Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS

Rating:
Summary: Insensate and depraved
Review: "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is perhaps one of the better known exploitation films made in the last thirty years. The picture, directed by Don Edmonds and starring Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, is also one of the most disturbing. Oddly enough, I found this movie even more sickening the second time around. The first time I watched Ilsa do her stuff was on an old VHS tape about five years ago, and I didn't think the film was as horrific as many viewers made it out to be. Usually, the disgust factor works the other way around: the first viewing is the worst with the shock value wearing away on subsequent viewings. I should probably question the value of even watching "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" more than once, but I wanted to see what the picture looked like with a snappy new transfer to DVD. Moreover, I wanted to listen to the commentary track with Edmonds, Thorne, and producer David Friedman of "Blood Feast" fame (billed here as Herman Traeger). I wasn't disappointed; the picture quality of "Ilsa" is stunning for such a low budget piece of trash. The commentary track too makes this disc a must have for lovers of schlock cinema. Just don't pop this one in the DVD player when the relatives show up or as a substitute for taking your gal out on the town.

Set in the waning days of the Second World War, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" takes place in a special medical camp where the brutal camp commander Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) and her busty minions wreak havoc on a bevy of female prisoners. There are a few guys around too, mostly to act as boy toys for Ilsa's ravenous appetites. Ilsa's supposed to be conducting experiments on helpless prisoners that will benefit the German military effort, but she's got quite the disturbing side project going on as well. According to the She-Wolf, women possess certain biological characteristics that make them more resistant to pain then men. You can almost guess what happens next. Ilsa sets aside a hidden little laboratory in the basement of her office to test out her personal theories while the approved experiments take place in another building. Both sets of trials are excruciating to watch. The Germans test the effects of high pressure, boiling temperatures, and diseases on the female inmates of the prison. Down in the basement, Ilsa and her two blonde goons strip down to the waist in order to administer severe beatings to selected troublemakers. There's a lot more I could detail, but believe it or not these are the least offensive scenes in the movie. "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is sick, sick stuff.

A sort of hope fills the prisoners' hearts when Wolfe (George Knoph) enters the camp. The new inmate has a "special ability" that allows him to find a way into the frosty heart of the buxom camp commander. Behind the scenes, the prisoners plot to escape from the prison any way they can. It won't be easy, not when one faces Ilsa, her she-wolfettes, her male assistant, a pack of sadistic guards, and machine gun towers. In the meantime, the degradations continue unabated. Ilsa whips up a few special treats for a visiting general (Wolfgang Roehm) that truly turn the stomach as Wolfe, Mario (Tony Mumolo), and Kala (Nicolle Riddell) carefully map out there plan. Will the prisoners escape? Will Ilsa and her handmaidens receive their just desserts? Will the Allies arrive at the camp before everyone perishes at the hands of the Germans? Will tough chick Anna (Maria Marx) withstand Ilsa's experiments and thus prove the commander's theory? Will you be able to keep your lunch down during the hour and a half it takes to watch the movie? These questions, and many others, will find resolution by the time the final credits roll.

What won't find resolution is your utter disgust with the film. A gallon of mouthwash won't remove the bad taste this movie leaves behind in your mouth. I found myself inadvertently comparing Edmond's picture with "Schindler's List," another film dealing with German atrocities during the Second World War. Truth be told, "List" is much more harrowing in its depictions of the concentration camps and the horrible living conditions of those people enslaved by the Germans. What sets "Ilsa" apart, what makes it even worse than "Schindler's List," is that it's all done for cheap, value neutral kicks. Why else play up endless scenes of nudity in a movie about war crimes? Despite Thorne's amazingly campy performance, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is a ghastly film that should repulse more than it exhilarates. Even more disturbing is the admission on the commentary track that the movie sets come from the television show "Hogan's Heroes." You won't see LeBeau, Carter, Sergeant Schultz, or Colonel Klink in this movie! If you find anything remotely exhilarating about this picture, you've been falling behind on your electroshock therapy treatments again.

Dyanne Thorne does pull off her role with ease, coming across as a heartless, cold monster without an ounce of remorse in her bones. It's quite the contrast to listen to the commentary track and realize the actress seems like an intelligent, sunny personality with a good sense of humor. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your view), the commentary track, a trailer, and a few biographies are the only extras on the disc. If you feel up to it, after you watch Ilsa ham it up as a German camp commander, you can watch her in three other films reprising the character-with slight modifications-in the Middle East and in Siberia. These are classic movies, for sure, but they're upsetting ones as well.

