The Nun (2005)

Years ago, a cruel and merciless nun turned boarding school into a living hell for her students until they could no longer bear the abuse, and she mysteriously disappeared. Now the alumnae are being brutally murdered one by one.

Director:

Luis de la Madrid

Writers:

Jaume Balagueró (based on an original story by), Manu Díaz (screenplay by) (as Manu Díez)

Stars:

Anita Briem, Belén Blanco, Manu Fullola

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anita Briem	...	Eva
Belén Blanco	...	Julia
Manu Fullola	...	Gabriel
Alistair Freeland	...	Joel
Cristina Piaget	...	Sor Úrsula
Paulina Gálvez	...	Zoe
Natalia Dicenta	...	Susan
Lola Marceli	...	Mary
Teté Delgado	...	Cristy (as Tete Delgado)
Oriana Bonet	...	Eulalia
Katrine Romming	...	Mary 17
Maia Jenkinson	...	Eulalia 17
Joana Rañé	...	Zoe 17
Gemma Martínez	...	Cristy 17
Meritxell Santamaria	...	Susan 17

Storyline

A group of teenage girls are terrorized by Sister Ursula, a nun that believes she must rid the world of all sin. After Sister Ursula mysteriously disappears, the Catholic school is shut down. Many years later, the women, all grown up, are terrorized by a ghostly nun. The daughter of one of the women sets out to find out what happened all those years ago.

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Plot Keywords:

woman | car | automobile | volkswagen | volkswagen passat | 

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Taglines:

Not all water is holy...

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for horror violence and language

Details

Country:

Spain UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 2005 (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Nun

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$759,209

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Televisió de Catalunya (TV3), Ministerio de Cultura - ICAA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

(at around 1h 25 mins) When the water is filling in the shower room at the end, the water is closer to the light fixture in one scene than it is in the next scene.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Zoe 17: God, I hate those stupid jerks, and their fucking boarding school.
Mary 17: And all their stupid sermons.
Zoe 17: That fucking slut is going to punish us again.
Susan 17: Are you crazy, Zoe? How can you call her that? She's a nun.

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Connections

References I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

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Soundtracks

Me Falta el Aliento
Written by Shuarma (as Juan Manuel Álvarez), Julio Cascán (as Julio Cascán Cavallé),
Jordi Ramiro (as Jorge Ramiro Galena Espadas) and Víctor Lozano Guarch
Performed by Elefantes

User Reviews

And then there were nun.

Directed by Luis de la Madrid and produced by Brian Yuzna's Spanish label Fantastic Factory, The Nun is a modestly budgeted, reasonably effective horror that starts off like a supernatural I Know What You Did Last Summer (the '97 slasher is even referenced in this movie), but ends with a neat psychological twist. It's by no means perfect, suffering from some iffy CGI effects and a few dodgy performances from its largely European cast, but it does deliver in terms of creepy atmosphere, and benefits from a couple of fun, gory death scenes.

The story, by Jaume Balagueró (The Darkness), sees a young woman, Eve (Anita Briem), travelling to Spain with her friends Julia (Belén Blanco) and Joel (Alistair Freeland) after she witnesses her mother being murdered by a ghostly nun. In Barcelona, Eve searches for clues to help her understand what happened, her investigation leading to the now closed Catholic boarding school attended by her mother 18 years earlier. As she delves deeper into the mystery, Eve begins to suspect that her mother was killed by the vengeful spirit of Sister Ursula, a strict nun at the school who disappeared shortly before its closure.

With the ghostly nun only appearing in water, there is quite a lot of not-quite-convincing digital trickery involved, but the nun herself is suitably scary looking, and kills off her victims in some satisfyingly inventive ways, the best being a fatal elevator ride (the lift severing the victim's arms) and a decapitation by falling sheet of glass. Other less memorable deaths include a slashed throat, an impalement on a broken pipe, and the crucifixion of a woman with big hooters and a gimpy leg (the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away).

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.