It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

An offbeat mixture of art-house weirdness and sleazy exploitation, I found this to be a highly unappealing movie. I for one am not a fan of art-house cinema in general - maybe I just don't 'get' it, but I find much of it boring, and the same is true for this movie. Personally I was expecting some sleazy horror film in the vein of KILLER NUN or THE OTHER HELL, but instead I got a lame art movie with nothing going on.Sure, the direction of Walerian Borowczyk (what a name to go to bed with!) is unconventional and stylish, but this movie just doesn't go anywhere. Instead we have endless scenes of seduction, intrigue and the like and a few spotty deaths, and we're supposed to care? The strict uniform that the nuns wear mean that it's difficult to distinguish between them, not that you would care to either. The sexual side of the film means that there's a lot of nudity (for instance, one nun likes to do nude aerobics!) and sex scenes, which were unappealing to a fan looks for thrills of a different sort like myself. Only the organ music playing on the soundtrack is really distinctive. Otherwise, give this art-house bore a miss.

What supposedly goes on 'behind convent walls' is the subject matter of pretty much every nunsploitation film ever made, and this film is director Walerian Borowczyk's take on the theme. Given that he previously directed The Beast; I have to say that I was expecting something a little stranger from the director, and while the film does have some quirks not seen in other nunsploitation efforts; it has to be said that it's pretty much a textbook entry and that is really the most disappointing thing about it. As ever, its sex, Satanism and general sinning that is the order of the day; although the film does not really follow a set narrative. The film is apparently based on a novel by someone called 'Stendhal' and focuses on a convent, where most of the nuns are beautiful and like to do everything except what nuns are supposed to do (despite having seen so many films about nuns, I actually don't know what that is!). Basically, what we get is the leaders of the convent trying to instill proper values in the nuns, while the nuns ignore them.This genre is best known for its hardcore entries by directors such as Joe D'Amato, but this one is actually surprisingly soft. The director delights in showing the nuns half dressed; we get plenty of shots of naked women wearing the nun's headgear and while it could be considered blasphemous, it's not particularly offensive. The most noteworthy scene of the movie goes against the flow a little bit and sees a nun pleasuring herself with a carving featuring the face of Jesus! Outside of that, however, the film doesn't feature the hardcore atrocities that Joe D'Amato delights in filming. The plot is really unimportant and it soon becomes apparent that the film is only going to be an excuse to show what (or rather, what probably doesn't) go on behind convent walls. The women are all rather beautiful and the cinematography is too which ensures that the film is at least nice to look at. Overall, I don't think this film will do a lot for those wanting hardcore pornography from their nunsploitation; but it's a decent film and provides enough for the average nunsploitation fan.

Despite some very ropey, almost Franco-like camera-work and generally lacklustre performances, Walerian Borowczyk's "Behind Convent Walls" (aka "Within a Cloister") is an artsploitation film with real erotic value.The plot is nonsense, but the convent setting is convincing and the scenes of nuns behaving badly are directed with great erotic detail.With the exception of the Mother Superior, these sisters have more interest in phallic objects, masturbation, lesbianism and the local lads than the Holy Trinity. It's a good thing because this is a Borowczyk film and Borowczyk, the director of "Immoral Tales" and "The Beast", is at his best when focusing his camera on illicit sexuality.The film has an art-house patina, measured pacing and a heavy-handed organ score, but it remains an interesting curio for its single-minded subversiveness and cast of carnally-minded Christians.Euro art trash at its finest.

I've watched quite a number of so called "Nunsploitation" or "Convent Erotica" movies and at least eight of Walerian Borowczyk's erotic escapades and I think that "Interno di un Convento" aka "Behind the Convent Walls", truly deserves the term "Art-House Movie". In my opinion, it has to be considered one of the few artistic peaks, among the several dozens stinkers (mainly purely exploitative), which crowded European screens, during the '70 and '80s. The director shows us here more then a glimpse of his cinematic genius, crafting a little movie on a "shoestring budged", full of mesmerizing images and sounds. The cinematography (the movie seems almost entirely shot on a hand-held camera and in natural light) is simply gorgeous. Streams of bright sunlight flow towards the viewers from the background windows of beautiful Renaissance settings, creating dream-like visuals, in which the bodies of the female interpreters, quite often involved in steamy erotic games, appear almost floating weightlessly at mid air. By the way, Marina Pierro as "Sister Veronica" and Ligia Branice as "Sister Clara", are unbelievably beautiful even in (or half out) their rough monastic robes. The Mediaeval harpsichord, violin and organ scores, which underline the most climatic sequences, provide the proper musical frame for this dark tale of forbidden love affairs, sacrilegious erotic rituals, psychological and physical abuse and murder. The movie has a few dull moments where it seems that it is going nowhere, but then it gets back on track with a few pleasant surprises. There are two sequences which, personally, I consider among the most outstanding of the whole picture. The first begins with a flock of nuns busy cleaning up and decorating the chapel using straws of red carnations. Suddenly one of them, practicing on her violin, strikes a few musical notes of what seems to be a very lively tune. This attracts the attention of all the other nuns, who start looking at her in great expectation...Encouraged by her sisters, she strikes another series of notes, which immediately originates giggling of approval from the audience... Another nun joins right in playing the organ and they both start an improvised duet playing a very captivating "pagan" tune. Like stricken by a sudden electric discharge, the nuns immediately forget all about their work duties. The whole Sisterhood improvises a party and start dancing and jumping around happy and thoughtlessly. The camera jumps right in the middle of this improvised party, cavorting around with the nuns, by means of circular dancing movements at the rhythm of the music. It's an amazing apotheosis of flying black veils, black gowns, white undergarment and red carnations... You can almost feel the sense of relieve of the poor nuns, who get carried away in a temporary escape from the frustration of their austere and mortifying living routine. The other sequence is the one everybody who has seen the movie, obviously talks about... It's probably the only really explicit and graphic scene of the whole movie, but I think that the way it has been shot and directed, makes this sequence beautiful and not disturbing. Borowczyk unveils here the deepest roots of his erotic fantasies. He shows us a nun deeply (and desperately) in love with Christ. Spiritual love is not sufficient for her; her repressed senses demand to be also physically possessed by him. She reaches her objective, with the help of a home-made wooden dildo, with a Christ-like face painted on one end and a mirror...and a big deal of imagination. WOW! Definitely eroticism at his peak and definitely... not a movie for everyone! I give this one an (enthusiastic) 8 out of 10.