Review of Flavia the Heretic

Introduction

At the turn of the 15th century in Puglia, southern Italy, Flavia (Florinda Bolkan) and her brother come across the aftermath of a battle, where one army had been routed, with only one survivor. She tries to comfort the soldier, but her father appears and, to her horror, chops the man`s head off and holds it aloft on the end of his sword. He banishes Flavia to a nunnery where she grows up hating men, especially her father, but befriends a Jewish monk called Abraham (Claudio Cassinelli).

One day the peace is shattered when a weird religious group called the Tarantula Cult visit town. They are let in to the building, but their strange sexual behaviour causes the Mother Superior to throw them out. One nun is affected by them and is so taken that she bares her breasts and asks to be bitten by the tarantula - a painting comes to life and the man in it touches her with his sword, possessing her.

She is stripped and horrifically tortured on the orders of Flavia`s father and she is so repulsed by this that she leaves the nunnery with Abraham. When Italy is invaded by a Muslim Turkish army, she joins them to attack her father`s army and becomes a heretic.

The film claims to be inspired by real events that took place during the Musulman invasions, particularly "the Martyrdom of the 800 at Otranto".

Video

The letterboxed 1.78:1 transfer is a little soft and has slightly washed-out colours and weak contrast.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono English soundtrack is unspectacular, with dubbed dialogue and pops, hiss and crackle throughout, but not loud enough to detract from the film.

There are no subtitles.

Features

Theatrical trailer

Forthcoming Attractions:
- The Killer Nun
- Night Train Murders
- The Frightened Woman
- Manhattan Baby
- Venus in Furs

Conclusion

Ah, `nunsploitation`, one of the most obscure and bizarre sub-genres, including such films as Ken Russell`s `The Devils`, Jess Franco`s `Love Letters of a Portugese Nun` and Gianfranco Mingozzi`s `Flavia the Heretic` (`Flavia la monaca musulmana`). They all typically involve sex, violence and nuns. `Flavia the Heretic` is no exception, with plenty of nudity, a nun being raped in a pig-sty and a torture scene involving hot tar and the removal of a nipple.

The rape and torture scenes were done so badly that they had no effect - recent rape scenes, such as the one in `Irreversible` are much harder to sit through, but this one isn`t. The same applies to the torture scene as the effects are so low budget as to be almost laughable. In contrast, there is one rather graphic and difficult scene to watch, where a horse is castrated with Flavia torn between disgust and arousal, as when she observed the nun being raped - I found it unnecessary and cruel, as reaction shots of Florinda Bolkan`s face would have sufficed. Amongst all this is a strange Buñuel-esque sequence where a naked woman is laid on a table and is eaten by naked diners, whilst a naked Flavia climbs inside a cow`s carcass hanging from the ceiling.

Times have obviously changed at the BBFC, as when this was submitted by Redemption Films in 1994, cuts of 1 minute 24 seconds were required for the 18 certificate, but now it`s available uncut in the UK.

`Flavia the Heretic` includes a lot in just over 90 minutes, yet is surprisingly dull and uninvolving. I`m not sure whether Mingozzi wanted to make a sleazy nunsploitation film, or make something deeper about the place of women in 15th century Italy, but he ends up doing neither. It`s certainly sordid, but it`s also boring and a turgid watch. The DVD case, with its tagline of "Flay Me Baby One More Time!" and stills from the film showing nudity, swords and blood, writes a cheque the film doesn`t cash.