SATANICO PANDEMONIUM

Hot nuns in action

By BRIAN THOMAS     June 11, 2005

So remember how you watched Robert Rodriguez' FROM DUSK TILL DAWN and you were digging how Quentin Tarantino's script made everyone think the whole movie was a crime/hostage drama until they all got to that saloon? And remember how Salma Hayek came out nearly naked as a chick named "Satanico Pandemonium"? And you said, "Good lord! How did he come up with such an odd name as that?" Well, wonder no longer. Old QT got it from this mind-bending 1975 Mexican nunsploitation romp (aka LA SEXORCISTA)! Poor guy probably had to see it by buying a blurry bootleg copy without subtitles. Okay, okay, so he probably owns a 35mm print and has Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas translate all the dialogue for him. My point is that you are in luck because Mondo Macabro now brings it to you in a sharp, vivid transfer on DVD, direct from the original negative.

Sister Maria (Cecilia Pezet) is a saint among nuns, full of holiness and team spirit. She knows how to fix cows with intestinal difficulties, and she even treats the black sisters with kindness and respect. However, one day as she's walking in the picturesque hills surrounding her convent, she spies a strange naked man (Enrique Rocha) who suggestively offers her an apple. Well, we were not born yesterday and we know what that means!

No amount of penitent self-flagellation is able to chase thoughts of the handsome stranger from her mind. Lucifer is everywhere, and when another nun comes to her confessing her love, Maria is unable to resist temptation. The next day she begins racking up more sins, trying to seduce shepherd boy Marcello and an injured nun who comes to her for help. When Sister Clemencia repels her advances, Maria stabs her in the back and tells the Mother Superior that Clemencia is losing her mind. Seeing an unhappy sister preparing to hang herself, Maria helps out by shoving her off a table. That night, she goes after Marcello again in his cabin, trying to rape him while his grandmother sleeps nearby. When he fights her, she stabs the whole family to death and burns down the house.

While retrieving evidence of her guilt, Maria is caught by the Yoda-like Mother Superior, who threatens to turn her over to the Inquisition. Maria prays, and receives just the thing she needs: a rope to strangle the old bat! It seems no amount of blasphemy, arson, bloody murder and full frontal nudity is enough to satisfy Sister Maria. What the devil will become of her?

All this mayhem is presented by director Gilberto Martinez Solares (SANTO & BLUE DEMON VS. THE MONSTERS) in such a slick manner that it seems like Debbie Reynolds may show up at the convent at any minute. But despite all its lurid details, SATANICO PANDEMONIUM becomes epic in the performance of Cecilia Pezet. Behind her eyes, she's in the greatest psychodrama ever told, and her struggles can be felt in every look and gesture.

Except for a bit of frame damage right at the end, the image presentation is outstanding. You can see every pore on Sister Maria's back as she flails at it. As usual, Mondo Macabro includes authoritative but fun extra features. Screenwriter Adolfo Martinez Solares appears in a video interview to talk about how he and his director father Gilberto got into the movie business, illustrated by gorgeous Mexican posters. He mentions a bit about working with Tin Tan and Santo, the making of SATANICO, and reveals that many of the nuns in the climactic scenes were played by prostitutes. There's also an 11-minute featurette on the nunsploitation genre based around an interview with Nigel Wingrove, founder of Redemption Films. A more complete history is provided by an essay in the gallery section (borrowed from Nunsploitation.net), which also has plenty of nice ad art from these movies.

Copyright © 2005 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS.

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