NUN OF THAT

A bunch of mobster-type Italian-Americans sit spouting off sub-Scorsese-style witticisms at one another in a blue-hued nightclub, when a sexy Sister begins to pole-dance on the dance floor - complete in her nun habit.

For a while, the horny men are amply titillated. But then the nun gets nasty, blowing them away one-by-one while asking where she can find the notorious Corbucci (Brandon Luis Aponte). Unfortunately for her, Corbucci finds her first - and mows the nun down.

From afar, the celestial body that is The Order Of The Black Habit watch the Sister's demise through a computer screen. Their Operation to divinely cleanse the Earth of this Gangster scum has hit a temporary setback. The Order agrees that what they need is a replacement nun to play vigilante on the Lord's behalf.

Enter Sister Kelly (Sarah Nicklin), who The Order observe on Earth as a tough-as-nails Holy cow who takes no shit - whether it be from frisky lesbian nuns, or wannabe rapists that she encounters down darkened back alleys.

A trio of gun-toting nuns are sent to Earth to shoot down Kelly, thus enabling her to ascend to Heaven where she can undergo intensive training to prepare her for an afterlife of serious arse-kicking.

Once in Heaven - which looks curiously like a low-rent disco - Kelly is introduced to her scantily-clad guardian angel Oscar (Luis Brandon Aponte), and then to the Big Man himself: an electro pop-singing Jesus (Michael Reed).

From there, Kelly is briskly run through the necessary training steps. These include sharing dinner with Ghandi (John Joseph Gomes) who then puts her through her kung-fu paces. Then Kelly meets Moses (Michael Bilow) who teaches her a few of the forgotten commandments, including "though shalt not fuck with nuns".

Afterwards, it's back to Earth for Kelly where she's now deemed by The Order to be ready to fulfil her destiny - complete with a new name: Sister Wrath. But Corbucci is one step ahead, having already tortured a priest for more information on the identities of the Holy people that are out to send his soul to Hell ...

NUN OF THAT is low budget but chock-full of energy and stylish lighting that complements it's racy camerawork to ensure it's always visually interesting. Performances are deliberately broad, lending them a high camp quality that suits the obvious dialogue and often irreverent humour.

While this sometimes renders the comedy as puerile and pantomime-like as the worst Shock-o-Rama films (including a fascination with food gags that simply doesn't work), for the most part writer-director Richard Griffin (NECROVILLE; SPLATTER DISCO) reins things in just enough to keep the film working as drama too.

Gore FX are plentiful and, although cheesy, a whole lot of fun. The primitive highlights include multiple gunshot wounds, a hand being grinded into a mincer, a head being pummelled into the ground, disembowelling and more.

Well-shot, well-lit and adeptly edited, the film scores surprisingly high on a technical level. There are quieter, more contemplative moments that work extremely well - making you wish this had taken a more sombre approach a'la MS 45, and not succumbed to the silliness of contents such as a jiving Jesus, Lloyd Kaufman in a cameo appearance (always a clear indication of how low a film will sink for a cheap laugh) and a paedophile character by the name of Lucio Bava.

At it's worst, NUN OF THAT is as dumb as it's title and provides humour that the Zucker Brothers would admire - only, they'd be capable of delivering it much better. At it's best, the film is slick and competent, accurately evoking the look and feel of the 70s exploitation films it clearly aspires to serenade.

Camp Motion Pictures present NUN OF THAT uncut in a 1.78:1 transfer that has been enhanced for 16x9 TV sets. Although a little soft, picture quality is generally good. Clean, colourful and vibrant: the film is presented nicely on this disc.

English audio is provided in original 2.0 and is evenly balanced throughout.

Although there is no scene-selection menu, the film can be remote-accessed via 13 chapters.

A static main menu page leads into static sub menus which offer some decent bonus features, along with menu artwork catered for by SHOCK FESTIVAL mastermind Stephen Romano.

First up in the way of extras, we get two feature commentary tracks. The first is from Griffin, along with producer Ted Marr and co-star Richard Rebelo. The second finds Griffin joined by co-stars Nicklin, Reed, Rich Tretheway, Andre Boudreau, Aponte, David Lavallee Jr, Alex Aponte, and Nathan Quattrini.

The former track is more "boring and technical" by Griffin's own admission, but offers a fair amount of valid low-tech insight. The latter chat offers more giggles and anecdotes, while still maintaining a healthy approach to relaying the filmmaking process from the actors' points of view.

"Breaking The Habit" is a widescreen Making Of featurette that offers a great mix of on-set footage and cast and crew interviews during it's slick, enjoyable 28-minute running time.

We also get the original 4-minute mock trailer/short film version of NUN OF THAT, with echoing voiceover and cheap superimposed imagery demonstrating how Griffin's full-length feature is so much better. Still, as shabby as this, it's still quite funny.

A series of trailers offers an impressive selection of choice schlock: NUN OF THAT; SHOCK FESTIVAL; FEMALE ANIMAL/TEENAGE MOTHER DOUBLE FEATURE; CREATURE FROM THE HILLBILLY LAGOON; SPLATTER DISCO; LOVE STATUE; NECROVILLE; FEEDING THE MASSES; VIDEO VIOLENCE; CANNIBAL CAMPOUT.

NUN OF THAT is often funny, always fast-paced and full of interesting ideas. It's pretty violent and wears it's love for 70s exploitation cinema proudly on it's sleeve. It's sometimes a victim of it's own silliness and this threatens to be it's undoing at times, but overall it emerges as an entertainingly irreverent ride.

Camp Motion Pictures have done the film justice with a very good DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis