Director: Mariano Baino
Year: 1994
Country: Russia/Italy/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural; Nunsploitation
Plot:
Following the death of her father, a woman arrives at a strange convent on a remote island in Russia to join a friend living there and begins to suspect them of strange happenings when a series of visions and dreams leads her to believe something is beneath the church's grounds.
Review:
This here turned out to be quite the enjoyable and engaging effort. One of the many strengths of this one is the fact that there's a highly appealing atmosphere throughout this one that makes for a rather chilling and mysterious series of events. From the opening shot of the church being dismantled by the oncoming water as the hillside crumbles away and takes the debris out into the sea with it followed by the mysterious unseen force acting upon the loners left at the site, this one goes immediately for the grand hypnotic air throughout this one which is held by the utterly chilling scenes of the nuns underground. Given an appropriately eerie glow with the constant rocky outcroppings holding innumerable candles illuminating the darkness, this gets quite creepy with their strange antics and rituals being practiced that are otherworldly for a group of nuns to be engaging in, and there's quite a different feeling here that this indulges in due to these strange sequences.
This is further highlighted by the strange dreams and visions she has once she arrives, with the elaborate candle-lit hallways and torch-fire ceremonial processions she sees them engaging in which are even greater pieces of the puzzle that she needs to uncover about their behavior and builds to a rather strong, overwhelming feeling here once it starts unraveling its storyline. Furthered by the strange incidents of her stumbling upon the pit featuring the blind nuns shambling about or coming across the twins in the catacombs, the idea of their purpose in the convent and what they're actually trying to accomplish becomes unveiled quite nicely and gives this one the kind of eerie, effective slow-burn build that's paid off exceptionally well with all the fun found in the final half which is where a lot of the action really picks up. From the attack on the helpers' shack to the nuns tracking her down through the church catacombs and the final meet-up with the main monster which inspires a massive rampage through the convent that's quite fun and exciting. As well, the final revelation about their backstory and how it all ties their history together is a nice shock twist that's paid off quite well with the impact it has on the events of the film thus far and makes for a great downbeat ending. Coupled with the fine gore and miniature effects used throughout here, there's a lot to like with this one.
While these here are what really work here, this one still has some flaws to be had here. Among the few issues is the rather slow and dull beginning showing her travels to the remote convent which is really not that interesting and takes up way too much time. Going through the steps one-by-one of meeting all the different people along the way makes for a slow-going and somewhat dull as the voice-over narration at the start of the journey tells us all what's supposed to occur and now taking up this time just makes for a rocky start. That gets carried over into what happens once she finally arrives as the creepy, eerie atmosphere present here simply hides the fact that very little action actually occurs within this as it becomes a lot more about the creepy imagery and mystery than it is about the action behind the convent walls. These do hold it back somewhat but aren't enough to overwhelm the positives on display.
Overview: ****/5
While it does have some minor issues, there's enough stellar positives found here to not only make this enjoyable but definitely appealing to certain facets that would overlook the issues. This is a no-doubt immediate watch for fans of Gothic horror with a few hints of gore or this brand of Lovecraftian-influenced genre work, while those that aren't impressed by either element should heed mild caution with the film.
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