Le Scomunicate di san Valentino, or The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine as it's more commonly known amongst English speaking audiences, is set in Spain several hundred years ago & begins with a man named Esteban (Paolo Malco) trying to escape the Inquisition but is shot in the arm & wounded. Esteban falls off his horse & is attacked by some soldiers whom he makes short work of even though he only has one decent arm. Esteban manages to make it to a convent named St. Valentino where his lover Lucita (Jenny Tamburi) has been sent by her parents to prevent her marrying Esteban & is hidden & cared for by the convent's Verger Joaquin. Joaquin informs Lucita of Esteban's presence & they are reunited. However it's not long before the Inquisition start to sniff around searching for Esteban. Josefa, Lucita's cell mate & lesbian, figures out something is going on but is brutally stabbed to death. The Abbess (Francoise Prevost) suspects Lucita & the fanatical Father Onorio of the Inquisition is sent in to investigate & torture the truth out of anyone he likes. Lucita is found guilty & taken away to be burned at the stake, Esteban doesn't like the sound of that too much &, despite being a wanted man & being injured, will do everything he can to save the love of his life...
This Italian production was co-written & directed by Sergio Grieco & is pretty dull for the most part, the IMDb lists Le Scomunicate di san Valentino as 'horror' on it's main page but in my opinion there is virtually no horror in it. The script by Grieco & Max Vitali was loosely inspired by a drama by Victor Hugo & can be best described as 'Romeo & Juliet' set in & around a Spanish convent. The fact that Esteban & Lucita can't marry because of their families dislike each other & will do anything to keep them apart sounds very similar to the Shakespeare play & at it's most basic level that's what Le Scomunicate di san Valentino is. While 'Romeo & Juliet' is a fine story no doubt the reason most potential viewers would be interested in watching Le Scomunicate di san Valentino is for it's promised exploitation elements, unfortunately the sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine aren't that sinful at all. There are a few scenes with nudity, one tame lesbian scene & not much else. Violence wise there is a public flogging & one stabbing, that's it. I'm not sure if Le Scomunicate di san Valentino was ever dubbed into English so be aware that it has subtitles. The character's are simplistic & don't have any great depth while it tries to say something about true love, religious fanaticism & isolation but has little impact or meaning overall. It's a relatively slow film & while the story is OK not much actually happens, it's all very average & uninspiring stuff but at the same time watchable enough.
Director Grieco is a lesser known Italian filmmaker & judging by this effort that's not entirely surprising. It has no real style although he has an eye for nice period detail. As I've already said the exploitation elements are disappointingly lacking which is not good as I would imagine that is the sole reason most people would bother wanting to watch it.
Technically the film is actually very good with a really nice Gothic look throughout, great period detail & good production values. The cinematography is fine as is the music & it's generally well made. The acting isn't of a particularly high standard but it does the job I suppose.
Le Scomunicate di san Valentino is an OK film, it has a decent enough story & is well made but it didn't really grip me & it's unforgivable lack of expected exploitation means it disappoints more than it pleases. For 'nunsploitation' fans only, others may not find much here to entertain.
This Italian production was co-written & directed by Sergio Grieco & is pretty dull for the most part, the IMDb lists Le Scomunicate di san Valentino as 'horror' on it's main page but in my opinion there is virtually no horror in it. The script by Grieco & Max Vitali was loosely inspired by a drama by Victor Hugo & can be best described as 'Romeo & Juliet' set in & around a Spanish convent. The fact that Esteban & Lucita can't marry because of their families dislike each other & will do anything to keep them apart sounds very similar to the Shakespeare play & at it's most basic level that's what Le Scomunicate di san Valentino is. While 'Romeo & Juliet' is a fine story no doubt the reason most potential viewers would be interested in watching Le Scomunicate di san Valentino is for it's promised exploitation elements, unfortunately the sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine aren't that sinful at all. There are a few scenes with nudity, one tame lesbian scene & not much else. Violence wise there is a public flogging & one stabbing, that's it. I'm not sure if Le Scomunicate di san Valentino was ever dubbed into English so be aware that it has subtitles. The character's are simplistic & don't have any great depth while it tries to say something about true love, religious fanaticism & isolation but has little impact or meaning overall. It's a relatively slow film & while the story is OK not much actually happens, it's all very average & uninspiring stuff but at the same time watchable enough.
Director Grieco is a lesser known Italian filmmaker & judging by this effort that's not entirely surprising. It has no real style although he has an eye for nice period detail. As I've already said the exploitation elements are disappointingly lacking which is not good as I would imagine that is the sole reason most people would bother wanting to watch it.
Technically the film is actually very good with a really nice Gothic look throughout, great period detail & good production values. The cinematography is fine as is the music & it's generally well made. The acting isn't of a particularly high standard but it does the job I suppose.
Le Scomunicate di san Valentino is an OK film, it has a decent enough story & is well made but it didn't really grip me & it's unforgivable lack of expected exploitation means it disappoints more than it pleases. For 'nunsploitation' fans only, others may not find much here to entertain.