Leofwine_draca As to be expected of a director from whose body sleaze exudes from every pore, LOVE LETTERS OF A Portuguese NUN, a beautifully-shot West German exploitation film, is as sleazy and perverted as they come. Taking the basic nunsploitation formula and mixing it with themes of black magic and witch-hunting (recalling his previous work on THE DEMONS and THE BLOODY JUDGE), Jess Franco creates another lovingly-shot slice of sometimes sick perversity. Brimming with nudity, sex, and torture of various kinds, this is definitely not a film for the faint-hearted yet fans of the director will know what to expect; altogether I think it would serve as a fine example of his typical output. Everything you can get from a Franco film is here and in spades, although this time it's noticeably less reliant on the zoom lens and boasts a better budget, with very nice cinematography and an excellent soundtrack of organ music, which comes as a bit of a surprise.The plot is simplistic in the extreme: a young, virginal girl named Maria is kissing a lover and a deceptive priest witnesses the act. He forces Maria's mother into sending her away to a convent. However, where the basic formula differs here is that instead of mingling with the other girls, Maria instantly becomes a victim of lust and black magic from both the perverted father and the devil-cult which runs inside the convent. Franco treats us to some typically extreme images, including a sexual dream which incorporates some shocking subliminal imagery and some bloody fragments of torture footage. The most outlandish aspect is the orgy itself, presided over by Satan (as played by the hilarious Herbert Fux) as an intense, almost comical caricature, complete with red cape and black horn, who proceeds to rape the unfortunate heroine.The film then follows a more straightforward route as Maria keeps attempting to escape and warn of her predicament, with predictable results: nobody believes her story. Events culminate in her being tried for witchcraft and stretched on the rack, and the climax is fairly exciting and suspenseful for a Franco movie. The performances are rather good here, especially Susan Hemingway who does well with the leading role of the victimised Maria, and Ana Zanatti as the creepy Mother Superior. The best turn comes from William Berger who plays the perverted Father Vicente; his performance is so over-the-edge that I'll have trouble watching the actor play his typical 'sympathetic old man' parts in the future! Lots and lots of nudity, lesbian fondlings, devil-man rape, and sadistic torture culminate in making the ultimate Franco experience, and at least its never boring as some of these nunsploitation films can be (the arty but dreary BEHIND CONVENT WALLS, anyone?). Demented fun!

EVOL666 I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the Jess Franco films that I've seen. I understand that some love him, some hate him - I've had a much more Luke-warm vibe from his films that I've seen, which haven't been many. But I will say that I found LOVE LETTERS FROM A PORTUGESE NUN to be one of the more "satisfying" Franco films, if still a bit "stale" and not nearly as glaringly "fun" and exploitative as other similar directors. A relatively common concept, but done with a bit of style and panache that Franco is (somewhat) known for...Maria is caught screwin' around with her boyfriend, and is quickly sent off to the local convent by her mother, who is convinced that her daughter is in league with the devil. Turns out - the convent is just itchin' for some fresh meat, and her daughter was really the least of her worries as they're a bunch of Satanists. We got child-molestin' priests (pre-dating the current headlines by almost thirty years) that are all in league with the devil. Damn I wish Christianity was really this much FUN!!! I can't say that LOVE LETTERS FROM A PORTUGESE NUN really brings much new to the table, but it was worth a view to my bourbon-riddled brain. A bit slow in parts, and it didn't contain any of the glorious hard-core scenes that other directors like Joe D'Amato pulled-off in some of his nunsploit films - but still worth a look to fans of the genre...7/10

