SACRED FLESH
DVD Region 1. Heretic Films

Four years after its UK release, Nigel Wingrove's tribute to the nunsploitation movie finally gets a US release. Why its taken so long is anyone's guess, although I suspect the central theme and scenes of crucified nuns writhing in sexual ecstasy may have caused some distributors to think twice.

Sacred Flesh tells the story of a nun who is struggling with her sexual desires and the conflict with her vows of chastity. One the one hand, she's taunted by a skeletal Death Nun, on the other tempted by Mary Magdalen and in between haunted by fantasies involving naughty nuns engaging in all manner of lecherous sapphic behaviour. Thrown in the middle of all this are a few scenes involving the relationship between a couple of local peasants, presumably to compare their healthy sexual freedom with the nun's repressed state.

Those of you who are familiar with Wingrove's early short films Axel and Visions of Ecstacy - the latter of which seems like a thematic dry-run for Sacred Flesh - will be surprised to find that this film is rather different in style. Sacred Flesh actually resembles the Bravo TV intros Wingrove shot around the same time - it's flashy, lurid and designed primarily as eye-candy. Clearly, the influence of Michael Ninn - whose work Wingrove first released in the UK - has had some impact on the director's style.

Impressive as the film looks, the fact that the story is pretty disposable works against the film. It's some twenty six minutes before we get to see our first naked nun, and until that point, things have been pretty dull. The fact that the film developed from being a softcore movie into a narrative feature midway through production hasn't helped matters, but I wish Wingrove had injected a sex scene into the film earlier - no self-respecting sexploitation movie should make the viewers wait so long for the good stuff!

Once the sex scenes start though, they are impressive. I'd prefer the film to be hardcore, but as softcore goes, it's done with panache and has genuinely erotic moments. Michelle Thorne is impressive as she spreads her legs and plays with herself, and Amanda Dawkins looks as cute as ever in her nuns habit as she wields a cat o'nine tails in a spot of bloody flagellation. Sensitive viewers should note, incidentally, that there is a surprising amount of bloodletting during sex scenes, particularly with the "nun-christ" figure at the climax.

Picky viewers might also question the fact that several nuns seem to have body piercings and false nails... but if you've ever seen REAL nuns, you'll be glad that Wingrove rejected authenticity in favour of glamour!

Sacred Flesh is, ultimately, an interesting attempt to do something different. Shot at a time when British porn was still best summed up by titles such as Pig in Knickers, Wingrove ought to be applauded for making the effort, even if the end result is not entirely successful. The promised series of films from his production company Gothica never materialised, but we can expect his Satanic Sluts movie later this year...

Sacred Flesh comes with several extras. The audio commentary track from Wingrove is actually pretty informative and the trailers are amusing. Only the behind-the-scenes feature is a let down - a series of repetitive and dull stills rather than a documentary.

DAVID FLINT

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