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Dark Habits

Original title: Entre tinieblas
  • 1983
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
8.8K
YOUR RATING
Dark Habits (1983)
Watch Tráiler [VO]
Play trailer0:59
1 Video
89 Photos
SatireComedyDrama

A nightclub singer seeks refuge with gay nuns on dope in a Madrid convent.A nightclub singer seeks refuge with gay nuns on dope in a Madrid convent.A nightclub singer seeks refuge with gay nuns on dope in a Madrid convent.

  • Director
    • Pedro Almodóvar
  • Writer
    • Pedro Almodóvar
  • Stars
    • Cristina Sánchez Pascual
    • Will More
    • Laura Cepeda
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    8.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Pedro Almodóvar
    • Writer
      • Pedro Almodóvar
    • Stars
      • Cristina Sánchez Pascual
      • Will More
      • Laura Cepeda
    • 25User reviews
    • 32Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Tráiler [VO]
    Trailer 0:59
    Tráiler [VO]

    Photos89

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    + 82
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    Top cast31

    Edit
    Cristina Sánchez Pascual
    Cristina Sánchez Pascual
    • Yolanda
    • (as Cristina S. Pascual)
    Will More
    Will More
    • Jorge
    • (as Willmore)
    Laura Cepeda
    Laura Cepeda
    • Lina
    Miguel Zúñiga
    • Madero
    • (as Miguel Zuñiga)
    Julieta Serrano
    Julieta Serrano
    • Superiora
    Marisa Paredes
    Marisa Paredes
    • Sor Estiercol
    Mary Carrillo
    Mary Carrillo
    • Marquesa
    • (as Mari Carrillo)
    Carmen Maura
    Carmen Maura
    • Sor Perdida
    Lina Canalejas
    Lina Canalejas
    • Sor Víbora
    Manuel Zarzo
    Manuel Zarzo
    • Capellán
    Chus Lampreave
    Chus Lampreave
    • Sor Rata
    Marisa Tejada
    • Lola
    Eva Siva
    • Antonia
    Cecilia Roth
    Cecilia Roth
    • Merche
    Rubén Tobías
    • Policía
    • (as Ruben Tobias)
    Concha Grégori
    Concha Grégori
    • Sofia
    • (as Concha Gregori)
    Ángel Sánchez Harguindey
    • Periodista
    • (as Angel S. Harguindey)
    Mariela Serrano
    • Espe
    • Director
      • Pedro Almodóvar
    • Writer
      • Pedro Almodóvar
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews25

    6.58.8K
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    Featured reviews

    9maldito-1

    Very unusual, provocative and unpredictable movie

    The very fact that you are going to watch nuns snorting cocaine, and even craving for it, should give you an idea of how far Almodovar went to give an alternative view of what a "convent" is in this movie. I watched it in the original language (Spanish)and found it brilliant and extremely entertaining, a very good concentrate of the "early" Almodovar, with His portrayal of a depraved 80's era in Madrid, and His usual intermingling of stories... Also, the viewer is seldom allowed to know what to expect next, and the whole atmosphere in the movie is just so unconventional... Definitely worth watching, hopefully it doesn't lose too much in English..
    dgs

    Confusing, incoherent and extremely bizarre.

    Maybe the one line summary is wrong, that's the problem with Pedro Almodovar's flick, you don't know what its supposed to be: ironic, satire, parody, black comedy or a serious drama. It's got a lounge singer hiding out in a convent (remember this is a 1983 movie, made way before Sister Act) after her lover ODs. The nuns are former losers, street trash, etc. who are given punishable names like Sister Rat-in-the-Sewer or Sister-Damned and their Mother Superior shoots up heroin. Are they making fun of Catholics or what? Nevertheless, this is a bit funny, while being a little boring. Recommended to the Almodovar/Spanish/foreign fans who shouldn't expect this one to be better than his usual films.
    8davidtraversa-1

    "Entre tinieblas" or "Wondering about"

    "Entre tinieblas": "In the Dark" maybe "Wondering about", "Somebody that has lost his/her way" would be the closest translation to the Spanish title.

    "Dark Habits" is so parochial, so banal, that changes completely the message of this movie.

    I just saw it today, out of nostalgia, since I own a copy, but very seldom I see a movie more than once.

    Throughout the years I've seen this one three times! Every time it excels the last view. It isn't the best Almodovar. At the time he didn't have the money (and therefore the incredible terseness of his more recent filmography) nor the experience to make a work of art of every single frame, as he has accustomed us during the last several years. But this films grabs you from the very beginning with such guts that it's impossible to point out its formula.

    It's simply magic.

