Flavia the Heretic

 

Flavia the Heretic (aka Flavia the Muslim Nun)

1974

Director- Gianfranco Mingozzi

Cast-  Florinda Bolkan, María Casares, Claudio Cassinelli, Anthony Higgins, Spiros Focás, Laura De Marchi

From Italy

            Set in the Middle Ages, Flavia is the daughter of a feudal warlord. As a child she witnesses her father murder a Muslim soldier that she had just met. Later, probably due to her willful nature, her father sends her to a convent, where she grows up.

            Flavia is surrounded by cruelty and inequality and is reminded often of the very low status of women; she witnesses a fellow nun being tortured to death after losing her mind, she sees a nobleman rape a girl in a pigpen and get away with it, and the church and scriptures remind her that she is lower than a man.

            She tries to escape the nunnery with the help of a Jew she is friends with (he himself a victim of a similar kind of oppression). Her father has her captured, beaten, put back into the convent, and imprisons the man who helped her.

    

        She sees her chance for liberation- and revenge- when a Muslim war party raids the town. She joins forces, and falls in love, with the young Muslim captain leading the group (played by Hammer star Anthony Higgins from Taste the Blood of Dracula and Vampire Circus, who looks almost unrecognizable with a military crew cut and goatee).

            With the Muslim soldiers to aid her, Flavia sets out on a quest for revenge against her oppressors and she gets pretty bloody, torturing and executing all that have wronged her.

            In the end, her victory turns to ashes in her mouth as she discovers that ultimately, a woman’s plight is no better with the Muslims than the Christians. She rebels again only to find herself friendless when the consequences of her actions come due.

         Nunsploitation had its peak in the 1970s. Most of the best known films of the genre came out in that decade. Ken Russell’s The Devils, Jess Franco’s The Demons, Story of a Cloistered Nun, The Nun and the Devil, School of the Holy Beast, Satanico Pandemonium, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Alucarda, Killer Nun and Malabimba all came out between 1971-1979.

            So why was the decade so prolific? Part of it is that the 70s was a boundary pushing decade for pop culture in general but movies specifically. A good example is Hammer Horror that was still making PG films in 1969 and then made Vampire Lovers in 1970. Another reason is the social memory and reaction to fascism. Its no coincidence that most of the above listed movies were made in Europe and Japan, which had endured fascist rulers through the end of WW2. Portugal and Spain were still fascist through the mid 70s.

            Nunsploitation as a genre questions authority and highlights the abuse of power. Flavia the Heretic spends a lot of time doing both. Flavia’s bloody revenge, though maybe justified, is a reminder that the abuse of power is almost inevitable, even by the well-meaning.

            Florinda Bolkon tended to play less glamorous roles than her contemporaries like Edwige Fenech and Barbara Bouchet, and Flavia is definitely not a sexy role, or a sexy movie, despite being nunsploitation. There is a fair amount of nudity, but it’s presented in an often disturbing way.

            It’s a good looking film, with a lot of effort placed on costumes and filming done in and around preserved medieval structures. It also has a nice score by Oscar winner Nicola Piovani. A combination historical drama /exploitation film, check out Flavia the Heretic if you’re a fan of the nunsploitation genre or a fan of Florinda Bolkon.

The Carpenter's Son

 

The Carpenter’s Son

2025

Director- Lotfy Nathan

Cast- Nicolas Cage, FKA twigs, Noah Jupe, Isla Johnston, Souheila Yacoub

            Biblical horror is a surprisingly tiny genre. Considering that the Bible features infanticide, gang rape, incest, monsters, giants, demons, exorcism, vengeful spirits, cataclysmic disasters, torture, curses, witches and lots and lots of murder, you’d think it would be fruitful ground for horror writers. The Bible is a shocking epic presenting a litany of terrors eclipsing anything Stephen King could write.

            The Carpenter’s Son is inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which follows the childhood of Jesus. In the Gospel, Jesus is shown with out-of-control powers that he hasn’t learned to manage. The timeframe is interesting because, in the minds of a lot of people, Christ exists as one of two things; baby Jesus being born in a manger or adult Jesus dying on a cross.

The idea that Jesus might have been a snotty kid or a rebellious teenager seems offensive to many. A good example of this is the painting “Christ in the House of His Parents” (1850) by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais. The painting, which features an endearing scene of Mary comforting her son, who has seemingly hurt himself in his father’s workshop, was controversial in its day, so much so that no less than Charles Dickens himself derided the art for its depiction of Jesus as an awkward child.

Having said all of this, The Carpenter’s Son will present to many, a controversial, if not outright offensive story. Pope Gelasius I, in the 5^th century, declared the Infancy Gospel a heresy, so it has a long tradition of offending.

