Woodyanders
Short-tempered Sister Kelly Wrath (a fabulously feisty performance by Sarah Nicklin) gets gunned down in an alley. She's subsequently chosen by God to join the vigilante squad The Order of the Black Habit, who are a group of crime fighting nuns on a mission to eradicate the mob. Director Richard Griffin, who also co-wrote the brash and irreverent script with Ted Marr, really makes the most out of the gloriously outrageous premise: We've got often hysterically profane dialogue (Sister Wrath swears like a truck driver), excessive bloody violence, lesbianism, broadly drawn stereotypical characters, wild bone-crunching fights, ninja rabbis, Gandhi popping up as a benign martial arts instructor (!), and even an incredible musical number featuring a rapping Jesus and a break dancing nun. Moreover, the lively cast has a field day with the off the wall material, with especially praiseworthy work from Alexandra Cipollo as the sweet and flirtatious Sister Pride, Shanette Wilson as the bawdy Sister Lust, Ruth Sullivan as the antagonistic Sister Gluttony, Rich Tretheway as fearsome mobster Momma Rizzo, Brandon Luis Aponte as the ruthless Richie Corbucci, and, in a truly stand-out turn, David Lavallee Jr. as vicious Jewish hit-man Viper Goldstein. Moreover, Michael Reed does sterling duty as a hip Christ and a supremely suave Satan, Deborah Rochon has a snappy bit as a fed-up Mother Superior, and Lloyd Kaufman makes a priceless cameo appearance as the pope. Jacob Larimore's vibrant cinematography provides a neat stylish look. Both the cool soundtrack and the funky throbbing score by Tony Milano and Daniel Hildreth hits the get-down groovy spot. A total riot.
raiden13
For low budget, this is a really good all-around independent film. It's strength is the high quality of acting combined with great cinematography and a very funny script. The comedic aspect of the script is much akin to a road-side sobriety test. While the jokes are directed toward many religions, the film does a good job of walking the fine line between what some may consider light humor and others find offensive.In addition, the humor reminds me of a David Zucker film where the jokes often come at you at a relentless pace, but they are not over-the-top ridiculous or slap-stick. This endeavor proves that SFR can diversify and turn out high quality projects beyond independent horror films.
Marc Bode
My cheeks hurt from laughing so much..It really delivers the comedy more so than the top comedies released nationally that lose attention and get boring with a story.This movie has not a dull moment and can surprise you with some very good acting.Keeps things moving and keeps you entertained.I had an opportunity to see it in the theatre with a full audience reacting as they should with outloud laughter and applause.You really get to know the characters and enjoy the story and comedy as it moves forward. And there's surprises along the way with the straight up blood and violence. thumbs up 5 times! www.bodevoice.com Marc Bode
Michael Reed
I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing...that was my first impression. 'They' just don't make movies like this. From start to finish, the entire audience was belly-shaking with laughter...I'm serious, there was so much laughter that many of the back-to-back jokes were lost in the noise. And these jokes are ruthless to all, and clever as hell. Sure some might find it shocking...but that's clearly not the point of the film...it's just a badass idea: a group of supernatural vigilante nuns that take on the mob? The film is shot in standard Griffin style--very clean, well composed, with a 70's style Italian cinema look. Very pleasing on all accounts. Richard doesn't try to impress you with lenses and adapters...he rocks the old-school (ha ha) 720p with panache. The film looks good, and the lighting is superbly stylized. The sound design and music is as usual very well put together. For a 'low budget' film, you'll find that all sound is at a professional level--ADR is good, foley is great, and custom-written music is paced and form-fit and exciting. A few times you'll notice what appear to be canned foley sound effects, but with the charm of the film, they hardly get in the way.The acting was pretty much all-around impressive. Everybody nails their characters, and brings something interesting to the table--and pretty much every cast member seems to understand comedic timing. Even the 'extras' in this film have chops. For a micro budget film, I'm telling you, the performances were stellar. OK, so you'll occasionally find a bit of a rotten tomato...but hey, that's OK...these are rare.I really recommend this film to everyone (unless you're easily offended and/or highly religious with no sense of humor). It's laugh-out-loud funny, and really comes together nicely in a well-paced action comedy you'll likely not forget. I honestly think this could become a NYC midnight showing cult extravaganza. ps. Anyone that openly trashes this film (*cough* you know who you are) and has nothing positive to say, is clearly a jealous competitor or a bitter jerk. I may be bias, but there is nothing one star about this picture...that's obviously a skewed opinion from a sour source. Cheers.