16. Killer Nun (1978)
Nasty Nun shenanigans with Anita Ekberg as the despicable sister who manages to carry on abominably with a full face of perfect make up on the entire time (is that within Vatican rules?). Sister Gertrude (Ekberg) is recovering from neurosurgery and despite her fears, she is rushed back into her job as a nurse in a geriatric hospital by Mother Superior (Alida Valli). Gertrude is raving mad and addicted to morphine. She starts a lesbian affair, gets rid of the doctor (Joe Dallesandro) and institutes her own tyrannical reign. This involves Inflicting calisthenics on the elderly inmates, stomping an old woman's dentures to bits in front of her, Having impersonal sex with city men. Eventually the Mother Superior decides Gertrude must be stopped, but is this possible? Killer Nun is pure kitsch. It is an example of the Nunsploitation genre which features anti-clerical shenanigans by religiously ordained women. However, unlike its sister films, Killer Nun has nothing political to say about the state of women in the clergy/Catholic Church. I view this film mostly as a highly funny, camp naughty nun romp. I just cannot take it seriously with Ekberg's make up! It is more laughable than anything else and the film criminally wastes Joe Dallesandro who just stands about, doing nothing. For real naughty nun kicks, check out Walerian Borowcyzk's Behind Convent Walls.