In Sacred Flesh we take a journey to the medieval Church of the Sacred Heart, where Sister Elizabeth (Sally Tremaine), the church's Mother Superior, has been acting a bit strangely. She's accused her fellow sisters of breaking their vows of chastity, and appears to be in a desperate fight to keep from doing the same. Such behavior is quite unlike Sister Elizabeth, so church elders promptly assume that she's been possessed by the devil.

Struggling to keep her sanity, and to refrain from giving in to her sexual urges, Sister Elizabeth is haunted by two reoccurring hallucinogenic visions. The spirit of a skeletal "Death Nun" commands her to stay true to her vows, and thus follow her only sanctioned path to god. To confuse matters she's also haunted by the spirit of Mary Magdalene (Kristina Bill), the very embodiment of the debate regarding the role of women and sexuality in the church.

Unsurprisingly Mary Magdalene urges Sister Elizabeth to open her mind, look beyond her vows of chastity, and to act upon her natural instincts. Through flashbacks that mix one part violence with two parts sex Mary forces Elizabeth to relive the suffering of her sisters who have strayed. Their stories are varied. While some of them simply submitted to their own insatiable desires, either by themselves or in groups with their fellow sisters, others decided they should commit acts of self torture in order to punish themselves for their temptation. Yet, still others fell victim to deviant Fathers, sexual predators inside the church.

Is the act of repressing one's natural sexual impulses truly a necessary part of serving God? Could instances of abuse in the church be avoided by being more open to the facts of sexual instinct and more accepting of its gay and lesbian parishioners? Furthermore, does the veil of chastity make the church a safe harbor for sexual deviants? What role should women serve in the church? These are the questions that Sacred Flesh is driving us to debate. In a time when the Catholic Church is being devastated with accusations of sexual abuse, these questions aren't only relevant but vital.

Yet, when director Nigel Wingrove's sincere artistic intentions collide with the joys of cheap exploitation all of the social relevance and meaningful debate go right out of the window. Now don't get me wrong, cheap exploitation can certainly be highly entertaining, it just doesn't work in the otherwise serious framework of this film. After a determined attempt to provoke significant thought, Sacred Flesh embraces a series of formulaic sexual encounters that completely obliterate any credibility or impact the narrative may have produced. All that's left is the reality that the Sisters of the Sacred Heart are unusually voluptuous servants of god.

While the content is lacking, the film is beautifully photographed employing effective use of darkness and clever shadowing techniques to project an eerie overtone upon the entire project. Bright colors break up the shadows and simple, yet effective digital effects give many segments an almost dreamlike aura. On the downside, many of the costumes are so cheap looking that they steal from the otherwise excellent presentation. Still, visually this is a truly beautiful movie that stands miles above the large majority of exploitation fodder on the market.

The DVD is rather impressive, with a clean 1.85:1 anamorphically enhanced picture. Colors are sharp and vibrant, and deep blacks greatly enhance the overall dark tone of the production. Nigel Wingrove hosts a feature length commentary that addresses some of the conflicts one runs into when aiming for artsy exploitation. Other extras include the theatrical trailer, still gallery, and images of the advertising posters.

While silicon-enhanced lesbian nuns engaging in simulated sex acts are certainly entertaining in their own right, it comes at the cost of a cohesive film experience. Either Sacred Flesh is a meaningful artistic statement spoiled by senseless redundant sex, or it's a shameless softcore skin flick bogged down with an overblown, preachy script and an abnormally dark tone. Either way, the pieces just don't fit.