Killer Nun - 1979

Another 1970's movie, another video nasty, another day, another dollar.  No, but seriously I do work later, so I am actually getting "a dollar".

What can I say about the awful portmanteau "nunsploitation"?  Wikipedia tells me the genre originated in the 60's, but mostly existed in the 70's, and if there's one thing we've learned thus far it's that yours truly author of this blog loves the fucking 70's fool.  I dig it.

Nunsploitation is done to vilify and sexualize the normally nonsexual personage of the nun.  There's wacky titles aplenty that exist out there, such as this one Killer Nun, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Nuns on the Run, Behind Convent Walls, and branching all the way to modern times with Nude Nuns with Big Guns in 2010.  Ah, what a ripe genre for the grindhouse fanatic.

This one has 70's sleaze and softcore star Anita Ekberg as the main nun, sister Gertrude.  She has a shady past, she's a complex character, and we're given insight into her drug abuse, her sexual liberties, and her interpretation of the word of god.  When people in her mental hospital or wherever it is she works start to turn up dead, she's a clear candidate for the suspect.  She certainly acts insane at times, stomping on one woman's dentures, traumatizing others, and generally being a jackass.  So murder does not seem out of scope.

The acting in this is good, the sexuality of it also a nice focus.  They put Anita Ekberg front and center, and she's good as a shifty, untrustworthy narrator.  Soon enough she starts doing drugs, which lead her on little trips, unsure of what she's doing or why.  She runs out of the convent at one point, meets a random man at a bar, and fucks him in an alleyway later.  No words are ever spoken.  That alone was a scene to tell us exactly who this woman is.

There are a few unanswered questions and/or plotholes present, such as why they don't take any action to make sure it's not her doing the killing.  Seems like someone would at least attempt to put her in a room locked up, saying it's "just to make sure".  But I guess they explain it a little bit at times with faulty dialogue.  Eventually they do put her away in the last 10 minutes, and we get to finally see the true answer behind the riddle of the flick, and fuck, it satisfies.  What more can one really ask for from a late 70's grindhouse entry?

I liked it.  Some good nudity, good acting, and good storyline that is exactly the right level of complexity.  Low scope, likely small budget, it does its job just fine.  3.5 stars.

Contract Killer - 1998

Also known as Hitman.

I'm looking for ways to kill time at work lately.  Browsing the internet, seeing all sorts of random ass sites.  But how many times can someone really check the weather, their bank balance, and read articles on The Guardian?  For me, I get burnt out on that easily, and the idea of a movie pops to mind.

I watched the Jackie Chan favorite Wheels on Meals yesterday.  I mention that because in my mind, this one is going to be "going up against" Meals.  And honestly, I'd have a lot more to say about Meals.  Jackie Chan's movies are more comedy-focused, and with excellent timing, and even more action, oddly enough.

Contract Killer has Jet Li as an ex-soldier living in a halfway house where he takes oddjobs, and eventually he hears of a $100 million dollar reward for finding the murderer of a local mob boss.  Jet Li is almost immediately recruited by con man and general trouble-maker Ngok Lo, although in the English dub they called him Arthur or something like that.  Amazon didn't even give me a choice on dubbing versus subbing on this or Meals.

Like I was saying, it oddly doesn't seem to have a ton of action either?  It's a blend of a comedy, a crime thriller, and a action movie, but there's really only 2-3 fight sequences, and the big one being saved for the end of course.  Jet Li has great abilities of course, never explained in this movie, but it's fine, and we watch him kick ass a few times.  It's all well and good.

The day when I was a Jet Li fan was about at age 20 or so I would think.  Hero came out, he had a flash-in-the-pan popularity, but I went back and watched his older flicks.  I still remember Once Upon a Time in China 1-3 being awesome.

I should say, the soundtrack to this was also pretty awful.  They have this late 90's rap that's just laughable.  Well...  Not much else to say about this.    Mainly a bump on the blog to assure people I'm still alive.