Product Details

• Actors: Lina Canalejas, Mary Carrillo, Laura Cepeda, Concha Grégori, Chus Lampreave
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: Spanish
• Subtitles: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Cinevista Inc.
• VHS Release Date: July 14, 1989
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301424611
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,391 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #41 in	Video > Art House & International > European Cinema > Spain
  #92 in	Video > Spanish Language > Cine espaņol

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video
Who but Pedro Almodóvar would make a movie in which a nightclub singer named Yolanda, whose boyfriend has died from a heroin overdose, hides from the police in a nunnery--only to discover that the nuns have more perverse lifestyles than her own? The nuns of Dark Habits use drugs, write lurid pulp novels, design high-fashion habits, and keep a tiger in their courtyard. Yolanda (Cristina Sanchez Pascual) gets caught up in the head nun's scheme to regain the patronage of a wealthy noblewoman, but betrayal, illicit love, and a campy musical number are waiting in the wings. Dark Habits features Almodóvar regulars Carmen Maura and Marisa Paredes, as well as a bit part by Cecelia Roth of All About My Mother. Fans of Almodóvar's magnificent later films (like Habla Con Ella (Talk to Her)) may find Dark Habits a bit thin, but it offers its own charms and comic delights. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sad Release, March 4, 2004

By	A. Dragonne (MEXICO, D.F. Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Habits (DVD)

It is amazing that after all these years wating for such a great movie on DVD it finallly comes out with some scenes deleted... plus the DVD transfer is not so great... avoid this and go for the VHS, it contains the complete movie and quality is about the same...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old School Almodovar, May 6, 2004

By	S. Sommerville (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dark Habits (DVD)

Seeing that Almodovar's new movie (La Mala Educacion) has to do with the catholic church, I felt it appropriate to go back and see this old one. Glad I did. Very funny film.
Though the dvd quality is not that great (and several scenes have been deleted), the film still stands up to the test of time. A drugged out singer takes refuge in a convent run by nuns with serious issues. These nuns do heroin, drop acid, read trashy novels, and even have lesbian tendencies.
The acting is great, the women (most of whom you are familiar with if you've seen other Almodovar films, Carmen Maura, Marisa Paredes, etc)do a fine job, they created a very charming and entertaining group of "sisters."
While this is not the best Almodovar film, it is still a funny ditty that is better than 95% of the films that come out these days.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Early Almodovar--major influence on filmmaking, June 15, 2006

By	LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Dark Habits (DVD)

Where did the Whoopi Goldberg flick Sister Act come from? Dark Habits. Where did Hal Hartley get the idea for a nun who writes porno novels in his film Amateur? Dark Habits.

Almodovar is a unique figure in global cinema; of that there is no doubt. It's interesting to see his progress as a filmmaker which is dotted here and there with films that are full of great ideas, some of which have juice and some of which don't quite gel. What Have I Done to Deserve This?, the film immediately preceding Dark Habits, gels and works really well. Dark Habits has a lot of good ideas but does not quite seem to gel.

But some of it--parts, ideas, scenes here and there--are so creative they make you sit up and almost shout. A Mother Superior who shoots smack? A nun with a full grown pet tiger? Another nun who writes trashy romance novels? Great ideas. One of the absolute best sequences in the film is that in which junkie-hooker-nightclub singer Yolanda sings a parting song at the Holy Redeemers convent accompanied by three nuns who play instruments and also do backup singing (obviously lip-synched). This is a terrific scene full of bounce that makes you realize Almodovar is a truly gifted filmmaker.

Alas the chops shown in this one sequence are not consistent throughout the film. The ending is not as strong as it should have been, unfortunately, which makes it all the more disappointing when so many great ideas have passed you by during the course of the film.

Worth seeing because of the uniqueness that is Pedro Almodovar. Not one of his best, though. (My favorites are Live Flesh, What Have I Done to Deserve This? and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown).