A Cult Epics Release
You're strange. That's your charm.
I'm Kenta. Come see me tomorrow.
Sorry.
I've enjoyed myself as much as I can for the last time.
Now I have to say goodbye.
Where are you off to?
To where women aren't women.
SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST
An abbey is a mansion for women
who long for eternal virginity.
They try to live with strict principles
to become brides acceptable for God.
Sisters, we've just received another stray sheep.
When a stray sheep kneels down
in the light before God,
he will cause her to suffer.
We haven't been forced to choose our way as nuns.
Our own burning desire for belief guided us here
through the gate of the abbey.
Now let me introduce our new friend,
Miss Maya Takigawa.
Greet them.
How do you do? I'm Maya Takigawa.
We make it the primary rule to practice discipline.
The discipline comprises
73 chapters.
We are strict about...
adultery,
murder
and theft.
Can you promise you'll follow these principles?
Yes.
If you break the rules, you'll be punished.
I'll explain about our garments.
The white means innocence,
the black, asceticism.
The asceticism to follow the principles
is the only way
for us to attain the privilege of the brides.
CHOIR NUNS
This room is for the choir nuns.
They're of a higher rank than assistant nuns.
Don't forget to be polite.
How do you do?
ASSISTANT NUNS
Lord! Oh Lord!
Give me your strength.
Lord, beat me with a whip.
Forgive me.
Lord...
Maya.
Surprised?
You'll get used to it.
Whenever we feel we're tempted by sin,
we whip ourselves like that.
That's why we have whips.
Jesus Christ was born.
His mother, Mary...
was engaged to Joseph.
Jesus was immaculately conceived.
That's how He was brought into this world.
Mary's husband, Joseph was a good man.
Though he didn't want to speak of it in public,
he was secretly planning to get a divorce.
While he was considering this,
God appeared in his dreams.
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to accept Mary as your wife."
The baby was immaculately conceived.
God said...
that His name was to be Jesus.
"You need to accept Him with His mother," God said.
Prophets had known of this for a long time,
as God had told them of it.
And God said...
"Let the woman deliver the baby peacefully."
His name was to be Emmanuel...
which means "God is with us."
Joseph woke up from his dream
and accepted his wife as God had willed.
But until the baby was born,
he would not know love.
"Do not commit adultery."
"If you look at a woman with desire,
you've already committed adultery in your mind."
The sin of adultery
is the heaviest among the principles.
If you harbor the thought
you'll be stigmatized as a dirty renegade.
We nuns should keep
our bodies and souls pure.
I have a question.
Go ahead.
What did Jesus say
to those who committed adultery?
They're no better than animals.
They live to be arrested and killed.
They'll be punished
and ruined for their injustice.
Vice Abbess.
Sister Takigawa.
If our parents hadn't sinned,
we wouldn't have been born.
A surprising question.
Think of the Immaculate Conception.
Is it really possible?
Stop insulting Mother Mary.
She got pregnant because she had a lover.
How dare you!
No use shouting.
If you don't have sex, no baby will come out.
Mother Mary was a virgin.
You're insulting her.
What she said was unforgivable.
Get rid of Sister Ishida.
We won't study with assistant nuns.
- Expel them! - Wait.
You can't judge all of us by Sister Ishida alone.
We came here
because of our strong religious faith.
What on earth brought a person like her here?
We aren't any different.
An abbey
is a place for dropouts from society.
You're probably not even a virgin yourself.
How rude!
That's all for today.
We'll expel those who make disgraceful remarks.
Good day.
You can't fall asleep, huh?
Let's have a drink.
I'm glad to have you here.
It's nice to have a girl with a backbone.
It's funny to find someone like you here in the abbey.
Pretentious women irritate me.
I've always wanted to ridicule the Vice Abbess in class.
Miss Ishida.
Even as a joke,
drinking whiskey at night is just too much.
The abbey is more like a prison.
Your parents are pious and respectable.
How can their daughter be so vulgar?
My father owns bars and night clubs.
My stepmother was either gonna send me here or to a loony bin.
So I chose to come here.
You need to learn perseverance.
Your parents want us to reform you
here at St. Clore Abbey.
My parents must've given you money or something.
By the way, who told on me?
Don't talk that way, Sister Ishida.
God knows everything.
Don't push alcohol on somebody
who's training to be a good nun.
I see. That new bitch.
Do we always have to work so hard?
Not always. But it's usually more or less like this.
They discriminate against us
because we didn't make any donations. It's unfair.
They give us such small meals. My body can't go on like this.