Nicolas Cage plays Joseph, who is at his wits end trying to keep Jesus’ divine nature a secret from all the various people that would do him harm. He is also plagued with doubt as to whether Jesus is in fact divine, or maybe sent from the devil, or maybe not special at all and Joseph sometimes thinks he has been played for a fool. Jesus, on the other hand is starting to develop an idea that he is something special as his powers start to express themselves. He and his father frequently come into conflict as Joseph treats him harshly in an attempt to make him fit in.

In a stroke of brilliant casting, Satan is presented as a kind of delinquent teenage girl, the kind you might see getting into trouble with the bad kids at school and apparently bereft of any parental supervision. Satan keeps tempting Jesus, not with sex or drugs, but tempting him to break rules and to stand up to his father.

Though this sounds like teen drama, its presented with a lot of creepy ambience and scary visuals. We see babies being tossed into a fire (as Herod’s men try to find and kill the prophesied messiah), a shanty town of rotting lepers, a kind of torture compound where all of the suspected sorcerers (i.e. the mentally ill) are beaten, crucified and left to rot, snakes being pulled from people’s mouths during exorcisms, and a vision of Hell. Over all, the film carries a sense of menace and dread throughout.

Its impossible to forget that Nicolas Cage is Nicolas Cage, so sometimes seeing him is a little jarring (though not nearly as jarring as Harvey Keitel with his thick Brooklyn accent as Judas in The Last Temptation of Christ). But Cage does a good job of conveying the utter sense of frustration and worry that someone would have who is both trying to raise a child and hide a tremendous secret. Think Jim Hopper trying to raise Eleven in Stranger Things and you’ll have a good idea of the feel.

The real genius casting though was of Ilsa Johnston as Satan. Her character goes from friendly, to precocious, to cruel, to sad and makes the character much more relatable than the typical depictions of Satan as a Faustian supervillain.

            Overall , it’s a pretty small scale film that does a lot with very little and enjoyable if you are looking for some out of the ordinary horror viewing.    

Sukkubus

 

Sukkubus: Den Teufel im Leib

1989 (from Germany)

Director- George Tressler

Cast- Pamela Prati, Peter Simonischek, Giovanni Früh, Andreas Voss

            This movie is about the Alpine legend of the Sennentuntschi. In the legend, herdsman, alone in the mountains, get drunk and make a doll resembling a woman. They talk to it, treat it like a person, and eventually try to have carnal relations with it. The doll comes to life and punishes the herdsmen quite severally for their sinful behavior.

            In this retelling of the story there are three herdsmen; a boy learning the trade; a very serious herdsman who tends to be self-righteous, and a lecherous herdsman who’s not above anything, even attempting to rape the boy. The boy finds a root that looks vaguely like a face and keeps it. Later, when the herdsmen make their doll, the root is used for the head.

Beyond being a retelling of the legend, the movie takes a pretty good dip into folklore with lots of little things like the men’s superstitious rituals, all intended to protect them and their herd from harm. The lecherous herdsman drapes a whore’s stocking over his ax, believing it will protect him from any witch. He dips his rune etched knife in milk, announcing “Milk on steal, the Devil has no deal”, His righteous fellow herdsman spreads milk on the grass as a kind of primitive offering to God. At one point, when they pass a crude picture of The Devil etched into a rock wall, one man protects himself with the sign of the cross, while the other draws a pentangle.

The film does a good job of showing how Christianity and pagan customs mix so thoroughly that the practitioners don’t see any contradiction or irony. Its all just magic really, rituals practiced to produce a desired effect The whole legend revolves around the idea of sympathetic magic, in this case, treating the doll like a person creates the person, similar to the Greek myth of Pygmalion.

The succubus that appears (Pamela Prati) is wild eyed and feral. Her mane of red hair will probably make you think of Erika Blanc’s succubus in The Devil’s Nightmare or Nicole Fortier’s red haired succubus in The Unholy. Maybe there is something about succubae and red hair?

Rather than the “typical” succubus behavior of appearing seductively in dreams or demurely offering to fulfill the men’s fantasies, this succubus appears in broad daylight, taunting the men, practically daring them to do something about her. Even though there is a fair amount of nudity in the film, none of it is presented as particularly tantalizing. Indeed, the nature of the herdsmen (mean, perverse, self-righteous) make the idea of sex seem unappetizing.

How the herdsmen deal with her tells us a lot about them and in that respect the film serves as a character study. Their reactions to her range, at various times, from trying to stubbornly ignore the succubus to devising a cruel bestial torture for her. By the end of the film, you’ll probably be rooting for the succubus.

