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Good Girl, Bad Girl (2006) DVD |
Good Girl, Bad Girl(2006)
A Nunsploitation.Net reviewWhen you think "made-for-TV-movie", the first thing that usually comes to mind is "cheap", but Good Girl, Bad Girl will surprise you. The car chases are just insane and worthy of any Hong Kong actioner. The FX are over-the-top with enough crazy stunts and car crashes to make you look twice for Michael Bay's name in the director's credit. Look as many times as you'd like, but every time you'll find little-known German director Sebastian Vigg. It just goes to show that a big name isn't everything. I'd take another Good Girl, Bad Girl any day over one of those awful Michael Bay movies. Vanessa and Maria (both played by Julia Stinshoff) are twin sisters, orphaned in a car crash and raised in a Catholic orphanage. Like in Marquis de Sade's Justine, the two girls go on separate paths, one living a life of sin, the other a life of virtue. Vanessa becomes a con artist and by age 25 has a rap sheet the size of a phone book. As the movie begins, she is making ends meet as a dancer at a night club (unfortunately for us, she's not a stripper). In fact, she's the star attraction of the club and the only thing keeping it open. Maria has become a nun and, despite being so young, has become prioress of her convent.The night club Vanessa works for is a front for her boss Gromek's (Graham McTavish; Rambo) shady dealings: drugs, stolen goods, you name it. When Vanessa threatens to quit, he forces her to stay on by framing her for murder. The plan backfires when Vanessa knocks out Gromek, steals his stolen diamonds, and runs. She seeks refuge at her sister's convent, dragging the nuns into her mess. Sister Maria gets mistaken for Vanessa and kidnapped by Gromek's minion Joshua (Ross Boatman). Luckily for her, she also gets rescued by Vanessa's friend "Tex" (Hedrik Duryn). Meanwhile, the cops follow Vanessa's trail to the convent. She disguises her self as Sister Maria to avoid them, making the role reversal complete.Now Sister Maria has to try to bail Vanessa out of trouble and avoid getting killed by Gromek, while Vanessa has to save the convent from being closed and the order disbanded by the visiting Monsignor Koslowski (Michael Culver; The Empire Strikes Back). While not as sleazy as the usual nunsploitation fare, Good Girl, Bad Girl is still sexy. Julia Stinshoff is unbelievably hot. Although there is no nudity, there are plenty of strip scenes where she shows off her body. The movie starts with her nightclub act. She enters the stage in a cloak and cowl, looking rather nun-like, but she soon drops the cloak and strips down to a mini-skirt and latex bikini top. Again, she's a nightclub singer, not a stripper, so there is no nudity.As Sister Maria, she soon drops the habit and wears a sexy red dress as a disguise, much like Natascha McElhone did in Revelations. The role reversal makes for some funny moments as the street-wise Vanessa tries to act like a nun and the pious Maria struggles to behave like a bad girl. Unknown British actor Ruth Gibson plays Sister Maria's cute redheaded assistant, Sister Anna. She is super hot with red hair and cute Irish lilt, but unfortunately, we'll get no fan service from her.In order to impress the Monsignor, Vanessa does a song and dance routine reminiscent of Whoopi Goldburg in Sister Act. Unfortunately, the sexiness is toned down and the most stripping she does is whipping off her veil at the end of the act, much to the shock of the other nuns. While made in Germany, the movie is filmed in English. Some of the voices are likely dubbed, but you can't really tell. It's weird that German actor Hendrik Duryn plays a character named "Tex" who even uses a Texas longhorn belt buckle to dispatch one of the bad guys.Star Wars fans may recognize Michael Culver who plays Monsignor Koslowski. Culver played the unfortunate Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back. I hate to typecast anybody, but everytime I saw him in a scene, I couldn't help myself from thinking in Darth Vader's voice "Apology accepted, Captain Needa." Overall, the acting is decent, the action is over-the-top, and Julia Stinshoff makes for one sexy nun. The dual-role allows us to see her hot and sexy on the nightclub stage without besmirching the honor of her other role as the pious Maria. While no Oscar-winner, Good Girl, Bad Girl is highly entertaining. It would have made a better nunsploitation film if there were less emphasis on the car chases and multi-car pile-ups and more emphasis on gratuitous nudity and sleaze. However, being what it is, it may offer nunsploitation fans a bit of a break from the same old fare. Try it out as a nunsploitation action film. The big-budget stunts and FX make Good Girl, Bad Girl stand out as unique in the genre. Return to Good Girl, Bad Girl main page |