Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976)

Director:

Don Edmonds

Writer:

Langston Stafford (screenplay)

Release Date:

March 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror

Tagline:

Ilsa's back! ...More fierce than ever! With brutal fury she enslaved an empire and shocked the world!

Plot:

Finding a new employer, and looking not a day older since the end of World War II, Ilsa works for an...

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Sex Slave | Sheik | Arab | Grindhouse

Cast

Dyanne Thorne	...	Ilsa
Max Thayer	...	Cmdr. Adam Scott (as Michael Thayer)
Jerry Delony	...	El Sharif (as Victor Alexander)
Uschi Digard	...	Inga Lindström (as Elke Von)
Colleen Brennan	...	Nora Edward (as Sharon Kelly)
Haji	...	Alina Cordova (as Haji Cat)
Tanya Boyd	...	Satin
Marilyn Joi	...	Velvet (as Marilyn Joy)
Su Ling	...	Katsina
Richard Kennedy	...	Dr. Kaiser (as Wolfgang Roehm)
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Beggar (as C.D. Lafleur)
Dea Martensen
Ivan Roars
Speed Stearns	...	Satin and Velvet's Opponent (as S. Stearns)
Bobby Woods	...	Prince Salim
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Edmonds	...	Swordsman in Black / Sniper (uncredited)
John F. Goff	...	Sheik Kalam (uncredited)
Douglas Gudbye	...	Amputee (uncredited)
Skip E. Lowe	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Joyce Mandel	...	Harem Girl (uncredited)
Howard Maurer	...	Sheik Ahmed (uncredited)
Ray Myles	...	Sheik Mahmoud (uncredited)

Directed by
Don Edmonds

Writing credits
Langston Stafford		(screenplay)

Produced by
Don Edmonds	....	producer (as William J. Brady)

Cinematography by
Dean Cundey
Glenn Roland

Film Editing by
Idi Yanamar

Art Direction by
J. Michael Riva		(as Mike Riva)
Michel Levesque		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Joe Blasco	....	special makeup effects artist
David Dittmar	....	makeup effects assistant
Valerie Touhey	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jefferson Richard	....	production supervisor (as Jef Richard)

Art Department
Erik L. Nelson	....	properties (as Erik Nelson)

Sound Department
Al Ramirez	....	sound mixer
Michael Sabo	....	boom operator (as Mike Sabo)

Stunts
James Winburn	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob McVay	....	key grip (as Robert McVay)
Raymond Stella	....	assistant camera (as Ray Stella)
Mike Strong	....	gaffer
Dean Zanetos	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Frances Dennis	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
David Block	....	colorist (uncredited)

Other crew
Don Behrns	....	production assistant
Lynne Twentyman	....	script supervisor (as Lynn Ward)

Production Companies

• Mount Everest Enterprises Ltd.

Distributors

• Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) (1976) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Cambist Films (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Manga Films (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Primetime (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Effegierre (1977) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Cheezy Flicks Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinema International Canada (CIC) (????) (Canada) (VHS)
• Maxam (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2004) (Finland) (DVD) (3-disc Ilsa Collection)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2006) (Finland) (DVD) (1-disc edition)
• Tokuma Communications Company (TCC) (????) (Japan) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

Australia:87 min | Canada:85 min | USA:85 min | USA:93 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Denmark:16 | USA:R | Spain:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted | Finland:K-18 (2001) | Norway:18 (2007) | West Germany:18 | Sweden:18 (video rating)

Company:

Mount Everest Enterprises Ltd.

Trivia:

The producers kept this film tamer than the first one so they could secure an "R" rating and bring in a larger audience.

Goofs:

Continuity: Theoretically, this film could not have been made, as the main character Ilsa dies at the end of the first film Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975). But (according to the DVD commentary) the producers thought that nobody would remember so the film was made anyway.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Celluloid Bloodbath: More Prevues from Hell (2012)

Ilsa returns for more sleazy fun

As everyone no doubt knows, this is the follow up to the notorious movie Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS. That flick was a real controversial one, seeing as it was mixing a Nazi concentration camp premise with an extremely exploitative story-line. Despite all of this, it was essentially a very exaggerated movie and really quite hard to take very seriously. In Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks Dyanne Thorne returns as the super-bitch Ilsa. In this one she runs a harem for a sleazy sheik. Or more specifically, she is tasked with turning captured women into his sexual slaves. Of course, this involves much elaborate torture and copious amounts of nudity.

If anything, this one is more 'upmarket' than the first film. It has a bigger budget and some decent locations. It's also less controversial subject-wise, although it's still clearly an exploitation movie. The film revolves around sleaze and torture. We have charming things like flesh-eating ants and exploding vaginas after all. So, fear not, this one is still in the same general ball-park as the first. Unfortunately, the sexy Miss Thorne just doesn't get naked enough though, which is somewhat unfortunate and to this movie's detriment. However, we do have a couple of topless female kung-fu experts called Satin and Velvet who rip a poor fool's balls off. And two of the captured slave-girls are played by Russ Meyer regulars Uschi Digard (Supervixens) and Haji (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!). Both of whom are always a welcome presence in any movie.

Despite all of the atrocities, the Ilsa series is basically cartoonish. You cannot take these movies seriously, nor were you intended to. This one, like the others is another combination of gory violence, sleazy erotica and deranged silliness. For my money this one is neither as good as the original, nor Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia. But it's still an entertaining trash-fest.