One note for potential viewers. A lot of folk horror movies attempt to show the everyday lives of people in the cultures depicted. This is a movie about cattle herdsmen. There is a scene where a cow is butchered. I don’t know whether it was special effects or real, but given the budget of the film, I suspect the latter. I don’t think it should turn you off from the film, but there may be about 10 seconds you need to fast forward through.

Sukkubus is a very small film (four actors) that provides the viewer with a peak into a different culture with lots of interesting folklore. Look for it if you are a fan of the genre or are looking for something different on your viewing list.

Fun fact: another German film, Sennentuntschi.(2010) uses the same legend as the backdrop for a mystery.

Dark Match

 

Dark Match

2024

Director- Lowell Dean

Cast- Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Chris Jericho, Mo Adan, Jonathan Cherry, Sara Canning, Michael Eklund, Jonathan Lepine,  Justine Lawrick, Leo Farad, Mitch Clark

            Something that every organization or community has is its own lingo; phrases and terms that outsiders don’t usually know. This is true for martial arts dojos, union halls, the military, the boy scouts, and cults. Professional wrestling practically has its own lexicon of hundreds of terms known only to its participants and loyal fans.

The term in question here is “dark match.” It refers to a non-televised match. In the old days it might be used to describe matches before or after a televised show, or occasionally a non-televised match where something unpopular might happen, like a heel (the villain) winning a title.

The term isn’t used much anymore since every organization is always looking for more content for all the various streaming services. Today the much less menacing term “house show” is used to describe non-televised events where fans can see their favorite wrestlers, usually in much smaller venues, competing in matches that don’t affect the planned storylines.

Dark Match follows a tiny independent wrestling promotion in the late 1980s. Very small, it consists of a handful of wrestlers, either past their prime or never having made it to the big time. The protagonist of the film is Miss Behave (Ayisha Issa), a heel character who regularly loses to her blonde babyface opponent, Kate the Great. Miss Behave dreams of the big time but knows she’ll never get it working in the small organization. Her boyfriend, Mean Joe Lean (Steven Ogg), is an aging former champion on the tale end of his career.

The organization gets invited to perform in a dark match for a celebration in a rural town. Even though it seems sketchy, they are offered a sizable enough chunk of change to lure them all in. After arriving, they find themselves the prisoners of a satanic cult led by The Prophet, a former wrestler who had a religious gimmick and was eventually black balled from wrestling (played by real life pro wrestling champion Chris Jericho). The cult is planning an elaborate ritual that requires five sacrifices and the wrestlers are forced to fight each other to the death.

It’s a fun concept and well executed. There isn’t a lot of wasted time and we get to know the principal characters pretty quick. The film doesn’t look cheap, but it does have a dull gritty appearance that will remind you of watching an old VHS. If I had any complaint its that only a few of the wrestlers’ characters are developed. I think of the classic fighting match movies like Enter the Dragon or Bloodsport and those movies did a pretty good job of giving a lot of the fighters distinct looks and personalities. Dark Match could have benefited from more of that.

If you are old enough to remember wrestling before the WWE was luring in global audiences, you’ll remember the old regional promotions with wrestlers mainly known only to people in a 3 or 4 state area. You might see the recorded matches televised on a local channel on a Saturday afternoon and were just as likely to see the wrestlers picking up a 6 pack at a local gas station as they passed through. Dark Match conjures up just enough of that feel to cause some inner synapse zaps for people that can remember those days.

Check it out it if you’re a fan of wrestling and horror or if you are just looking for something different.

           

Longlegs

 

Longlegs

2024

Director- Oz Perkins

Cast- Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Kiernan Shipka, Michelle Choi-Lee, Nicolas Cage

            A series of brutal murders have taken place where entire families have been killed. The killer has left behind no physical evidence save only a coded message signed “Longlegs.” Enter onto the scene Special Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe}, a FBI agent with precognitive psychic abilities.

            Her boss (played by Blair Underwood) is looking for a serial killer but Harker believes. that there may be some larger conspiracy at work. As Agent Harker delves into the case, she has visions and flashbacks that indicate that she may have a personal connection to the killer. She eventually encounters a satanic dollmaker (Nicolas Cage). As she pushes on with the case, the truth, and the full horror, is finally revealed to her.

            In the publicity for the movie, Longlegs has been repeatedly compared to Silence of the Lambs, but other than the protagonist is a female FBI agent, the films have little in common. Lambs is a very down to earth police procedural. It’s the realism and believability that gives Lambs its power as a horror movie.

