"Dark Habits" (1983)

(Originally released as Entre tinieblas)

Starring: Cristina Sánchez Pascual, Will More, Laura Cepeda, Miguel Zúñiga, Julieta Serrano

First, the Lowdown: A lounge singer tries hiding from herself in a Catholic monestary.

After watching this movie twice I’m reminded of an amusing event in Catholic history:

In 1634 the Ursuline convent of Loudun was afflicted by a terrible rash of demonic possession. The woman would set out a cacophony of screams, cries, and animal noises – all while contorting their bodies obscenely and shouting vulgarities in various languages. Upon examination by the church, it was found that they had all been seduced by a respected priest, Urbain Grandier. Grandier was found guilty of sorcery (among other things) and burned at the stake after a confession was wrested from him. The possessions would continue for 4 more years until a miraculous exorcism was performed on the sisters in 1638.

(The whole debacle would later prove to be a conspiracy to discredit Grandier, who was an outspoken enemy of Cardinal Richelieu.)

On with our movie:

Yolanda is a lounge singer with an abusive junkie boyfriend. When the boyfriend overdoses on heroin, Yolanda makes a quick exit. However, the police catch up to her at the club she sings at. Using a friend's absence as cover, she hops on the first bus she can find to take her in the general direction of away.

While going through the items in her purse, she she finds a card for the “Community of Humble Redeemers.” Some time before her current situation two nuns approached Yolanda in her dressing room asking for her autograph. Yolanda obliges them happily and admires the purse one of them carries. The nun gives it to her as thanks for the autograph, and also gives her a card for their convent. She tells Yolanda to visit whenever she pleases.

Meanwhile, the convent receives word that their benefactor has died and neglected to put anything in his will that would continue donations to them. Said benefactor's daughter was serving as a nun, but ended up dying during a mission in Africa. His widow however, has seen this as an opportunity to enjoy herself now that she is no longer under the thumb of her abusive and controlling husband.

Enter Yolanda, who has come merely as a means of hiding. The nuns are overjoyed, for they see this as an opportunity to help a wayward soul. Yolanda is nervous at first, and confused. Even more curiouser, the Mother Superior shoots heroin with her. The convent follows the traditions of self-mortification and humiliation: which is why the Sisters all have odd names: Rat, Snake, etc. Each has their own secret. Sister Manure drops acid and subject herself to pain; Sister Rat is an author of tawdry bestsellers, Sister Damned is an obsessive-compulsive clean freak. The convent is home to a tiger as well, a pet of a former residents.

Yolanda finds herself getting used to the bizarre solitude of the convent, spending most of the time reading her ex-lover's diary as a means of punishing herself. Having being deprived of the primary source of income, however, has made the already unstable sisters descend rapidly into chaos.

Much like another of Almodovar's early work, Dark Habits has an interesting premise and doesn't go anywhere. The movie (with the exception of a couple shots) looks like it was filmed by a student. The setup itself sounds like it would make an interesting drama, but after the pieces are put into place, it's almost like the director didn't know what to do with them.

Line of the movie: “It's music that really tells the truth about life. Because all of us have been in love for deceived.”

Two stars. Chew slowly before swallowing.