Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun

1977 [GERMAN]

Adventure / Drama / Horror

8
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 1421 1.4K

nun inquisition satanism letter convent (nunnery) erotic movie

Director

Jesús Franco Photo
Jesús Franco

Top cast

William Berger Photo
William Berger as Father Vicente
Aida Gouveia Photo
Aida Gouveia as Antónia, a Nun
Vítor Mendes Photo
Vítor Mendes as António Fernando Queiroz de Melo, the Mayor
Patrícia Leal Photo
Patrícia Leal as Maria's Mother
720p.BLU
819.43 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 29 min
Seeds 20

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Leofwine_draca 6 / 10

Demented nunsploitation from the one and only Jess Franco

Reviewed by chow913 6 / 10

Classic Nuxploitation

FYI, there are only two letters written in the entire film and neither is a love letter.Second, as usual IMDb fails to watch the movies they are summarizing. Maria is 15 NOT 16! Over the past year and a half I've been digging at the bottom of the barrel in search for movies I haven't seen. Hence, Giallo and other Italian films, old B&W films not good enough to be considered classics, and Bollywood, but mainly exploitation films.The "nunxploitation" genre was one I could never get into. They mainly revolve around revealing the secret lives of nuns who all turn out to be Satan worshiping S&M lesbian rapist serial killers.I don't mean "Satanic" and is "evil" or "bizarre." I mean "Satanic" as in they actually worship Satan.I don't consider nunxploitation films to be anti Catholic since they all turn out to be Satanists they're not even Catholic.1977's 'Love Letters of A Portuguese Nun' is a refreshingly good nunxploitation film.Within the first 15 minutes we already have, a priest gratifying himself while taking confession, a 15 year old girl (don't ask me how old this actress really is) stripped naked and molested by a nun to confirm her virginity, Satan worshiping, and various S&M lesbian acts. And all this is JUST THE FIRST FIFTEEN MINUTES!!! The plot: (FYI, there are no love letters of any kind.) In Portugal during the Inquisition 15 year old Maria is caught innocently frolicking in the woods with her boyfriend Christopher.An evil priest (although since they're actually Satanists no character is really a priest or a nun) falsely convinces Maria's single mother give that she's no longer a virgin and forces Maria to his convent. And even forces Maria's mother to pay him.Of course the priest obviously wants Maria for his own sexual purposes and the convent turns out to be a secret bordello of Satanic S&M lesbians. Poor little Maria is too innocent to realize what's obvious to audience.Over the next hour poor little Maria is repeatedly tortured, starved, and raped by both men and women during Satanic orgies. I suspect this is VC Andrews' lost screenplay. This is about 85% of the film so prepare yourself! The ending is very tacked on unfulfilling as far as the Satanists getting their just desserts.All the stars I've given here are going to 15 year old Maria's nudity. (don't ask me how old this actress really is) The rest past the first 15 minutes is forgettable.
Reviewed by Coventry 5 / 10

Holy Moses!

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!
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