This is another in the growing list of movies that are deemed shocking, disturbing and controversial that I find are a lot more tame than they are said to be.
For me it started with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". After reading how people had reacted to it back in 1974, I had to see it. Well, it was pretty horrible in my opinion. Not shocking or gory, just silly and maybe a little creepy.
The "Ilsa" series fits into this category. I had read that the series was shocking, and had to check out what all the fuss was.I watched the Ilsa trilogy last night, and while I can see some of the hype about these films was true, yet again I found myself looking for more.
"Ilsa She Wolf of the SS" features Dyanne Thorne as Ilsa, the warden st Medical Camp # 9. The camp is used to conduct "medical research" that is to aid the SS during WW2. Women prisoners are injected with viruses, tortured with electroshock and whipped to test their tolerance for pain. Ilsa also conducts private research, more or less for pleasure purposes.
Some of the violence is a little graphic. We see a fair bit of blood, and in one instance, they are performing surgery on a prisoner's vagina. Maggots are injected with a virus and allowed to eat away at a prisoner's flesh. One of the female prisoners is left a bloody mess after 3 days of torture. In others it is left to your imagination, such as the castration of a male prisoner and the use of an electrified dildo on the female inmates. During a dinner scene, another female prisoner is hanging from a noose and bound at the hands and feet with only a block of ice supporting her.
As for nudity, there is also plenty of that. The prisoners are routinely shown without clothes, and the lovely Miss Thorne also has a fair share of topless shots.
Having said all that, I still felt that it was not quite as shocking as I had anticipated. Not that it is ever pleasant to see people being tortured and raped. With the reputation this film had I guess I expected it to be much worse.
It's a sad statement on today's society when one reacts so calmly to such a movie. To me, I think some of the shock value may have come from the setting and the storyline. A Nazi prison camp, set during WW2. That certainly does bring up all sorts of disturbing and horrifying images.
All in all, while a little less shocking than I was planning for, this was a pretty good film. Anchor Bay did a wonderful job restoring the movie, and put together a nice package along with "Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks" and "The Wicked Warden".
Also check out the audio commentary with Thorne, director Don Edmunds and producer David Freidman. Despite the flack that this movie has received, none of the principal people involved seem to have any regrets. (Despite this, Freidman, along with a lot of the other actors used pseudonyms. Freidman claimed it was as a result of a dispute with the Canadian financiers. Thorne is on record as saying the she has indeed suffered a little career-wise after using her real name on the Ilsa films).
Rating: 8 out of 10
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