They're so delicious I feel like I could die.
It's been so long since I enjoyed eating this much.
PERSECUTION ROOM
Now God is going to punish you.
God gave us the whips.
Beat each other twenty times.
Go on!
Beat each other until you bleed.
Kaoru.
What are you waiting for?
Beat the woman!
Oka, go ahead and beat her.
The punishment was too harsh for just stealing food.
How did they find out?
We were alone in the storage room.
Strange...
Is there an informer?
That's right. One of us is a spy.
You mean me?
No.
But since you came here,
they've been well-informed.
Janet...
You gave me valuable information.
I'll recommend you for membership in the choir.
Sister...
Somebody's there.
Sorry to interrupt you.
What are you doing here?
You'll be punished for this.
You two will be punished.
Or do they allow homosexual acts between nuns here?
Don't be scared.
Nobody's shocked by lesbians.
Why don't you forget about spying and enjoy yourselves.
Don't tell anybody about us.
Who told you to act as a spy?
The Vice Abbess.
Well, well!
She wants us to be honest and true while she spies.
I'll keep this to myself.
You must obey my orders from now on.
Hurry!
It'd be terrible if they saw us now.
"Michiko Shinohara"
"Christian name: Mary"
"Died of a heart attack."
"Witnessed by Aya Ogasawara"
How are you? Any better today?
Sorry for burdening you.
Not at all. It's my job.
You assistant nuns have been busy
since I fell ill.
Don't worry. We can handle the food. We're glad to do it.
Maya, who gave you this?
My mother.
You mean you're...
Michiko Shinohara's daughter.
Don't tell the abbess.
I came here of my own free will.
Will you tell me about my mother?
How did she die?
Where was my father?
I don't know.
She was a nice, kind woman.
You're spying again.
You get another gold star.
Don't call me a spy again.
What?
Go back to the reformatory.
I can run away any time.
But not before I expose you.
Don't mess with me, kid!
Stop fighting.
You shameless girls!
What if people saw you now? Mind our honor.
You can't hide the filth forever.
Shut up!
You'll be confined for three days.
Sister!
How are you?
This is for you, from the field in the back.
Thank you.
How's father?
The doctor said he wouldn't be able to work again.
I can't do anything for you,
for I'm already serving God.
But I'm always praying for my family.
Each time I see you, you've changed.
Have I?
It's as if you were talking to a stranger.
I'll work as soon as I leave school.
Mother wants you to come back.
Father will die if he isn't hospitalized.
She needs 100,000 yen to cover everything.
All your praying won't bring us money, will it?
Keiko, don't be unreasonable.
This is terrible!
What's wrong?
50,000 yen disappeared from my drawer.
Are you sure?
One of the nuns stole it.
One of the assistant nuns who cleaned the room.
Don't assume the worst.
Gather all the assistant nuns.
The money?
What's this?
How awful! They're like beasts!
The criminal might be keeping it under her garment.
"Criminal?" Don't talk like a cop.
Let's strip to help clear the suspicion.
Now investigate us thoroughly.
Strip, everybody!
Oh, no! How shameful!
Shall I take them off?
No. Keep them on.
Come on!
No thank you.
No use stripping. The money won't be found.
What?
Whoever stole the money
wouldn't keep it in a place that's so easy to find.
If she has a guilty conscience, she'll confess.
Right?
Yes.
Vice Abbess.
We'd better stop investigating.
All right.
I'll take these pictures away.
I'll burn them, for sure.
Welcome, Father Kakinuma.
St. Clore Abbey is well-disciplined.
Everything is managed smoothly.
This is an ideal abbey.
It's due entirely to your burning religious faith.
Thank you.
I'll report to the headquarters in Rome.
What's wrong?
Father.
You seem to be upset.
Tell me. I'll listen.
Father...
I stole the money
from the abbey.
I violated the disciplines.
My parents were against
my coming to this abbey.
My family is large.
We were living from hand to mouth.
But I wanted to serve Jesus.
My father understood,
but he fell ill.
When I cleaned the Vice Abbess' room,
I found the money.
I'd been thinking of my father.
Before I knew it, I had taken it.
Father, punish me.
I'm suffering.
I betrayed God
and I'm still here in the abbey...
Only the innocent
can beat a sinful woman with a rock.
Do you know these words of Jesus?
He won't punish you.
Father... this money...
Pay fifty back.
Keep the rest for your poor family.
Thank you.
Is your worry gone?
Yes.
Has your suffering disappeared
without any trace?
Yes.
Because God came to me, to forgive me.
