The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine – Indicator Series (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1974
Director: Sergio Grieco
Writers: Sergio Grieco, Luigi Mordini
Cast: Françoise Prévost, Jenny Tamburi, Paolo Malco, Franco Ressel, Gino Rocchetti, Bruna Beani, Dada Gallotti, Adriana Facchetti, Cinzia Greco, Eleonora Spinelli, Aldina Martano, Piero Anchisi, Calisto Calisti, Corrado Gaipa

Release Date: October 19th, 2026 (UK), October 20th (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 93 Minutes 19 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $49.95 (USA)

"In sixteenth-century Spain, Lucita (Tamburi) is forced into a convent by her family to separate her from her lover, Estaban (Malco). Infiltrating the convent, Esteban uncovers the depraved regime of the abbess (Prévost), placing his beloved Lucita in the hands of the Inquisitor (Corrado Gaipa, The Godfather)." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine was scanned, restored, and color corrected in 4K HDR (Dolby Vision) at Filmfinity, London, using the original 35mm negative. Phoenix image-processing tools were used to remove many thousands of instances of dirt, eliminate scratches and other imperfections, as well as repair damaged frames. No grain management, edge enhancement, or sharpening tools were employed to artificially alter the image in any way.”

The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.6 GB

Feature: 56.5 GB

The source looks excellent; it is a massive improvement over the Redemption Films 2013 Blu-ray release. Flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, compression is solid, and the image retains an organic appearance.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono Italian with removable English subtitles. The track sounds clear, clear, and balanced. While not the most immersive soundtrack, ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (10 images—stills/posters), an interview with David Grieco titled The Genetics of Celluloid, who discusses his uncle Sergio Grieco and the Italian film industry (24 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), a far-reaching documentary exploring the ‘nunsploitation’ subgenre titled Nuns Upon a Time... in Italy, featuring comments from The Killer Nun director Giulio Berruti, The Other Hell director Claudio Fragasso, actors Renato Rossini, Martine Brochard, Eleonora Giorgi, and Zora Kerowa, and film historians Corrado Columbo and Eugenio Ercolani (48 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and Italian with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film critics Rod Barnett and Adrian Smith, reversible cover art, and a 36-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled The Other Face of Madness written by Miranda Corcoran, an archival article on ‘nunsploitation’ titled A New Trend Appears on Italian Screens written by CG, an archival writing titled She Debuts in a Bold Part, But Dreams of The Betrothed written by Alberto Ceretto, an archival interview with actress Jenny Tamburi conducted by Manlio Gomarasca and David Pulici, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Sergio Grieco directed The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine. He’s known for Mission Bloody Mary, From the Orient with Fury, Special Mission Lady Chaplin, Argoman the Fantastic Superman, Tiffany Memorandum, Violence for Kicks, and Beast with a Gun.

A woman’s family forces her to become a nun to keep her from the man she loves. While inside the convent, an investigator visits; she’s accused of heresy and condemned to death. Will a higher power come to her rescue or is fate already sealed?

Although Ken Russell’s The Devil’s is the film that truly ignited the nunsploitation genre cycle in Italy, it is important to note that two years prior to its release, The Lady of Monza was the first Italian nunsploitation film. While many of the most notorious films in this genre pushed the boundaries of deviant acts, The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine stands out as one of the most sanitized entries. That said, The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine saves its most shocking and deviant moment for its finale, a scene where the inquisitor walls in the abbess and the nuns, sealing them off from the outside world.

When it comes to the performances, the most memorable is Françoise Prévost’s (Paris Belongs to Us) portrayal of The Abbess. Her character is not who she pretends to be; she’s the source for most of the convent's perversions. Every time there's a new nun, she sleeps with them and then has them killed. Other cast members of note are Jenny Tamburi (Smile Before Death) in the role of Lucita, the woman forced to become a nun, and Paolo Malco (The New York Ripper) in the role of Lucita’s lover Esteban.

While the opening setup does a good job drawing you in, a slow-moving narrative often disrupts momentum. Visually there are several striking moments, all of which involve nuns being naughty or punished. Ultimately, The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine is a by-the-numbers nunsploitation film, only recommended for completists.

The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine gets an excellent release from Powerhouse Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras.

Note: This release is a limited edition of 6,000 numbered units (4,000 4K UHDs and 2,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer