The Devils of Monza (1987) User Reviews

Painfully boring nunsploitation effort

[The_Void · 4/10 · 27 June 2009]

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.

Who knows what lurks beneath the habit

[JohnSeal · 5/10 · 15 January 2006]

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.

B-movie historical drama with Myriem Roussel

[clovis-5 · 29 June 1999]

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.

Nothing You Haven't Seen Before In Better Movies

[Bill357 · 1/10 · 30 May 2009]

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!

Nunsense

[NoDakTatum · 3/10 · 26 October 2023]

Everybody loves a nun, especially in this film. A young Italian nun with the name VIRGINia (Myriem Roussel) is also a local member of a respected family. She sees another nun flirting with a neighboring nobleman and chastises her. He becomes intrigued and kills (in a duel) the nunnery's financial advisor, taking the job for himself. This gets him in the nunnery where he carries on a torrid affair with VIRGINia and her two nun helpers. They kill or politically ruin whomever gets in their way until the affair is found out by church higher ups.

Nuns, according to film makers, are either naive brainless twits who know nothing of the outside world and need someone to come in and show them real life ("Sister Act"), or they are horny beasts who need a good man to come in and show them real life (this film). This film was made to shock more than anything. The two lovers are not tragic, like "Romeo and Juliet," but sex crazed fiends that I did not feel sympathy for. The young nobleman does not bed down VIRGINia after wooing her, he assaults her, and she in turn likes it. He also beds down two of her nun friends while she recovers from abortion and childbirth, all while she is in the same room. VIRGINia is elected to second in command at the nunnery, so you think the nobleman must be making quite a few nightly visits to other nuns as well. It does not help that he looks just like Adam Sandler, either. The sex scenes, while it takes a lot of dull dialogue scenes to get to, are very graphic. The film makers should have just done more of them instead of repeatedly trying to shock. VIRGINia does have sex while still dressed in a nun's habit, and there is a feces eating scene that I do not think needs to be discussed here except that it is completely unnecessary, but this film is so anti-religious it is almost comical. Considering the nobleman is a raping murderer and VIRGINia kind of follows him along does make me sympathetic to their "pure love." It is laughable at times. Not much really happens in between the sex scenes, and I cannot recommend "Sacrilege."

Gorgeous nunsploitation epic

[Falconeer · 8/10 · 25 December 2006]

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.

True Erotic Masterpiece

[Falconeer · 8/10 · 4 September 2019]

To call this film "nunsploitation" really does a disservice to this gorgeous Italian production. As the so-called exploitative elements only occur within the middle section of the film. nothing graphic is seen for 40 minutes into this one, and nothing graphic is shown during the last 40 minutes. In other words this movie was not produced for the purpose of showing sex scenes, but to tell a serious, diabolical tale of evil and corruption inside convent walls. The true story of the illicit affair between a highly respected nun and a not-so-respected Nobleman, is one of the most insidious studies of the nature of Evil ever to be captured on screen. When Sister Virginia interrupts Ossio's plan to bed the young, virginal Isabella, by banishing her from the convent, the decadent man takes it upon himself to prove that even the haughty "bride of Christ" can be a victim to her own carnal desire. With the help of his corrupt father, he sets into motion a diabolical plan to slowly seduce the woman away from her pious life, and from the protection of the convent walls. Ossio methodically breaks down her defenses, and once he gains entry into the cloister that no man is allowed to enter, it is finished for Sister Virginia. The most effective part of "Sacrilege" is the way it shows how evil slowly spreads to others in it's midst. Soon the other nuns are seduced and brought under the sexual spell, which is shown in some sinister looking erotic scenes that pits the once close nuns against each other, for sister DeLava's two cell mates are equally starved for the physical contact that their Superior shamelessly flaunts in front of them. As rumors begin to circulate of the scandal brewing, lust eventually turns to murder, as seen in some shocking scenes that follow. When people start to die, a feeling of sickness settles in the stomach, due to the dark nature of the murders. Artistically speaking, "Devils of Monza" is a true visual stunner with it's sumptuous period costumes and gothic sets. The score by Pino Donaggio is sweeping and romantic and fits the imagery perfectly. But the most impressive thing about this one is the photography. It's use of natural light is absolutely stunning. The way the outside light streams in through windows and plays off the figures within the cloister, the furnishings, the crucifixes, the stained glass and the nuns themselves, makes the movie take on the look of an actual baroque painting, the works of Caravaggio in particular. Outdoor scenes appear dreamlike, and tinted in some ethereal mist. Even the awful VHS print i viewed this on looked absolutely stunning. This is truly a film that deserves the digital restoration that so many of these obscure gems are receiving these days. Of course this most likely won't happen as some reviews here claim the movie to be "slow and boring." Those people obviously were watching this for the wrong reasons, looking for cheap exploitation. You won't find that here. Of it's genre "Devils of Monza" is one of the finest examples.