            Longlegs, on the other hand, has obvious supernatural elements, that are present from the beginning of the film. Its more in the vein of The First Power, Fallen or Exorcist 3 (though its not nearly as effective as Exorcist 3, few films are).

            If you are familiar with Oz Perkin’s other films, you know he’s good at creating a creepy, oppressive atmosphere. He also tends to go with ambitious ideas that aren’t necessarily easy to flesh out in a typical Hollywood movie run time. Perkin’s Gretel and Hansel, for instance, was far more ambitious with its subject matter than what it was able to achieve. In Longlegs, Harker’s psychic ability, for instance, isn’t that thoroughly explored.

          

      But Perkins is able to get really good performances out of actors, and that’s the best selling point of the film. Maika Monroe is very convincing as the tentative, often anxious FBI agent whose world starts unraveling just as she unravels more of the Longlegs mystery. Kudos to whoever thought of casting Blair Underwood. I guess to me he’s still the character from LA Law, but a quick review of his filmography shows that he’s had plenty of experience playing this type of character. Alicia Witt (who played Alia in David Lynch’s Dune) is convincing as Harker’s unhinged mother. Nicolas Cage is, well, Nicolas Cage.

            The most surprising performance though was Kiernan Shipka as Longleg’s one surviving victim, now driven insane and living in an asylum. As I watched the film, I kept thinking, wow she looks familiar, but it wasn’t until after the fact that I realized it was her. Oz Perkins must really know how to get the best (or maybe worst, as it were) out of Shipka. She made her horror debut with Perkins at the age of 15 in The Blackcoat’s Daughter, and she was pretty scary in that.

            An argument could be made that both Longlegs and Blackcoat’s Daughter take place in the same universe. They both revolve around satanic themes. Both have similar, albeit brief, depictions of the devil. In both films, the devil’s real power is in his ability to drive people to do terrible things.

            If you are looking for an occult thriller, Longlegs is worth a trip to theater. If you don’t get the chance to see it now, it will certainly be worth streaming this spooky season.

Immaculate

 

Immaculate

2024

Director- Michael Mohan

Cast- Sydney Sweeney, Álvaro Morte, Benedetta Porcaroli, Dora Romano, Giorgio Colangeli, Simona Tabasco

            Sister Cecilia (Sidney Sweeney) is a young nun who has just arrived at a convent in Italy. The convent serves as a hospice and retirement home for older nuns, many that are close to death or who have developed dementia. The younger nuns, like Cecilia, take care of their elderly Sisters in their twilight years.

            After a short time in the convent, Cecilia becomes sick and it becomes quickly apparent that she is pregnant. After a rudimentary examination, her pregnancy is proclaimed a miracle, an Immaculate Conception. Cecilia is immediately placed in a position of reverence among the other sisters but the miracle begins to seem sinister and Cecilia starts to wonder what horrible thing has truly happened to her.

            The movie mixes equal parts religious trauma with body horror. Cecilia is quickly reduced to an unimportant object whose only value is in giving birth, regardless of her own desires or the dangers. Also, despite being in an environment surrounded by women, she finds herself at the mercy of men, as the Father, the Cardinal and the convent’s male doctor have complete say as to what happens to her.

Isolation, dogma, and hierarchy are used along with psychological gaslighting to create confusion and dread. The viewer knows that the truth, whatever it is, won’t bring relief.

            The film’s budget, though comparatively large by independent standards ($ 9 million) is still rather small by Hollywood standards. The film, which languished in development Hell for years, was saved by Sweeney’s recent Hollywood success. She had auditioned for the role years ago, and then ultimately became one of the film’s producers helping to finally get it off the ground, which makes this a bit of a passion project for her.

            It’s a very American film but has visible roots in Italian horror. First there is the location, with principal photography taking place in Rome and much of the dialogue being in Italian. The film further shows its love of Italian horror with a prominent use of Bruno Nicholai’s “Servizio fotografico” from the giallo, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times. There isn’t a lot of gore in the film, but what there is, is very graphic and Fulciesque with people’s faces being obliterated in a way that would have seemed natural in one of Lucio Fulci’s films. Also, though the film is not a gothic horror, it has a gothic aesthetic. Sweeney, walking through the darkened convent corridors with only a candle to guide her, clothed only in a thin white gown, looks very much the part of a gothic heroine.

            The film is a competent horror movie that most horror fans will find enjoyable, at least for one view. However, the story unambiguously deals with the very modern issue of reproductive rights, and there will be a few people who will identify very much with the protagonist’s struggle. I can easily see Sweeney’s nun taking her place alongside Florence Pugh’s Dani from Midsommar or Mia Goth’s Pearl, at least for the people who will identify closely with her.