God never comes to you.
Never to you.
You make a confession,
and your guilty conscience melts like snow.
God will never come to you.
Did God ever come to save men?
In the history of mankind?
Why not wait?
Why not wait for God,
who'll come to punish you?
Father!
Maybe God got you ready for me
as a sacrifice!
Mother!
How filthy!
Oh, Jesus!
Why do men
do such filthy things?
Like dogs!
Tell me, buddy.
Will your girl really come?
Of course. She wanted to see me.
Why did she have to go to the abbey?
She was Influenced by a movie.
Maybe.
Hi!
Is she your girl, Maya?
Yes. She's a nun.
- I'm surprised you got out. - I have a fun idea.
Interested?
I'll do anything for you. I'll disguise myself.
Hello.
The sex-hungry nun is sleeping in here.
Give her pleasure. I'll stand watch here.
All right.
Good.
Poor woman! Wasting her womanhood!
I'll give her what she wants.
Me first.
No, me.
You're not hung.
How convenient!
Oh, God!
I'll take you.
This way you can go to heaven quickly.
Who are you? I'm a pure virgin for God.
Stop it!
Jesus!
Jesus.
Jesus Christ!
Let's switch! I'm nearly exploding!
Forgive me!
Stop it!
More! More!
Mother Mary!
Amen.
My turn. Where's the pussy cat?
Time's up. Get out before they find you.
Come on! Hurry up!
Oh, no! How cruel!
Let's go.
Who are you? Wait!
This way.
Wait!
Maya, you've got guts. I admire you.
You got men into an abbey for women only.
She's my type!
You're flattering me.
Hurry!
Bye-bye! Hurry!
What are you doing?
Taking a walk.
Did you see the strangers?
No.
Let's go to the chapel for prayer.
Excuse us.
Vice Abbess, what happened?
Did somebody break into this room?
Control yourself! Tell me what happened.
I resisted desperately.
But they forcibly...
"They?"
I kept my virginity for 32 years and 4 months.
But the men...
they took me by force.
"Men?"
Men?!
Those suspicious nuns were men.
Abbess.
Ryoko passed Maya in the corridor.
She was with the strangers.
- Is that true? - Yes.
It was dark, but I saw their faces.
Bring Maya to the Persecution Room.
We have to weed out the Judas.
The 13th punishment!
Punishment!
Is she...
Sister Ishida!
You filthy hypocrites!
This is worse than prison.
Ishida.
She's a rebel against the church.
She brought men into the Garden of Angels.
"Angels?" You're just a dyke.
Oh, no! How could you call me that?
Abbess, it was me who brought those men in here.
Is that true?
Yes. It's my confession. You can count on it.
Punishment on Ishida! Give her punishment!
Punishment!
Don't mess with me.
Hysterical bitches!
I'll handle this.
Why is sex wrong?
You look decent, but you want to get laid.
Abbess, this is blasphemy.
Expel her.
She's like a gangster.
Maya, it's getting interesting.
Sister Ishida, get out of this abbey.
All right. I don't care.
I'll go away, but...
don't bully Maya.
If you do, I'll have your scandals publicized.
Remember that.
Dismissed!
Abbess!
Not enough evidence.
Sister Takigawa, go back to your room.
Maya.
I'm going...
to the house of God.
I'll tell you the truth.
You must go to another abbey
as soon as possible.
I still remember that day.
I can't forget it, even if I try to.
I was watching from the shadows.
I watched a pure woman who served God
change into a devil.
Michiko was going to be abbess,
but she violated the discipline.
The present abbess tortured her
when she was pregnant.
She looked like a demon.
It was December 25th, Christmas Day.
When she hanged herself, a baby was born.
I tied her rosary to the baby as the mother's keepsake.
I took the baby to town.
It was you, Maya.
I don't know who your father was.
That is all I know.
Maya, dear.
So it's you.
I won't forgive you.
But your mother was to blame.
She violated the discipline and had you.
I had to do it to protect the honor of the abbey.
I don't want to hear your excuses!
You must leave here today.
Go back to the time
when you only had good thoughts of your parents.
You should return.
No kidding.
Who was my father?
- Tell me! - I don't know.
Why not? You must know everything that happened.
Maya, dear, don't go any farther.
This is the realm of God.
"Realm of God?"
You should return now.
To where?
I came back to where I was born.
I'll watch this rotten abbey fall.
I'll make it happen.
Why not expel Maya Takigawa at once?
She knows too much.
Then arrange a ceremony to offer her to God.
There should be no "ceremony" for her.
