Scarecrow-88 The mysterious deaths of nuns is investigated by the Catholic Church sending a new breed of priest in Father Valerio(Carlo De Mejo), hoping to find a killer in the convent. Valerio believes that the idea of a supernatural evil force lurking in the convent ran by Mother Vincenza(Franca Stoppi)is pure rubbish, instead seeking a demented psychopath amongst them, committing murders. What Valerio doesn't realize is that Vincenza is in league with Satan, having cavorted with the lord of darkness, hiding their female spawn in the attic of the convent. The nuns under Vincenza's watch have been driven to fear, with many of them overcome by demonic possession..any opposing threats, such as the elder Father Inardo(Andrea Aureli)who tries to use the rites of exorcism in cleansing the nunnery of it's evil, are destroyed. Vincenza will do whatever it takes to keep anyone from taking her daughter away. In other words, Valerio has a spiritual and physical battle on his hands.Bruno Mattei mentioned in an interview for the DVD release of "The Other Hell" that this flick was remastered from an obscure 16 mm print, having been a flop during it's initial release and abandoned. I guess, even though it's such a bizarre demonic horror nunsploit that often lacks in coherency opting to blindside the viewer with unhinged behavior and gory violence, that we should be somewhat thankful that this film can be seen at all. I can sure say it wasn't boring. Franca Stoppi sure lets it all hang out as the evil Mother Superior, wielding a knife at the end ready to viciously stab anyone that got in her way. There's this witches' den with a burning cauldron, coffins containing murdered nuns, a slab for "wicked nuns who committed sinful atrocities" where we actually see one dead corpse get her innards plucked, laboratory tubes and flasks bubbling with liquid, etc. There's this cool tunnel leading to the den containing rows of skulls, kind of a "cryptic" form of art. We actually see a possessed nun tormented by blood-oozing stigmatic attack. The priest, Father Inardo is set on fire in his attempts to exorcise the nunnery. We see Franco Garofalo's grounds-keeper/animal wrangler/cook Boris' hand covered in maggots and bitten by a dog..he's later attacked in the throat by an unleashed dog. We see an actual rooster beheaded for later din-din. Vincenza and Satan's spawn lives in a small room where dolls and mannequins hang from the neck. We see a previous Mother Superior actually attempting to boil Vincenza's infant daughter in a pot on a stove(..and for goofy effect, which might have many chuckling with glee, Vincenza's infant, clearly a doll, telepathically murders the Mother Superior). Plenty of audacious moments on display certainly to entertain those craving the twisted delights Mattei and writer Claudio Fragasso churn out in doses. I guess this is probably Mattei's best film..quite an outrageous concoction of surreal and horrific images. I think it, if anything, will entertain those that are not offended by the blasphemous material. The Goblin score, used from Buio Omega, somehow actually works in this film.

Coventry Well I would start by saying that this is a bizarre movie, but the sub genre of nunsploitation is entirely bizarre, so that doesn't help you any further. Fact is, however, that Bruno Mattei's "The Other Hell" starts being strange from the very first minute, as a nun randomly dwells through the grisly catacombs of her convent and meets up with a second nun who's in the middle of mutilating a third (and dead) nun's genitalia! We ought to assume that this dead sister was a severe sinner, as the second nun refers to her vagina as "the doorway to hell". Oh, and then suddenly a red-eyed monster appears briefly! Apparently, there are more sinister events going on in this particular convent, as the Vatican appointed young priest Valerio to investigate the strange murders there. Are these nuns possessed by the devil himself or has simply one nun gone on a violent killing spree? This is probably Bruno Mattei's best movie (alongside "Women's Prison Massacre"), but still not on the same quality-level as other contemporary Italian horror. The script is incredibly incoherent, the acting performances are pretty damn lousy and - as usual - Mattei shamelessly copies cool ideas from other movies. That bloody dog-attack, for instance, is obviously inspired by Dario Argento's "Suspiria". Nonetheless, there are a handful of exciting gore-sequences, some twisted dialogues and a remotely suspenseful climax. Luckily Mattei could also rely on another dazzling electrical score by Goblin and some genuinely uncanny set pieces. The prototype nunsploitation-movie (like Joe D'Amato and Jess Franco make them) usually contains a lot of sleaze, brutal whippings and lesbian sex, but (sadly?) you won't find any of that in "The Other Hell". This is an overall entertaining exploitation flick, yet only avid cult-collectors should spend money on the fancy Shriek Show DVD edition. If you like the concept of convent-horror without all the unnecessary sleaze and nudity, I also highly recommend Mariano's Baino's "Dark Waters".

