★★★
“God forgives… I don’t.”
It’s likely a fair summary, that this film shamelessly uses the above line – the title of a 1967 comedy/Western starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer – with the straightest of faces. Obviously, the title creates a certain set of expectations, which the film somewhat fulfills. I did tag this as “grindhouse”, but it is light work in this category. If you’re expecting full-on nunsploitation, you will be disappointed. Because, despite being firmly bi, Sister Mary remains more or less firmly attached to her habit. And “more or less” is only because on multiple occasions, she throws off her nun’s garb for dramatic purposes. If this merited an R rating, it’s only going to be for language.
All that aside, the heroine is former soldier Edwina Philomena (Taylor), who has returned to civilian life. She’s torn between her love for Vicky Mendez (Lopez) and her calling to a religious order. The latter wins out, though only briefly. For the new Sister Mary discovers the local priest is a paedophile, and after he threatens her, the military reactions kick in. She keeps the costume though. Mary then discovers Vicky is in a highly toxic relationship with local scumbag and city councilman, Vlad Russo (Dill). With the help of one of Vlad’s henchmen, Johnny Stryder (Watson) – who himself is the son of a famous nineties action film star – she sets out take down Russo’s organization, and rescue her lover.
This is a mix of elements which work surprisingly well, and those which very much do not. The former would be led by Taylor, who handles herself impressively in the action scenes, and decently enough in the dramatic ones. Dill also makes a good villain, considering we’re never given any real reason to hate him, outside of his treatment of Vicky. He tells a good story, about how he acquired his lethal twist wrist punch; the first victim “sounded like a Soviet dishwasher trying to confess its own sins.” Less effective is Stryder, in part because he ends up with his own reasons to take revenge on Vlad. Clearly, only Johnny or Mary will ultimately get to do so, leaving the other one rather unfulfilled.
There is also a final twist which feels unnecessary, and comes over as a little reactionary, given the progressive approach to things like Mary’s sexuality. Finally, there are points where the script feels padded and unnecessary chatty. We don’t really need multiple scenes of Edwina and Vicky in bed, exchanging banal terms of affection. At the risk of stating the bleedin’ obvious, this is not why we are watching a film called Mary Magnum: Jiu-Jitsu Nun. When it sticks to delivering on expectations created by the name, it’s done well. Montesinos doesn’t engage in weedwhacker editing, and it helps that Taylor is efficiently effective with her punches and kicks. Overall, this was a pleasant surprise, especially after the near-blasphemous abomination which was Bikini Nuns.
Dir: José Montesinos
Star: Paula Rae Taylor, Robert Dill, Thomas Patrick Ryan Watson, Laura Lopez


While technically a 1993 release, the copyright date on this is five years earlier. That seems about right, because a more eighties movie, you would be hard pushed to find. The hair! The synth score! The fashions! But, to be fair, this makes it ahead of its time in some ways. It definitely predates Heathers, with which it shares a number of elements in common. It takes place in small-town Texas, where Lincoln High School is home to a group of female vigilantes called The Sisterhood. They take it upon themselves to act as moral enforcers, punishing with violence those who sleep around, take drugs, etc. Their latest recruit is Misty (Greene), recently arrived in town.
Bella Thorne’s struggle to appear in a film which reaches three stars on this site, continues unabated. While probably not helped by my tendency to confuse her with Kristen Stewart, that’s five attempts now. Although, for a minute here, I thought this might be the one where she finally cracked it, with a potentially interesting first half. But it could not sustain itself, and as the final credits rolled, and I saw Guinevere Turner’s name as the co-writer… Yeah, it all made sense. I mean, she wrote
By pure coincidence, I watched this the same day as
Not to be confused with the other
This is a nasty and grim piece of work, after which you will probably feel like taking a shower. However, I actually mean this in a (grudgingly) complimentary fashion, because it’s clear that director and co-writer Hyett was aiming for exactly that. Well done, I guess. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though, and this is not a film I have any interest in revisiting. It takes place in an unnamed part of the Balkans (though my money is on somewhere in Serbia), during the ethno-religious wars which tore apart the region in the late nineties. All manner of highly unpleasant things went on: here, it’s a brothel in which kidnapped women are forced to service militiamen.
This takes place in the ski resort of Park City, during the event it’s best known for: the Sundance Film Festival. Beginning with a plummet from a chair lift, the town is plagued by a series of “accidents” – quotes used advisedly. For they are actually the work of a female vigilante calling herself the Sword of Justice, and dedicated to punishing men for their crimes against her gender. On the other side is Belle Bannon, a former Marine, who had anger issues even before going into the military. Now a hunting guide and member of the ski patrol, she is determined to find and stop the killer.
Watching this one, I had a
I guess some credit is due here for going against type, at least. Molly Reese (Stack) is not your typical vigilante. She’s actually a doctor who works in an emergency room, and suffers a debilitating mental blow when her husband and daughter are both killed in an accident. She subsequently goes to a very dark place psychologically, telling her therapist she has thoughts about killing people. This is particularly unfortunate, after she is unable to save a local mob-boss, and his gang decide she is to blame. For Molly gets to put all those murderous impulses into action, under the guise of self-defense, and then proceeds to take the fight to the gangsters, all the while becoming increasingly unstable.
Written, directed by, and starring husband and wife team Sam and Johnna Hodge, this is the kind of film it would be easy to deride as poverty-row garbage from the bottom drawer. There’s precious little plot, some of the performances are painfully amateur, and it seems to exist mostly as a show-reel for spraying around corn syrup with red food colouring in it. And yet… If Chris and I made a movie – something we have discussed – it might well end up being not too dissimilar to this. On the other hand, if we had a spare $55,000 lying around – the budget here, according to the IMDb – we’d probably go on a nice holiday instead.