Director: Lucio Fulci
Year: 1990
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Leaving Canada to arrive in Italy, an archaeological expedition trying to discover the connection between a series of stories concerning an abandoned nunnery and a team-members' vivid dreams about the nuns comes to fruition when they begin a rampage against the crew for disturbing their rest.
Review:
For the most part, this one wasn't all that bad. A lot of the positives here are traced to the film's story which, although quite cliche at times offers the perfect kind of setup for this one. he concept of the nuns who were wrongfully executed hundreds of years earlier coming back from the dead to seek revenge gives off a rather strong basis for a ghostly story, especially from the stellar opening showing the convent being invaded and the nuns strung up on crucifixes to be executed. By tying that action into the setup of the villagers who are completely unwilling to help out beyond providing warnings about the situation, which are all cliches as well, the setup here is good enough to get this going rather nicely.
Once the film goes past this fine setup, the action detailing the ghosts out on their rampage are rather fun, as the aide of Gothic-enhanced rainstorms provides extra emphasis for the first attack on a local in his room preparing notes, the fantastic chase through the ruins of the catacomb where their laughing and shadow-play gives this a creepy setup for the final blow and the incredibly cheesy attack by a voracious pack of cats inside a victims' apartment where they end up mauling the body and removing their eye. By setting the stage for the finale where it deals some rather gory deaths as well as getting to the confrontation between the villagers and the ghosts in their catacomb home, these here are a lot of fun and provide this one with enough to like to hold it up over it's few flaws.
The main issue holding this one back is the abundance of cliches present throughout here which really undoes a lot of the potential fun here. The idea that she's psychically linked to the nuns and are able to see how they died is obvious while the use of claiming the innocent villagers in revenge for what happened in the past can seen coming from a mile away. That also goes for the storyline about them being unwilling to help out understanding the situation by not helping them understand what's going on. Despite being well aware of the threat posed by the nuns and their true intentions, the villagers leaving it alone and not bothering makes for a wholly cliche storyline that doesn't do this one much favors at all.
The other big issue to be had is the sluggish pacing on display, which really does this one no favors by being rather overlong to get to it's main point. The amount of time spent here on the idea of her getting the vision and connecting to the ghosts in the past which worries him to a great degree is not really needed, and the amount of time spent with the inspector investigating the crimes is completely unnecessary which just drags the pacing of this one out. To compound matters, the usage of a truly hated concept where the one who know what's going on engage in private conversations without revealing what's going on to those that don't, and it just doesn't do anything for the overall pacing. Combined with the somewhat cheap look of the film, these here hold the film back.
Overview: ***/5
As it hands a few rather enjoyable elements throughout here alongside the few minor flaws that end up holding this one back, it comes off as an enjoyable if not all that necessary entry. Give this a try if you're looking for something more than usual from Fulci, while those expecting his usual flair and style should heed caution.
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