School of the Holy Beast

1974 film by Norifumi Suzuki

Masahiro Kakefuda
Norifumi Suzuki

Starring

Yumi Takigawa
Fumio Watanabe
Emiko Yamauchi

Music byMasao YagiDistributed byToei

Release date

February 16, 1974 (1974-02-16) (Japan)

Running time

91 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapanese

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

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

Yumi Takigawa as Maya Takigawa
Emiko Yamauchi as Matsuko Ishida
Yayoi Watanabe as Hisako Kitano
Yōko Mihara as Sadako Matsumara
Fumio Watanabe as Priest Kakinuma

Critical appraisal

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

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

^ Guarisco, Donald. "School of the Holy Beast : Review". Allmovie. Retrieved 2007-10-10.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ 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.
^ "School of the Holy Beast". Amazon. 30 August 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-08.

Sources

"Le Couvent de la Bête Sacrée" (in French). pinku.cho-yaba.com. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
Buchanan, Jason. "School of the Holy Beast". Allmovie. Retrieved 2007-10-08.^{[permanent dead link]}
Guarisco, Donald. "School of the Holy Beast : Review". Allmovie. Retrieved 2007-10-10.^{[permanent dead link]}
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.
"School of the Holy Beast (1974)". pinky-violence.com. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
"School of the Holy Beast (review)". www.filmatheist.com. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
Sharp, Jasper (2006-05-03). "School of the Holy Beast (1974)". midnighteye.com. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
Thompson, Nathaniel (2006). DVD Delirium: The International Guide to Weird and Wonderful Films on DVD; Volume 3. Godalming, England: FAB Press. pp. 460–461. ISBN 1-903254-40-X.
DVD Review at Frankly Mr Shankly