Page 143 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

much of an influence the story was. Earlier or satirical films include Carmine Gallone, La Monaca di
Monza (The Nun of Monza, 1962); Sergio Corbucci, II Monaco di Monza {The Monk of Monza, 1963);
and Giovanni Grimaldi, Puro siccome un angelo papà mi fece monaco ... di Monza {Pure as an angel,
father made a monk ... of Monza, 1969). The exploitation Monza films include Eriprando Visconti,
La monaca di Monza {The Awful Story of the Nun ofMonza, 1969) ; Bruno Mattei, La vera storia della
monaca di Monza {The True Story of the Nun of Monza, 1980); and Luciano Odorisio, La monaca di
Monza (evils of Monza, 1986).

NUNSPLOITATION TROPES AND IDEOLOGICAL STRUCTURES

The sexual, hysterical and murderous nuns that appeared in the above cultural predecessors to Italian
nunsploitation contributed to the numerous images and scenarios that 1970s nun films would
repeatedly exploit to the point of cliché. Here, I will briefly list the tropes and discuss the structures
that govern them. A common scenario in nunsploitation films (as opposed to nun-connoted films) is
that the opening briefly narrates how the protagonist is forced to become a nun. Often she is raped
(La monaca del peccato (The Convent of Sinners, 1986)) or has a lover (Storia di una monaca di clausura
(Story of a Cloistered Nun, 1973)) and is sent off by her parents to preserve the family name. In the
nunnery, she finds other girls like her who are there against their will. To release their pent-up sexual
tension, they often masturbate (Interno di un convento (Behind Convent Walls, 1977)), become lovers
(Immagini di un convento (Images in the Convent, 1979)), sneak in male lovers (Le scomunicate di San
Valentino (Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine, 1973)) or have hysterical bouts of religious/sexual ecstasy
(Behind Convent Walls and Flavia, la monaca musulmana (Flavia the Heretic, 1974)). In some cases,
the girls put out their frustrations in rivalries over who will become the next Mother Superior (Le
monache di SantArcangelo (The Nuns of Saint Archangel, 1973)) or who will be her lover (The Convent
of Sinners). Some nuns will stop at nothing to gain powet in the convent hietarchy and will resort
to witchcraft (The Other Hell) or murder (Suor Omicidi (Killer Nun, 1978)) to get what they want.
To maintain order in the convent, aberrant nuns are usually punished with eroticised bare-breasted
whipping (Story of a Cloistered Nun, Images in the Convent and Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine). Finally, a
common ending to nunsploitation films occurs when the word gets out that the convent has become a
veritable brothel, madhouse or house of Satan. When this happens, the male authorities of the Church
swoop down to lay down the law and end the mayhem (Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine, The Convent of
Sinners and Monza films).
When looking at these tropes, it is important to recognise the structure within which they appear;
that is, the films are organised around the promise that they will provide rhe viewer with the 'truth'
about convent life and, once the camera has entered the forbidden space, that the revealed truths
will be shocking and titillating. Once allowed inside, we are to play the role of shocked viewer.
'Gasp! Nuns masturbating?! Nuns sleeping with other nuns?! Black magic nuns with knives who beat
satanic babies and set priests on fire?!' As the many titles suggest, the films invite us to see the sexually
explicit Images of a Convent and what really goes on Behind Convent Walls. Films such as Story of a
Cloistered Nun or Killer Nun also open or close with a written statement - playfully in the style of
the historical or gothic novel (or the more recent 'ethnographic' Mondo films) - that testify to the

129