Summary
A cinematic slow-burner that will no doubt polarize horror fans this Halloween. Sister Death has its moments, delivering sparse yet effective scares and gore, but the film’s leisurely pace just isn’t worth the pay-offs in a significantly improved final third.
One of the leading filmmakers in the Spanish horror scene, Paco Plaza (REC) is back with even more bone-chilling scares this horror season, teaming up with Netflix for the 2023 genre flick Sister Death. In this 1940s-set horror movie, a novice nun is haunted by terrifying ghosts in a creepy convent. But is Sister Death worth a watch this Halloween, with so much stiff competition out there?
It’s a slow burn and will probably prove polarizing, but it certainly has its moments that’ll please genre fans if they’re willing to stick around until the payoff. However, the all-too-leisurely journey to get there will also lead to many abandoning the film entirely midway through.
Set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Sister Death focuses on novice nun Hermana Narcisa (Aria Bedmar), who feels compelled to join the local convent after her brush with religion ten years earlier. Back in 1939, Narcisa was known as the Holy Girl of Peroblasco, a miracle child who had heavenly visions.
Now as an adult, Narcisa is unsure whether she is truly supernatural or if the visions were just misguided. She takes these crippling doubts with her to the convent, her new place of work, whilst running away from her childhood fame at the very same time.
It’s not long before Narcisa is having strange visions once more, witnessing falling chairs, levitating sisters, and odd drawings that appear on the convent’s walls and flooring. One of these drawings is of a foreboding hangman that the convent’s children fear greatly.
See, the children believe in a spirit that haunts the convent’s corridors. And it is said that if the spirit is to write your name out then you are to be cursed. Narcisa’s visions only intensify further over time, with her dreams blurring into her reality. Soon she is unable to tell the difference between the two as she spirals out of control, hurtling towards madness.
Sister Death follows the old-school horror movie format, taking the slow-paced, atmospheric route with minimal, spaced-out scares. This stylistic choice may win over some die-hard horror fans, but for me, the pay-offs just weren’t worth the sparse, first hour of build-up.
This is a decidedly slow movie, on the whole, one that plays things deadly seriously. There are moments of gore and a couple of solid scares, but this Spanish horror flick might just test your patience. Thankfully, Plaza frames his film beautifully, utilizing his mature, cinematic flair. It’s just a shame that the story takes so long to kick into gear.
The final third does ramp up the action significantly, however, unveiling a surprisingly clever backstory that ties everything together nicely. Although the very final reveal cheapens the story somewhat. Overall, this is a mixed offering. The pacing and the cinematography harken back to the classic cinema of old, which will appeal to plenty of viewers, yet this style of filmmaking can also be alienating too.
If you are looking for an intense, action-packed horror movie this Halloween, you may want to try elsewhere.
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