Who knew that killers in a giallo could accessorize. . . for in The Killer Nun (1979), the prototypical black gloves are replaced with a colourful pair of pink ones – much more fashionable. Co-written and directed by Giulio Berruti, he fuses the aforementioned themes of the giallo with the growing craze of nunsploitation. . .as well as being loosely based on the real story of Belgian nun Cecile Bombeek.
This sordid tale follows Sister Gertrude (Anita Ekberg), a middle aged nun who has recently had some rather serious health problems. Having recovered from brain surgery, she is quite hysterical. . . fearing that she is still sick and in need of care. Leading her through an almost male-like form of mid-life crisis, dare I say that she starts quite a few bad habits: a serious addiction to morphine, leaving the hospital she works for in order to have affairs with unknown men, and creating a rather unique bond with her busty roommate nun, Sister Mathieu (Paola Morra) – you might call them bosom buddies, or breast friends with benefits – okay, enough.
These destructive habits begin to impact her work life (sometimes she has raging migraines and bizarre flashbacks), giving thirty year top Dr. Poirret (Massimo Serato) fits, while the Hospital Director (Daniele Dublino) and Mother Superior (Alida Valli) simply fire people or sweep things under the rug to keep their prestigious record intact.
Soon, some of the varied patients are found murdered. . . though the aforementioned rug sweepers simply call them tragic accidents. Basically giving carte blanche to the yet unknown killer, bodies quickly pile up, with very little to point to any culprit – other than Sister Gertrude’s quite erratic behaviour. . . but could that simply be too easy?
With a Peyton Place like setting, staff and patients gossip, play childish games like truth or dare, sleep with each other (a pouring rain wheelchair escapade is something you just don’t see everyday), and murder – in retrospect, they might be the healthiest group of long term hospital residents you’ll ever see (until they are offed, that is). Actually filmed with some restraint (a bit un’convent’ional), there definitely are moments of nunsploitation, sexploitation, violence, and horror, but instead of delving into sexual sadism like many other films that fall within the primary subgenre, the other subgenres, in a rather unique way, subvert them. The choices of the nuns are all their own, not forced on them by the church or their superiors, instead, it is past issues and present mindsets that guide or misguide them. This, of course, does not make it any less of a B movie, but it does make things more varied, layered, and intriguing.
A surprisingly well written and competently put together motion picture, The Killer Nun vows to both shock and surprise, scare and titillate, conform and reject traditional conventions. It also provides a solid and enjoyable role from the great beauty Anita Ekberg. And though its ending might be a bit predictable, it doesn’t make the journey any less enjoyable. So, beware of sisters, bad habits, and superiors, it wouldn’t be a nunsploitation flick otherwise.