    Cristina Sánchez Pascual is not Greta Garbo, but again, like the movie itself, she has "something" in her personality that mesmerizes you whenever she's on the screen.

    The way Chus Lampreave ("Sor Rata de Callejón" or "Sister Rat of the Back Alley") delivers her lines is comparable to the way Carol Channing or Eartha Kitt used to delivered theirs: Sheer pleasure to the ears and the brain.

    I don't know how it could sound to somebody that needs to read the translation, but for a Spanish speaking person this woman is unique. She could read the telephone book and make it irresistibly funny.

    The character of the Marquess (Mary Carrillo) is Almodovar 100%, when she comments to the Abbess Julia: "I'm a cosmetician", "¿Really?", "Of course, see my face?" and she shows an incredibly clownish face that only an inebriated cosmetician would have done.

    And the Bolero that Lucho Gatica sings --"Encadenados" "Chained Together"-- is simply so gorgeous that one could melt on the spot out of utter delight, I swear. (I have to find it on "You Tube"!!).

    This movie doesn't deserve 8 points, I simply gave it 8 points in my vote because of its masterly ways to grab one's imagination with not too many resources. I adore this movie. It's imperfect, the photography is not very good, the acting leaves a lot to be desired, the sets are in general quite poor..., the script...MMM-mmm, but the movie is sublime!!
    8contact_charlie

    It's not every day you see a nun on smack

    It's not very often that you can go back this far in a director's career and find a film this good.

    It's sure as hell not sentimental; it's a black comedy - you've got parody, satire and a dark-humour rolled into one.

    There already signs of Almodóvar's skill at film-making, already touches of Almodóvar's trademark whit and humour. It starts out with a girl at a crossroads in her life: on the one hand, a drug fuelled crazy future… the other, the stability of a convent. Or is that the other way round? For those familiar with Almodóvar's films, there are some of the reoccurring themes you'd expect to find, amongst others: prostitution, nuns, drugs, and dealers. More specifically, Dark Habits seems to deal with (to me anyway) a novelist (Almodóvar's film's often touch on creativity/ those involved), the idea of what is good, and along a similar vain, our abilities to turn a new leaf.

    Obviously being in subtitles is going to exclude this for some, but others are whole-heartedly recommended; even if it isn't the best Almodóvar film, I've found it the most enjoyable so far. (I haven't heard a quote better than "I'm Sister Rat of the Sewers. I was keen to meet you" recently.)

    Oh, and look out for the tiger ;-)
    8zetes

    Nuns on smack.

    What else do you need to know? Honestly, this isn't Almodovar's best work. In fact, it's pretty sloppy story-wise. But I enjoyed the heck out of it. Cristina Sanchez Pascual plays a heroin-addicted singer who hides out in a convent after her boyfriend overdoses. The nuns there are, shall we say, a little quirky in that they are mostly on drugs (heroin, cocaine, acid - but not pot; at one point a nun says "you know I don't do soft drugs"). Also, one's a lesbian and another writes lurid romance novels and together they have raised a pet tiger. They all have names like Sister Snake and Sister Rat, because the humiliation is sacred. There's really no compelling reason the nuns are on drugs. It's just kind of a shocking, humorous detail. I think Bunuel would have loved it, though the film itself isn't particularly blasphemous. It doesn't view the nuns or Catholicism cynically. It just exists in its own, weird Almodovar universe. The plot is not very strong, so the whole thing just kind of fizzles, but it's entertaining. Carmen Maura plays one of the nuns, but she's not an extremely important character. On the Region 1 DVD, though, she graces the cover.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Pedro Almodóvar's first film to have a proper producer and be made for a proper film company, rather than be made on the hoof like his previous projects. Almodóvar has since distanced himself from the film as he felt that he had to bow to commercial considerations.
    • Goofs
      The "Salí porque salí" song is obviously not sung by Yolanda nor the backing vocalists.
    • Quotes

      Superiora: One of the bases of our community is self-mortification and humiliation. That's why we have such bizarre-sounding names: Sister Manure, Sister Rat, Sister Damned, Sister Snake. Man will not be saved until he realizes he is the most despicable being ever created.

    • Connections
      Referenced in El Coleta & Jarfaiter: El Piko 3 (2014)
    • Soundtracks
      Salí porque salí
      Written by J. Curiel Alonso

      Arranged by Miguel Morales

      Performed by Sol Pilas

      Edited by Música Latina N.Y. (USA)

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    FAQ16

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 3, 1983 (Spain)
    • Country of origin
      • Spain
    • Language
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Entre tinieblas
    • Filming locations
      • Madrid, Spain
    • Production company
      • Tesauro
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 54 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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