Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Uriah43 This first movie in a set of five "Nurses" films, starts with four young women living together and working at a local hospital with the expectation of becoming nurses in the near future. Even though "Lynn" (Brioni Farrell) is almost raped by a patient she maintains her compassionate attitude towards those less fortunate and as a result eventually becomes involved with a militant activist which seriously threatens her career. "Sharon" (Elaine Giftos) also has great empathy and this leads her to develop feelings for a terminally ill patient. "Phred" (Karen Carlson) on the other hand is more self-involved and knows exactly what she wants. Unfortunately, she has a strict set of rules which may tend to cause obstacles for her. Last, but not least, is "Priscilla" (Barbara Leigh) who I think is the prettiest of them all but unlike Phred seems much more Bohemian and as a result she finds herself getting mixed up with a drug dealer who cares only about himself. This causes problems, not just for her, but for her three roommates as well. At any rate, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was an interesting "sexploitation film" which manages to portray a period in American history which was both odd and short-lived. Additionally, although it may have been marketed as being a bit risqué when it first came out the fact is that, while there is certainly some nudity, this film is relatively tame by today's standards. Now that's not to say that this film is appropriate for a general television audience by any means. However, those expecting something really explicit or on the cutting edge may be somewhat disappointed. I rate it as about average and recommend it to those who enjoy films related to the counter-culture movement during the 60's or drive-in exploitation films in general. Followed a year later by "Private Duty Nurses".

soyarra-1 Caught this movie on EPIX during a bout of insomnia and chortled my way through it. It's pretty bad, but worth watching if only to see late 1960s Los Angeles, which was fairly horrible: brownish skies and hideous architecture (the whole thing looks as if it was shot in the San Fernando valley, except for the "psychedelic" beach scenes and a couple of "love-ins" in Griffith Park).The acting is uniformly awful, as are the really cheesy, fake "sex scenes." There's no plot at all - just a bunch of "groovy" or "relevant" scenes which basically serve no purpose other than to show how "groovy" or "relevant" the characters are. In fact, the only reason to watch this film is to see the early 1970s clothes, hairstyles, cars, interior design (somewhat cheesy but still cool) and locations. LA has really changed since then.Also, the music is really terrible, especially the imitation Joni Mitchell/Judy Collins who warbles in the background when the girls are "sad" or "thoughtful."

Michael_Elliott The Student Nurses (1970) ** (out of 4) When Roger Corman broke away from AIP he formed New World Pictures and this low-budget film ended up being a huge hit and got the company off to a great start. The film is pretty simple as we're introduced to four nurses in their final year of schooling and we see their personal dramas, a lot of which surrounds sex. THE STUDENT NURSES was the first of what would end up being a five film series and it's pretty funny to see that this film really isn't all that naughty. Today the movie is sold as an exploitation picture but when you take a step back and actually watch the film you'll notice that it's more melodrama than exploitation. The one selling point of the film is that all four nurses are incredibly beautiful and there are several scenes that feature them naked. I'm willing to bet that people flocked to drive-ins because of the nudity and not because of the stories. The stories themselves are all pretty simple. One woman gets knocked up by a deadbeat. Another struggles with her affection for a doctor. Another falls for a patient. None of these stories are all that interesting but there are some pretty weird moments in the film. One such case is a very bizarre abortion sequence, which has to be seen to be believed. There's also a weird musical sequence that I'm not quite sure what to make of. Elaine Giftos, Brioni Farrell, Barbara Leigh and Karen Carlson play the nurses and all of them are extremely cute but also manage to deliver better than expected performances. THE STUDENT NURSES certainly isn't a great film but it's far from being awful. Fans of the 70's drive-in films should get enough entertainment out of this to make it worth viewing at least once.

Anne Heller THE STUDENT NURSES is not a typical sexploitation movie. Sure, the nudity and sexual openness is there, but it's not all for laughs. Stephanie Rothman scripted a socially compelling, well-written tits & ass movie which confronts the topics of racism, socio-economic inequalities, rape, abortion, medical ethics, public health issues, human rights, the Vietnam war, free love, LSD and drug experimentation. Four sexy college roommates are taking their nursing internships at the same time. Sharon (Elaine Giftos) is assigned to the terminal care ward, Lynn (Brioni Farrell) to public health administration, Priscilla (Barbara Leigh) to gynecology and Phred (Karen Carlson) to psychiatry. These four beauties have ample opportunities to disrobe and fornicate, of which they take advantage, much to the delight of male viewers. These are liberated women at the height of the sexual revolution, after all, and are as intelligent as they are horny and beautiful. Visceral yet low-budget action sequences are interspersed throughout. There's a very bloody gunfight at the resistance movement headquarters in which two policemen are shot and killed, along with several members of the group. An anti-(Vietnam) war protest consisting of spookily-dressed young people of all races painted like skeletons becomes violent, with cops beating protesters. The effective trip sequence on the beach consists of beautiful, weird and confusing sensory and memory montages with hyper-sensual overtones. In short, THE STUDENT NURSES is a thoughtful and compelling reflection of the times, expressed through real women's perspectives (since it was written and directed by a woman). But, it's still fun and titillating, despite its sobering treatment of subject matter.