In fact, in 1969 nunsploitation wasn't even a genre and so the film predates the establishment of the staples that made this line of storytelling popular.

In the story, a young Italian aristocrat, Giampaolo Osio (Antonio Sabato) kills a tax collector sent by the ruling Spanish imperialists.

Osio is immediately established as a lustful rogue who allows himself to be guided by his hormones rather than his head. The very first scene of the film depicts him cavorting with one of his servants. When the Spanish soldiers arrive, he insists on getting his rocks off, rather than dealing with the situation at hand.

Killing the tax collector, another example of Osio's impulsive and idiotic way of thinking, is not a capital offense for nobles. At worst, he can be imprisoned for a while. But Osio flees to the church, seeking absolution and sanctuary.

Against his better judgment, Father Arrigone agrees to appeal the abbess of the convent of Monza, Sister Virginia de Leyva (Anne Heywood), the daughter of a nobleman. Coincidentally, her father is the same nobleman whose tax collector Osio has killed.

It takes some convincing, but Father Arrigone persuades her to grant refuge to Osio in the convent.

Again, Osio allows himself to be led around by his balls and flirts incessantly with the novice nuns. When the abbess threatens to revoke his sanctuary and call for the Spaniards, he laughs at her threat and has the audacity to make a pass for her.

At this point the movie gets confusing. Somehow, Osio gains the allegiance of two nuns, Sister Benedetta and Sister Ottavia (Margarita Lozano and Anna Maria Alegiani). They sneak him into the cloister and into Sister Virginia's chamber. They watch in silence as Osio rapes her, ignoring her desperate pleas for help and mercy.

Osio returns to her chamber repeatedly to rape her. Virginia, in the meantime tortures herself to atone for what has happened. Finally, the Spaniards come and Osio is arrested and imprisoned, not for murder, but for "external interference," that is, interfering with the affairs of the convent (hitting on the novices). By some form of medieval reasoning, this is a worse crime than killing a bill collector.

The plot twists. Virginia is pregnant. She secretly gives birth to a daughter and pays to have Osio sprung from prison. The secrecy of her "illness" leads to long absences, and her fellow nuns turn on her, electing a new abbess.

And so begins the slow, terrible decline, of both Giampaolo Osio and Virginia de Leyva, and the movie. Slowly, ploddingly their situation worsens. After all, he's a wanted man with nowhere to go, and she has not only lost her position with the convent, but she is eventually disowned by her father.

The story is unfortunately slow and suffers severe pacing problems. While it starts off interesting, it gets progressively slower. The director's choice to focus more on story rather than exploitation may have been a good decision artistically, but the story has far too many holes to be the backbone of the film. Why do sisters Ottavia and Benedetta allow Osio to rape the abbess? This and many other sudden developments go unexplained.

The nudity is minimal, but Anne Heywood is beautiful as ever in the lead role. There are several erotic images of her in full nun garb, breast feeding her daughter.

The torture is likewise minimal. There's the good old girdle-of-thorns, and in the end, Sister Virginia is subjected to getting her hand crushed, but that's the extent of it.

Overall, there are many other films in the genre that offer more nudity, violence and even story than this film. Nunsploitation fans will want this movie to complete their collection. The Monza tale is a staple of the genre, told and retold over the decades in a number of on-screen incarnations.

Anne Heywood is another nunsploitation staple who looks more and more beautiful every time she dons (and doffs) the habit.

However, I would not recommend this movie for someone new to the genre. The story is too slow and the film doesn't offer much of what fans have come to expect.