Her mother was Michiko Shinohara.
She's your daughter. I'm scared.
Our sins of 18 years past are standing before us
wearing a cloak of hatred.
Past...
In the past,
you were extremely jealous of Michiko.
You even hated her.
That's right.
We went to school together.
We were baptized
and came here together.
We were always on the same path,
but she was always...
outshining me.
We were always compared...
I was always inferior to her.
I was miserable.
When I left pregnant Michiko...
I fled to Rome, to school.
You dealt with her after I went away.
That's how you earned
your present position.
It's true.
At last I defeated my rival.
With these blood-soaked fingers...
Father...
I hated Michiko because you loved her.
She was trying to live out of love for you.
I was mad. Jealousy made me cold and cruel.
I made love to you, too.
You did.
But I wonder
if you really loved me.
Love?
It's an illusion.
Then what have you been living for?
God.
I'm waiting for God.
Even in the hell I lived through,
I waited for Him, though he never came.
Father...
You still remember Nagasaki.
Even in Auschwitz, He didn't come to save us.
Has He ever shown Himself to men
who are begging for help?
Maya will never stop fighting against you.
Hell has come.
For you betrayed God!
Hell.
Give a ceremony to offer Maya to God.
What do you want?
I want to apologize to you.
I've been needlessly suffering
for 18 years.
I'll tell you about your father... to atone for my sin.
But when you learn the truth,
you'll fall in the hell of hatred.
- Hatred for my father? - Yes.
Your father is Father Kakinuma.
The priest?
Is that true?
Yes, it is true.
He also asked me to dispose of your mother.
That's a lie!
It's true.
Look at the sea. It hasn't changed.
This is where your mother...
met her lover.
She was desperately in love.
She forgot herself
in the transient gleam of love.
There's no going back for me.
I came to assist the abbess of St. Clore Abbey.
My name is Nataly Green.
Any act of violation of the discipline won't be missed.
I can smell the foul odor of witches,
servants of the devil.
I'll catch the witches.
I'll expose them.
Don't give orders on your own.
What can you do?
I know this abbey like the back of my hand.
I'm in charge here.
Father Kakinuma would disagree.
He sent me here.
Follow my instructions from now on.
Hisako!
You're pregnant!
Who's your man?
Tell us who.
It's not an immaculate conception.
Who were you with?
Confess!
Stop it!
Father Kakinuma.
It's his child.
What a horrible thing!
Frightful!
Unbelievable!
You're accusing him to hide your disgrace.
What do you think, nuns?
Unforgivable!
How can she blame that strict, benevolent priest?
It's true. It's true!
Liar! Witch!
I'll test your Christian faith.
Get salt water.
Drink all of it.
If you're true to God,
you'll never be able to stain Jesus.
It's a method used in the Edo Era
to find secret Christians.
That's right.
If she wets the image, she's a real witch.
How long will we be confined?
Hisako hasn't returned.
They're still punishing her.
Attend the witch trial
or you'll be considered rebels.
It's the best way to persecute the witch.
Janet. Onozuka.
Watanabe. Nakagami.
What are you waiting for? Get moving!
Takigawa.
I will not go.
What?
You admit to being a heretic?
How long can you have your way?
All right. Come to the Persecution Room.
This woman is a witch.
Where's the priest?
He's coming.
Will you expel Hisako?
You care about her?
No wonder.
Her fate is the same as your mother's.
Your father made Hisako pregnant.
You're the fatal child with cursed blood...
the doomed offspring of the priest,
your mother and myself.
Hisako!
The rebel has exposed herself.
Bless those who hate you.
Pray for those who speak ill of you.
If any one strikes you on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also.
From anyone who takes away your coat,
do not withhold even your shirt.
Do unto to others
as you would have them do unto you.
Do not judge others.
Do not punish them.
Forgive them.
Bless them.
The witch will die tonight.
Thank me for picking the night of Christmas.
This poison will take you to hell.
It's your last supper.
When you reach hell,
I'll be in the arms of Father Kakinuma.
Who are you?
Michiko Shinohara's daughter.
Your daughter.
You don't know me,
but I've been cherishing you in my heart for 18 years...
not knowing you were a beast.
You slept with your daughter.
You violated the discipline in the most dreadful way.
Have a nice Christmas night.
Oh, God!
My God!
God is you!
You're God!
I don't know...
but on this night 18 years ago,
my mother died in agony in this abbey.
You should suffer for the rest of your life.
This is my Christmas present for you.
God! I can see you now.
Your horrible figure...
God! You at last...
The End