Wanda, the Wicked Warden (1977) Greta - Haus ohne Männer (original title)

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Jesus Franco
Erwin C. Dietrich

Release Date:

February 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

That Infamous "Ilsa" Woman Is Back

Plot:

Ilsa, now a vicious warden, runs a mental-hospital for young women. A girl deliberately "checks" in...

Plot Keywords:

Warden | Sex | Brunette | Psychotronic | Sexual Obsession

Cast

Dyanne Thorne	...	Greta
Tania Busselier	...	Abbie Phillips
Eric Falk
Lina Romay	...	Juana
Esther Studer
Esther Moser
Peggy Markoff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sandra L. Brennan
Alex Exler
Jesus Franco	...	Dr. Milton Arcos (as Jess Franco)
Howard Maurer
Angela Ritschard

Directed by
Jesus Franco

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Erwin C. Dietrich		(as Manfred Gregor)
Jesus Franco		(as Jess Franco)

Produced by
Erwin C. Dietrich	....	producer

Original Music by
Walter Baumgartner

Cinematography by
Ruedi Küttel

Production Companies

• Elite Film

Distributors

• Bernie Jacon (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2003) (Switzerland) (DVD) (as VIP Entertainment)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (UK) (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Cinépix Film Properties (CFP) (19??) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• CIC Video (19??) (Canada) (VHS)
• Tokuma Communications Company (TCC) (19??) (Japan) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Greta - Haus ohne Männer" - USA (original title)
"Greta the Torturer" - Europe (English title) (informal alternative title)
"Greta, the Mad Butcher" - Europe (English title) (informal title)
"Greta, the Sadist" - Europe (English title) (informal alternative title)
"Ilsa, the Wicked Warden" - International (English title) (DVD title)
"Ilsa: Absolute Power" - International (English title) (new title)

Runtime:

Argentina:95 min | Germany:86 min | USA:90 min | UK:87 min

Country:

USA | Switzerland | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 (2007) | Argentina:18 | West Germany:18 | USA:X (self applied) | Australia:(Banned) | UK:18

Company:

Elite Film

Trivia:

Uses same sets as Barbed Wire Dolls (1976).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

Ilsa as Wicked as Ever

ILSA--THE WICKED WARDEN (aka any one of the dozen other titles it goes under) is not the most disturbing, brutal or violent of the infamous series, but it is by far the sleaziest.

Dependably twisted schlockmeister Jess Franco dishes up enough nastiness, violence, sex, nudity and sleaze for a dozen average exploitation pictures. A female journalist infiltrates a women's prison to expose the corruption within. Once inside (posing as a prisoner), she is exposed to the grim, vile world that is a women's prison.

Ilsa (Greta? Wanda?), played by Diane Thorne, is the vicious warden, who puts her prisoners through all sorts of physical and psychological abuse, although the prisoners manage some pretty outrageous behavior on their own. There's a nice, long, voyeuristic catfight in the showers, as well as an unspeakably tacky scene in which self-appointed lead prisoner Lina Romay forces the reporter to lick her ass clean after a bout of diarrhea. That pretty much sets the standard for taste in this movie.

Franco shows an odd Tinto Brass-like fetish for female buttocks in this movie, as every prisoner's standard uniform is knee high boots and a prison shirt--no pants or underwear--thus giving the viewer plenty of glimpses of bare bottoms.

Overall, THE WICKED WARDEN is about as sick and twisted a movie as the average viewer is ever likely to find. There are nastier movies out there, even nastier women in prison movies, but this will more than acquaint you with the subgenre.