suspiria10 A priest is sent to a convent to investigate the sheer lunacy of a bunch of nun's gone nuts performing acts of lust and depravity. But the closer he looks into the situation the more supernatural it becomes. Does the devil roam the halls terrorizing the nuns or is it something a bit more sinister.I'll get Mattei credit; he tries to inject a little something more in your average, ordinary (nunsploitation storyline (if there is such a thing). It's not entirely successful in that regard but never-the-less he manages to pull off this entertaining but a little slow and the bit of a Stephen King twist to the ending helps it out.

Paul Andrews A Nun named Sister Christina becomes lost in the skull and bone strewn catacombs under her Convent. Eventually she finds Sister Assunta who is currently embalming a dead Nun in what looks like a cross between a dungeon and Victorian laboratory with lots of bubbling test tubes and strange looking scientific equipment, hey this is Bruno Mattei and that's all you need to know! After some insane rambling about "the genitals are the doorway to evil!" Assunta mutilates the dead Nun's vagina, kills Sister Christina and dies herself soon after. Father Inardo (Andrea Aureli as Andrew Ray) tries to question the other Nun's in the convent but all his attempts are meet with silence apart from Sister Rosaria (Paolo Montenero) who tries to talk with Father Inardo and warn him, but starts to cough up blood and is taken away to be treated. Later that night, as Father Inardo performs an exorcism to rid the convent of evil, Sister Rosaria develops the stigmata (wounds on the feet and hands that resembles Christ's) and dies. Father Inardo reports back to the Bishop (Tom Felleghy) and says he feels the convent is rife with evil satanic forces. The Bishop thinks Father Inardo's conclusions are about as useful as a used tea bag so he appoints a 'special investigator' called Father Valerio (Carlo De Mejo) to take over and complete the rest of Father Inardo's work. Father Valerio thinks that the Nun's deaths are committed by someone who has a secret and will kill to hide it, and not by Satan. He begins to question the Nun's but finds them very hostile towards him which he thinks is because of Mother Superior Vincenza (Franca Stoppi) who is very dictatorial. Soon Father Inardo has an 'accident' and is killed. Father Valerio decides to take drastic action to solve the mystery, which after some detective work he does. The convents shocking truth is revealed but will Father Valerio live long enough to tell anyone about it?Better known to English speaking audiences as The Other Hell this Italian production was co-written and directed by the notorious Bruno Mattei under the pseudonym Stefan Oblowsky. I personally thought that this film is more competent than most of Mattei's output that I've seen, but that isn't saying much. The script by Mattei again as Oblowsky and Claudio Fragasso is a bit of a mess and it's all rather stupid, we even get a zombie Nun at the end. And the way Valerio discovers the truth is totally ridiculous, a spirit possesses his projector and shows him the truth like it was a film! You have to see it to believe it. The revelation at the end is OK and ended things quite nicely, just don't think about it too much. There's surprisingly no nudity apart from a naked dead body and not much gore, someone is attacked by dogs and their throat is bitten out and a burnt corpse is about as nasty as it gets. There is also a sequence of the grounds-keeper Boris (Franco Garofalo as Frank Garfeeld) chopping the head off a live chicken with an axe, so animal lovers beware! The special effect that depicts Satan is poor, it has glowing red eyes that are obviously just lights that flash on and off. The exploitation elements we expect from a film such as this are sadly lacking. The acting is OK for this type of thing but they aren't helped but the predictably poor dubbing. My favourite part was the attic full of large dolls and mannequin's hanging from the ceiling which looked quite creepy and different, but why would a convent have an attic full of dolls and mannequin's hanging from the ceiling? Like many things in this film it's never explained. I also liked the catacomb scenes too, the walls are strewn with skulls and bones but again why this is part of a Nun's convent I don't know. The general atmosphere is pretty good as is the production design and photography by Giuseppe Bernardini is professional enough. The music mostly by Goblin appears to have been stolen from another film, which doesn't surprise me as it's not really suited to the on-screen action. It's OK overall but it isn't anything particularly special, just about worth watching if you like this type of Euro/exploitation film.