Paula Molina Movies

This is the fascinating study of a woman in early colonial-era Spain who suffers from the usual grievance of women of that period -- a profound lack of choices. On reaching maturity, she has exactly two: get married to someone of her family's choosing, or become a nun. However, noblewoman Catalina de Erauso was not happy with those choices to begin with, though she chooses the nun option, and after the nun she has fallen in love with dies, she escapes the convent dressed as a man. Then she enters the Spanish military, travels to the New World, and fends off advances from women who find "him" irresistible. Since this is an era when women's cross-dressing can result in charges of heresy or the death penalty, what happens next is truly amazing. When she is finally revealed as a woman, the King of Spain asks to meet with her. Instead of killing her, he grants her a pension, the rank of lieutenant in the Spanish army, and gives her lifelong permission to dress as a man. It may appear to viewers that two different women play Catalina. This is correct: one plays her when dressed as a woman, and Esperanza Roy plays her in male attire. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Horror legend Lucio Fulci directed this outrageous erotic thriller about sexual revenge. Jessica (Bianca Marsillach) loses her kinky boyfriend Johnny when he dies on the operating table after a motorcycle accident. She holds Dr. Wendell Simpson (Brett Halsey) responsible and takes him captive at a beach-front house. Simpson is a bit strange himself, painting prostitutes' pantyhose red before he can get excited, but Jessica outdoes him in every way. During the days of his captivity, Simpson must eat dog food, submit to hot wax torture, and -- worst of all -- listen to Jessica reciting ridiculous poetry in the nude. The audience also gets to see Jessica's flashbacks of life with Johnny, including a bisexual threesome in a movie theater, a rape by pistol, and a staircase sodomy scene intercut with images of a dog jumping against a house's back door. Compounded by dialogue like "My name is Jessica...but you can call me fear!", Il Miele del Diavolo stands as one of Fulci's most laughable failures, although the erotic content is steamy enough for undemanding viewers. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

The title of this movie raises an issue that is never really met head-on in the story, instead, the focus seems to be on a meandering sub-plot. The Pope (Terence Stamp) was once Father Andreani, a teacher of Father Bruno Martello (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) when Father Bruno was studying at the Catholic University. As Father Andreani rises up the hierarchy until the cardinals choose him from among their ranks to be the Supreme Pontiff, Father Bruno errs by breaking his celibacy vows with a gorgeous terrorist and heads in the opposite direction -- actually, to India where he is given a magical mixture that induces a transcendental state, and apparently changes his politics as well. Once back in Italy, he is convinced by opposition bishops to murder the Pope -- but the ex-Father Bruno has his own devious plot in mind. Little does the Pope know what is in store for him, as the altered-consciousness of his old student fixates on a little bit of the mind-bending mixture that he has reserved for very special occasions. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The Spanish Saint from Valencia, Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was a Dominican priest whose life was marked by extraordinary asceticism. He was noteworthy for his preaching tours through Europe: his sermons convinced many people of that time to take their faith seriously. This Spanish film is a spoof of the famous saint's life. It shows Father Vincent (Albert Boadella) struggling humorously to resist temptations (especially carnal ones) and performing miracles with aplomb. Some of the situations push the bounds of good taste, and the film was denounced by the Catholic hierarchy ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi