next door. The nun is thrown out by the head of the nunnery, Virginia, leading the nobleman to try and win her heart instead. The film moves very slowly and the love story is not particularly interesting, which makes it hard to care for the film at all. It's made even more difficult to care thanks to the fact that there's no sleaze. There are a few sex scenes, but it's not the slew of depravity I've come to expect from films like this. To the film's credit, it does at least look nice; although the period setting didn't do much for me. 'Monza' seems to be a popular name in the nunsploitation genre, but the more exploitative Nun of Monza and the later The True Story of the Nun of Monza are both better than this boring effort. I'd have a hard time recommending that anyone tracks Devils of Monza down.

The great thing about Italian B-flicks is that they are often technically competent, even beautiful to look at, despite being trash. Set in the late 16th century, this flick gives us the lovely Myriem Roussel as a troubled nun/noblewoman in a muddled story about convent intrigue. The nun has an affair with a nobleman. The story meanders. Fans of Mlle. Roussel can glimpse her topless in a passionate scene with her suitor, but there's not much else going on here. Those hoping for something along the lines of Ken Russell's "Devils" will be disappointed.

If you have any doubts that the Italian film industry is run by Communists, watch this movie. The only reason that this even exists is to show nuns having sex, priests acting like a**holes, and the Catholic church in general being (yawn) hypocrites. Whatever, but did this have to be so boring?

It's actually not as offensive as Flavia The Heretic, Killer Nun, The Excommunicates of San Valentino, or Satanico Pandemonium but the lack of anything interesting makes this the worst of about half a dozen or so "nunsploitation" movies that I've seen. Those other films didn't just bash Catholicism but also told interesting stories.

Watch this only if you are an insomniac looking for a miracle sleep aid!

This nunsploitation classic takes place in a convent filled with sexually repressed young women who have the hots for the handsome young man who lives next door. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending) the young man is a complete cad who resents Virginia, the noblewoman (Myriem Roussel) who donated the land for the nunnery and now resides within its walls as a bride of Christ. After killing her financial adviser in a duel, he vows to the local priest that he will win her love. After going to mass a few times and paying lip service to the Church, he convinces Virginia to go for a midnight stroll with him, at which point he rapes her after they swap spit via a medallion. Virginia decides she rather likes men and embarks on a long term relationship with this complete and utter loser. The end. Whilst the story is hard to take at best, Sacrilege is a very well made film, with excellent cinematography by Argento collaborator Romano Albani and some fairly erotic sex scenes. Essential viewing for fans of the genre.