The convent as a den of iniquity is a popular theme of European nunsploitation flicks, but the Japanese hold their own in this genre. Nun Story is a good example. Although my copy was entirely in Japanese without subtitles, I found it entertainingly mean-spirited and – due to the fine performances throughout – it was not hard to follow most of the story. GIMPwise, it features two stand-out whippings, two rapes and one ball gagging. There’s also plenty of nudity and consensual sex.

As the movie opens, Sister Maria (played by cute and appealing Eri Kanuma) is taking her vows to enter the penguin sorority. Immediately things start going to hell. First, her beloved but aging Mother Superior (“Mata”) becomes gravely ill. The new head nun is younger, but meaner and more corrupt. Her first night in the coop, Maria discovers a young nun down the hall, kneeling on the floor of her cell, topless and flogging herself. Then two of her three roommates keep her awake with their snogging. And she spies another nun diddling herself and getting wet. Her third roommate seems unable to hold down her breakfast. Yep, she’s pregnant, and in a convent that just won’t do. She must be punished.

In the film’s first whipping scene in the movie, the wayward sister is dragged down to the dark basement by a group of black-hooded nuns and chained AOH with her white robe pulled down below her navel. I like the way this scene is set up: first we see only the chains being hoisted, then her wrists attached to them, then her head and finally her breasts appear in the picture. There are both long shots and close-ups as they commence the whipping, mostly on the front of her body. They also force her to drink water out of an urn (perhaps holy water?). Next they pull her dress down, then her panties, and walk around her slowly, each one taking a whack at her back and ass with a whips. Throughout, the actress’ reactions are excellent - screaming, writhing and twisting as her body glistens in the harsh contrast of glaring light and deep shadow.

But it’s not over yet. They strap her down to a table and use candles to give her a hot wax treatment. (No, I don’t know why they did this). Finally, one of them takes a flexible, sharpened rod (bamboo perhaps) and inserts it between her legs. What happens next is not graphically shown, but the young woman’s screams signal that the convent’s problem has been solved.

Sister Stella is randy and free-spirited, not the usual nun material. She sneaks over the wall, aided by three doofuses (doofi?) in a van. They are “friends with privileges who gladly help Stella out of her cumbersome clothes, then play a game similar to rock-scissors-paper to see which one gets to boff her first. Stella polishes off all three of them (one at a time) and enjoys it all. Slut.

Meanwhile Maria has been given leave to go visit Mata in the hospital, and takes off in her scooter. Stella and the doofi spot her riding by and decide to follow. Coming back from her visit, Maria stops at a secluded spot for a moment of reflection. The doofi give chase and tackle her in some tall grass. After a fierce struggle and several ‘yametes’ from Maria, the doofi finally get her panties off and her blouse open. Each of them gets a turn with her as Stella watches at a distance, drinking and smirking.

Stella tries to sneak back into the convent but is discovered. So they throw her in the basement, shackle her hands and feet, and slip on some kind of ball-gag-cum-face-harness. When they finally let her loose, Stella announces that she’s fed up with the whole nun gig and walks out the gate in her civilian clothes. She doesn’t get far before she’s surrounded by black-hooded nuns, who pursue her to the edge of a cliff, from which she falls and is dashed on the rocks below. That answers the question of why these nuns just don’t get up and leave this wretched place.

Meanwhile, Maria is praying in the chapel when she is approached by the young priest who often visits (and often boinks the new head nun). After a brief conversation, he jumps her and wrestles her to the chapel floor. Despite her struggling, he manages to get one hand in her panties and work through all those layers of clothing to her tits. He humps her and abandons her on the carpet.

Maria’s roommate (pretty sure it’s the same nun who was pregnant) discovers Maria in the chapel. She hands Maria a note and strongly suggests that she fly the coop and get help from her lover on the outside. When the head nun and her paramour priest discover that Maria is missing, they decide to torture the roommate for information on her whereabouts.

The nun and priest chain her AOH and wail away at her with cat-o’-nines. This is a great scene: the girl’s body is stretched tight, her white robe pulled down below her navel. She’s soaked with sweat that reflects the candlelight. Her torso has several welts but she’s not a bloody mess. She won’t give them the information they seek, even as they assail her from all sides. Once again, the actress’ reactions are terrific – squirming, flinching and grimacing perfectly. The frustrated priest loops his whip around her neck and savagely pulls her toward him, berating and threatening her, but she remains resolute. So they commence the whipping again. The priest is especially adept at this, swinging the cat like a ninja with nun-chucks. (Sorry). He pulls on her hair and threatens her some more, but she seems strangely silent. Uh-oh, she has become completely non-respondent. But this is a lengthy and superb whipping scene.

Well, I won’t give away the rest of the story – there is more violence, but no more GIMPage.

Movie plusses: Well-done whipping scenes, very good performances and an engaging (but bizarre) story. Pretty good production values.

Movie minuses: Some of the scenes were too darkly lit (probably a bad transfer to DVD). No subtitles (not really necessary, but it would have been great to know what the sassy and snarky Stella was saying – her facial expressions were very amusing). The rape scenes were pretty intense, but I would like to have seen more clothes-ripping and skin-revealing. The first whipping scene could have benefitted from more close-ups and fewer long-distance shots.