Too much of everything

Pretty Good

i must have seen a different film!!

As Good As It Gets

The commonly made observation that a particular old film today looks tame by modern standards always depresses me, representing as it does a reflection on how debased modern tastes have become: and becoming more debased by the minute. For that reason it comes as something of a relief that 'Ilsa' still looks pretty revolting today, even if it doesn't begin to compare with the sheer relentless nastiness of nihilistic shockers like Kōji Wakamatsu's 'Violated Angels' (1967) and Pier Paolo Pasolini's 'Salo' (1975), and is partially rescued by the childish sense of glee that makes the films of the late Herschell Gordon Lewis bearable.Two distinguished Polish feature films have depicted the experience of women held in Nazi concentration camps, Wanda Jakubowska's 'The Last Stage' (1948) and 'Andrzej Munk's 'Passenger' (1963). Over the years there has been occasional trash with pretensions set against the backdrop of The Holocaust, such as Roger Vadim's soporific 'Le Vice et la Vertu' (1963) and Liliana Cavani's sleazy 'The Night Porter' (1974). And then there is simple trash like 'Ilsa She Wolf of the SS'.Less cheesy looking than I had anticipated, with professional-looking photography, generally good acting and unpleasantly convincing special effects by Joe Blaso, the film is shot on the sets left over from the production of the TV series 'Hogan's Heroes'. 'Camp Nine' only seems to be holding about a dozen prisoners, and George 'Buck' Flower as Dr.Binz could easily have wandered in from an episode of the original series.The character of Ilsa herself is loosely based upon the genuine antics of Ilse Koch (1906-1967), the wife of the commandant of Buchenwald best remembered for her taste in lampshades. She makes love to male inmates like a praying mantis until the unprecedented staying power of - guess what! - an American, sends her to hitherto undreamt of heights of ecstasy and exposes her Achilles heel. Ilsa has a theory that women are capable of enduring more pain than men; a theory that if proved will result in better use of the so far underused resource of German womanhood on behalf of the war effort. Nobody who has read the relevant section in William Shirer's 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' will, alas, be surprised at anything they come across in this film (such as the decompression chamber, immersion in water and deliberate infection of prisoners in order to test medical treatments). The sequence when Ilsa is alone with The General (as she refers to him throughout) also indicates that someone involved in the film was aware of the gossip concerning the Führer's own personal sexual predilections.Set in the very last days the Third Reich in 1945, it goes without saying that no serious attempt has been made to get the period right, but even so Ilse's rather ugly seventies hairstyle is distractingly anachronistic, especially worn loose as it is when she's in uniform (all her other female staff have their hair more plausibly tied back in buns) and if she'd just let it down occasionally during her more - er - unrestrained moments the contrast could have had more visual impact. The late Anne Ridler looked more authentic to the period - and was far hotter - in her brief role as an SS torturer in '633 Squadron' (1964).Many will find simply discussing such a disreputable trivialisation of Nazi atrocities so nonchalantly grossly offensive. But as an earlier user has pointed out, Nazi-porn pulp novels known as 'Stalags' were popular in 60s Israel; and this movie's portrayal of the Nazis as sadistic perverts would probably offend most Holocaust deniers too. (Although an American-German production, the film was of course banned in Germany.)

Supposed to be a comedy about the torture in the real Nazi camps this turned out to become a rather gory flick for the time it was made. It was based on real characters from the Nazi regime but once they started shooting they realized that a flick having extreme torture can't be funny especially when it all happened for real (it was based on Ilse Koch who made lampshades from human skin). Once the effects came on and a first rough cut was shown people ran out of the theatre. Before they knew it a new genre was born, sexploitation.If you watch it nowadays it's rather cheesy sometimes but do realize made in 1975 it came out before the nasty slashers and almost 10 years before the Video Nasty era. People were indeed shocked by watching it. The effects were done by Joe Blasco and he just came out of the effects for The Addams Family series. I must say that some effects (those on faces) didn't stand the time but if you are not into horror and surely not into exploitation then some scene's still can be shocking. It's also Dyanne Thorne as Ilsa that takes this flick to another level. She gives a good performance . It's funny to see almost all girls full frontal but Dyanne never did, she only revealed her juggs. Nowadays she has a private wedding chapel in Las Vegas. Ilsa still stands up against a lot of Italian rip-offs who were mostly based on the sex in stead of the horror. Still, back then for a few years the Nazi exploitation was the next big thing but it ruined itself due the sex taking over the gore or effects. Even Ilsa spawned 2 other flicks and one that was made by Jess Franco and normally is called Greta Haus Ohne Manner (1977) but having Dyanne in it it soon was renamed Ilsa The Wicked Warden.Don't watch it for the acting and surely not for the outbreak which do look funny but for the idea of the makers and for the horror of the story itself.Gore 2/5 Nudity 4/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

This is really sick , but what's most offencive is the statement at the beginning stating that this film is based on factual events and that the tortures depicted have been done so in the hope that these heinous acts never occur again. Absolute Balderdash! THis is really the lowest form of exploitation imaginable, the type that degrades both men( the presumed audience for this misogynistic crap) and women. It's even served up as Feminist diatribe, as Ilsa tries to prove that women can withstand pain better than men can. What makes this film almost intolerable is it's mean spiritedness. Salo was every bit as mean spirited but it didn't try to pawn itself off as based on fact, even though it's probably closer to realism than this is. Shameful!

... for all (s)exploitation flicks to follow. I can only assume that "Werewolf Women of the SS" - the phony trailer included between films in the Grindhouse double bill - was an homage to this gem. It will be a regret until I pass on that I was not of age to be involved in the making of this one - even a a gopher. To be onset and to hear the direction that must have been given to the actors. Whew! "Now - I need you to scream - really let go and let us hear a guttural scream - like you've felt her just put that flaming pellet in your...." Ha! I am thankful I have, as well as the other films in the "Ilsa" series on DVD - and While Tigress holds a special place in my heart because it was filmed, at least partly, in Canada - This one is my overall favourite. However, unless your date has a great sense of humour and an appreciation of the finer Nazi-Women's Prison Exploitation genre, I suggest you keep this one as a non-date movie.