School of the Holy Beast

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School of the Holy Beast
Poster to School of the Holy Beast
Directed byNorifumi Suzuki
Written by
  • Masahiro Kakefuda
  • Norifumi Suzuki
Starring
Music byMasao Yagi
Distributed byToei
Release date
  • February 16, 1974 (1974-02-16) (Japan)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

School of the Holy Beast a.k.a. Convent of the Sacred Beast (聖獣学園, Seijū gakuen) is a film in the nunsploitation subgenre of Pinky violence made by Toei Company in 1974.

Plot[edit]

A young woman (Yumi Takigawa) becomes a nun at the Sacred Heart Convent to find out what happened to her mother years earlier. She encounters a lesbian mother superior, lecherous archbishops, and uncovers many dark secrets. The convent also practices brutal discipline and encourages masochistic rituals such as self-flagellation. In one scene, two nuns are forced to strip to the waist and whip each other severely with heavy floggers. Later, Takigawa is tortured and whipped by a group of nuns armed with rose-thorns.

Cast[edit]

Critical appraisal[edit]

Praising the work of writer/director Norifumi Suzuki as well as the leading actors, critic Donald Guarisco of Allmovie says, "This Japanese shocker manages to [be] shocking and artistically stunning all at once."[1]

In TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion, Patrick Macias calls the film a "comic adaptation and a blasphemous sermon of high camp and knowing literary intelligence." He continues, "Trashy as it may sound, Suzuki's film is absolutely gorgeous to gaze upon."[2]

Availability[edit]

The Cult Epics company released School of the Holy Beast on region-1 DVD on August 30, 2005. The extras on the DVD included the original theatrical trailer, and interviews with lead actress Yumi Takigawa and film critic Risaku Kiridoushi.[3]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Guarisco, Donald. "School of the Holy Beast : Review". Allmovie. Retrieved 2007-10-10.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Macias, Patrick (2001). "School of the Holy Beast". TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion. San Francisco: Cadence Books. p. 182. ISBN 1-56931-681-3.
  3. ^ "School of the Holy Beast". Amazon. 30 August 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-08.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]