MARIO GAUCI The first I've seen of the films Jess Franco made for producer Erwin C. Dietrich and, frankly, one of only three or four I'm really interested in (the others being DORIANA GREY [1976], JACK THE RIPPER [1976] and SEXY SISTERS [1977]). Having viewed this immediately after THE DEMONS (1972), I'm thankful it has proven to be a whole lot better, thus living up to its unanimously positive reputation online ever since it was released on DVD; definitely one of Franco's best (currently ranking at No. 7 out of only 18 I've watched so far).From the very first moments (starting off with a much more fitting 'medieval' score than THE DEMONS' eclectic if messy soundtrack), the film conveys both its seriousness of intent (neither THE BLOODY JUDGE [1970] nor THE DEMONS could be taken as anything but fanciful peeks into this controversial yet intriguing time-frame) and its artistic bent (certainly among Franco's most gorgeous-looking films, evident even in the VHS copy I viewed). The film is very well directed for the most part: stylized but highly effective framing (notably the shot where William Berger is forcing himself onto Susan Hemingway) and positioning of actors (the orgy where Hemingway is again raped, now by Herbert Fux's devil incarnate, while all the time her head is resting on Ana Zanatti's shoulder, who seems to be getting her sexual kicks by proxy!). The nick-of-time ending is effectively handled as well, especially its fading out on the two villains' apprehension – leaving their eventual fate, as it were, to each and every member of the audience!The acting of the three principals is terrific:· Susan Hemingway manages both the character's inherent innocence as well as her determination to put a stop to all the evil at the Abbey (I quite liked the fact that when she finally escapes, we are not shown how she achieves this, and also the matter-of-fact yet rather moving way her 'love letters' are eventually picked up) [Brief parenthesis: I look forward to seeing more of her in Franco's SINFONIA EROTICA (1979), paired with the equally scrumptious Lina Romay who, incidentally, appeared in a remake of LOVE LETTERS OF A Portuguese NUN made by Jorge Grau in 1978!]· William Berger as the sickest priest ever to hit the screen (far more damaging than the befuddled monk played by Jack Palance in MARQUIS DE SADE'S JUSTINE [1968]), who immediately demonstrates he is adept at persuading virtually anyone to do his bidding (the calm way he haggles Hemingway's poor and impressionable mother out of her savings at the beginning of the film, for instance, but also the girl herself during a humiliating confession scene that just about manages not to topple over into unnecessary grossness and emerges, in fact, as one of the film's highlights)· Ana Zanatti, however, matches Berger with her proud (and evidently possessed) Mother Superior-cum-High Priestess, creating what is perhaps one of Franco's most fascinating female villainsWhat I couldn't quite figure out initially about LOVE LETTERS OF A Portuguese NUN is its apparently schizophrenic nature: while it takes the utmost care in establishing period atmosphere and the mood of specific scenes, and doing so with great subtlety (as in the almost subliminal but potentially repugnant shot where Hemingway's face is hit by a rush of semen), the film then goes overboard with its frequent depiction of sexual activity among the nuns and their unmitigated devotion to Satan (as if the agenda of this so-called Abbey hadn't been made blatant already!). That said, the scene where Zanatti painfully confirms her 'faith' (which reminded me of a similarly excruciating moment in the last of the Hammer horror films, Peter Sykes' contemporaneous TO THE DEVIL…A DAUGHTER [1976]) is well done – as are, in fact, the various tortures to which lovely Susan Hemingway is subjected for her defiance of the 'house' rules. [In any case, Francesco Cesari once again came to the rescue for me, putting the sex scenes in their proper context which is that, in their pursuit to 'demonize' sexuality, the Catholic Church has rendered the Devil a sexual object leading to a general perversion in sexuality – which 'disease' actually sprang from within the convents themselves! Apart from this, Francesco has rightly observed that, before we even get to see how truly evil they are, the characters of Father Vincent and Mother Alma are themselves depicted in the film as wretched human beings – indicating, in this way, that they are as much victims of this same culture as anyone else!] I wouldn't mind buying the film on DVD (in view of the proper Widescreen ratio and VIP's restoration efforts) though the price-tag of the Swiss DVD is set rather too highly for my tastes; I only hope, therefore, that Anchor Bay UK (a DVD is planned for a February 2004 release) can pull this one intact from under the BBFC's scrutiny… Much as Franco's THE BLOODY JUDGE was made in the wake of the classic WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968), his THE DEMONS and LOVE LETTERS OF A Portuguese NUN emerged from the relative success and eventual cult-status of Ken Russell's original 'nunsploitation' epic THE DEVILS (1971); I wouldn't say that Franco necessarily did a better job of it but, thankfully, his efforts did not prove so hysterical as Russell's either! (Actually, watching these two films has reminded me that I've yet to pick up Walerian Borowczyk's similar BEHIND CONVENT WALLS (1977) on R2 DVD from Nouveaux Pictures.)P.S. The film's 'message' is still timely, especially since here in Malta a sex-scandal was recently unearthed involving priests' abusing of their young male charges(!); incidentally, the religious order involved is affiliated with the Secondary school which my brother and I attended between 1987 and 1992 – come to think of it, once we even spent a whole week-end at their convent!!

Coventry Tsk, tsk…. My poor, old and deeply religious granny should know what I'm watching here. Nunsploitation! Foxy looking nuns doing tricks with their willing and ravishing bodies, in blood-soaked and satanic-themed movies! Blasphemy, my old granny would call it…and she would be right as well. Call it what you want …it's still fun! It's pretty deranged to see a bunch of nuns bringing sacrifices to Satan. And it's even more messed up to see Lucifer actually appear then and sexually violate an innocent young disciple. Who else than Jess Franco could have been responsible for this? The Godfather of Sleaze tried out every subgenre of eurohorror in his long, fertile career and this stylish, well cinematographed film represents his bizarre nun-fantasies. A young girl named Marie – played by Susan Hemingway – is caught fooling around with her boyfriend by a frustrated priest. He intimidates her poor mother to force her into a convent. The nuns there, led by Alma Mater Ana Zanetti (who looks a lot like an exquisite version of Susan Sarandon, take unusual interest in her young and sensual body. Lovely convent this is! Mother Superior is a horny devil-worshipper and the priest is a perverted masturbator! Which brings me to the MESSAGE of this film! Yes indeed, message! Jess Franco's films don't often carry a message but this `Love Letters from a Portuguese Nun' does. Franco directly criticizes the historical hypocrisy of the Catholic Church and shows how Catholic superiors abused their powers. This really is one of Franco's finest achievements. Although the film exaggerates extremely when it comes to sleaziness and absurd situations, it also brings forward a lot of style and beauty. The acting is above average and the locations are beautifully chosen. The best aspect about the whole film is the truly magnificent music by Walter Baumgartner, who made a career out of filling exploitation soundtracks. Love Letters from a Portuguese Nun may not be top-quality cinema, but it shows a lot of goodwill and depth. And it's beautiful to look at. Hallelujah!