The Devil visits a convent and commences to poison the mind of Sister Maria with devious sexual thoughts and unthinkable desires. Maria is apparently weak-willed and soon clothes are coming off and we have lots of naked women and lots of naked men. Strangely, everyone in this village appears to be a prude, as all of Maria’s sexual advances are promptly declined; out of frustration, the good Sister violently murders her would-be-confidants. Just to make sure that the exploitation quotient is running on high, the film makers also threw in some whippings, self mutilation, Christian sacrilege, repentance, blood, torture and gore.
Gilberto Martinez Solares’ “Satanico Pandemonium” has the most dubious distinction of being the very first Mexican film to cash in on the worldwide stir created by Ken Russell’s raucous nunsploitation epic “The Devils.” Solares’ entry in the naughty-nuns-sweepstakes is not nearly as high-brow as Russell’s 1971 effort nor is it as wild and erratic as Juan Lopez Moctezuma’s “Alucarda” which also came out of Mexico. The film’s pacing is slow at times, but that may have been intentional, as the delivery of this incendiary subject matter is almost poetic, maybe even dreamlike, and the taboos that the film continually breaks would most surely rile even today’s lax Christians and Catholics.
Mondo Macabro delivered quite well on the extras this time around by including: an interview with the co-director, a featurette on nunsploitation movies, background notes, poster and still galleries and optional subtitles.
