School of the Holy Beast

School of the Holy Beast
Poster to School of the Holy Beast
Directed by	Norifumi Suzuki
Written by	Masahiro Kakefuda Norifumi Suzuki
Starring	Yumi Takigawa Fumio Watanabe Emiko Yamauchi
Music by	Masao Yagi
Distributed by	Toei
Release date(s)	February 16, 1974 (Japan)
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

School of the Holy Beast aka Convent of the Sacred Beast (聖獣学園, Seijū gakuen) is a film in the nunsploitation sub-genre 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.

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."

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."

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.

Sources

• "Le Couvent de la Bête Sacrée" (in French). pinku.cho-yaba.com. http://pinku.cho-yaba.com/pinku.php?idf=1. Retrieved 2007-10-17. 
• Buchanan, Jason. "School of the Holy Beast". Allmovie. http://wc03.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:322647. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
• Guarisco, Donald. "School of the Holy Beast : Review". Allmovie. http://wm04.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:322647~T1. Retrieved 2007-10-10. 
• Macias, Patrick (2001). "School of the Holy Beast". TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion. San Francisco: Cadence Books. pp. 182. ISBN 1-56931-681-3. 
• "School of the Holy Beast (1974)". pinky-violence.com. http://www.pinky-violence.com/school_of_the_holy_beast_1974.html. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
• "School of the Holy Beast (review)". www.filmatheist.com. http://www.filmatheist.com/reviews/schoolholybeast.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
• Seijū gakuen (1974) at the Internet Movie Database
• "聖獣学園 (Seijū gakuen)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1974/cx000340.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
• Sharp, Jasper (2006-05-03). "School of the Holy Beast (1974)". midnighteye.com. http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/school-of-the-holy-beast.shtml. 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

External links

• School of the Holy Beast at the Internet Movie Database
• School of the Holy Beast at AllRovi