School of The Holy Beast/Review

Walking the line between titillating eroticism and high-brow religious critique, Norifumi Suzuki's School of The Holy Beast is so beautifully filmed and intellectually astute, that it's often easy to forget how naughty and lascivious its scenes of lesbian sex and torture are. In a sense, that's this nunsploiter's greatest triumph; it manages to express discontent for Western religious hypocrisy, visually mirror the work of Stanley Kubrick and still find the time to lust over nude female flesh. As an introduction to nunsploitation cinema (which it was for this viewer), it makes quite a case for the perversion it depicts on screen and never for a moment did I question its grasp of some pretty daring material.

Opening during her final night of debauchery and young lust (which included sex, drinks, and a hockey game?), the young and beautiful Maya Takigawa is letting off some steam before she heads to a place where "women aren't women." That's right, Maya's off to the supposedly sexless world of a convent, in hopes to discover the truth behind the mysterious murder of her mother, who was enrolled at the same nunery 18 years prior.

Within one day of her arrival, Maya already realizes that something is amiss in this house of the Lord. Topless nuns flog themselves at night to stave off impure thoughts, head mistresses preach a religion of peace while they force misbehaving students to scourge each other, and two randy ladies secretly pleasure each other in the holy rose garden.

With all of these sultry secrets and nary a person to trust, Maya starts a relationship (platonic only) with the outgoing and tough, Sister Ishida, who just so happens to be the only person to question the legitimacy of an immaculate conception. With Ishida on her side and some help from her pals on the outside (if you consider raping a nun help), Maya plans to get to the bottom of a conspiracy at the Sacred Heart Convent, but the jealous and cruel Vice Abbess has it out for her, and she plans to teach Maya a lesson just like the one she taught to her pregnant mother.

Filmed in soft focus and featuring an amazing giallo inspired soundtrack, School of The Holy Beast is a complex and fascinating film that pushes the envelope concerning religious hypocrisy and the sexuality inherent in humanity. It often portrays the Christian faith as at odds with human nature, regularly depicting scenes of women who try to abstain, but always end up submitting to their need for sexual stimulation. Even the pious priest in the film is a vicious sexual aggressor, making it seem like no person is capable of living such a ridiculously sheltered existence.

As for aesthetic qualities, this film is a sight to behold, featuring sharp, symmetrical shots and dreamy and hallucinatory candlelight. The bountiful amount of flesh is also an eye opener, especially the rollicking oral sex in the rose garden and the scene of Maya's torture by thorn bush in the inquisition room. These erotic scenes are tempered by Suzuki's abrupt camera movements, making it seem like the viewer is somehow taking part in the sexuality/abuse. It definitely destroys the barrier between voyeur and participant.

Yet, Suzuki's film doesn't only want to be a sexy, sacrilegious romp. It also wants to take the hypocrisy of the Christian faith and the horror of WWII to bat and it does so earnestly. The film even takes an atheistic standpoint, utilizing the priest as its mouthpiece; a man who questions his "God's" existence and bears the mental and physical scars of an American attack on Nagasaki. In his scathing speeches, it's not hard to sympathize with a nation that will permanently feel the effects of atomic warfare, making this religious satire all the more affective and pointed. Highly Recommended!

Reviewed by Mdeapo