Rating:
Summary: Insensate and depraved
Review: "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is perhaps one of the better known exploitation films made in the last thirty years. The picture, directed by Don Edmonds and starring Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, is also one of the most disturbing. Oddly enough, I found this movie even more sickening the second time around. The first time I watched Ilsa do her stuff was on an old VHS tape about five years ago, and I didn't think the film was as horrific as many viewers made it out to be. Usually, the disgust factor works the other way around: the first viewing is the worst with the shock value wearing away on subsequent viewings. I should probably question the value of even watching "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" more than once, but I wanted to see what the picture looked like with a snappy new transfer to DVD. Moreover, I wanted to listen to the commentary track with Edmonds, Thorne, and producer David Friedman of "Blood Feast" fame (billed here as Herman Traeger). I wasn't disappointed; the picture quality of "Ilsa" is stunning for such a low budget piece of trash. The commentary track too makes this disc a must have for lovers of schlock cinema. Just don't pop this one in the DVD player when the relatives show up or as a substitute for taking your gal out on the town.

Set in the waning days of the Second World War, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" takes place in a special medical camp where the brutal camp commander Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) and her busty minions wreak havoc on a bevy of female prisoners. There are a few guys around too, mostly to act as boy toys for Ilsa's ravenous appetites. Ilsa's supposed to be conducting experiments on helpless prisoners that will benefit the German military effort, but she's got quite the disturbing side project going on as well. According to the She-Wolf, women possess certain biological characteristics that make them more resistant to pain then men. You can almost guess what happens next. Ilsa sets aside a hidden little laboratory in the basement of her office to test out her personal theories while the approved experiments take place in another building. Both sets of trials are excruciating to watch. The Germans test the effects of high pressure, boiling temperatures, and diseases on the female inmates of the prison. Down in the basement, Ilsa and her two blonde goons strip down to the waist in order to administer severe beatings to selected troublemakers. There's a lot more I could detail, but believe it or not these are the least offensive scenes in the movie. "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is sick, sick stuff.

A sort of hope fills the prisoners' hearts when Wolfe (George Knoph) enters the camp. The new inmate has a "special ability" that allows him to find a way into the frosty heart of the buxom camp commander. Behind the scenes, the prisoners plot to escape from the prison any way they can. It won't be easy, not when one faces Ilsa, her she-wolfettes, her male assistant, a pack of sadistic guards, and machine gun towers. In the meantime, the degradations continue unabated. Ilsa whips up a few special treats for a visiting general (Wolfgang Roehm) that truly turn the stomach as Wolfe, Mario (Tony Mumolo), and Kala (Nicolle Riddell) carefully map out there plan. Will the prisoners escape? Will Ilsa and her handmaidens receive their just desserts? Will the Allies arrive at the camp before everyone perishes at the hands of the Germans? Will tough chick Anna (Maria Marx) withstand Ilsa's experiments and thus prove the commander's theory? Will you be able to keep your lunch down during the hour and a half it takes to watch the movie? These questions, and many others, will find resolution by the time the final credits roll.

What won't find resolution is your utter disgust with the film. A gallon of mouthwash won't remove the bad taste this movie leaves behind in your mouth. I found myself inadvertently comparing Edmond's picture with "Schindler's List," another film dealing with German atrocities during the Second World War. Truth be told, "List" is much more harrowing in its depictions of the concentration camps and the horrible living conditions of those people enslaved by the Germans. What sets "Ilsa" apart, what makes it even worse than "Schindler's List," is that it's all done for cheap, value neutral kicks. Why else play up endless scenes of nudity in a movie about war crimes? Despite Thorne's amazingly campy performance, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is a ghastly film that should repulse more than it exhilarates. Even more disturbing is the admission on the commentary track that the movie sets come from the television show "Hogan's Heroes." You won't see LeBeau, Carter, Sergeant Schultz, or Colonel Klink in this movie! If you find anything remotely exhilarating about this picture, you've been falling behind on your electroshock therapy treatments again.

Dyanne Thorne does pull off her role with ease, coming across as a heartless, cold monster without an ounce of remorse in her bones. It's quite the contrast to listen to the commentary track and realize the actress seems like an intelligent, sunny personality with a good sense of humor. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your view), the commentary track, a trailer, and a few biographies are the only extras on the disc. If you feel up to it, after you watch Ilsa ham it up as a German camp commander, you can watch her in three other films reprising the character-with slight modifications-in the Middle East and in Siberia. These are classic movies, for sure, but they're upsetting ones as well.

Rating:
Summary: BANNED IN BRITAIN
Review: ...that says it all really. But, this film is really very sick and largely pointless. I know its grand exploitation and all that, but in terms of sexual content we've come to expect worse and the violence is dated and poorly orchestrated. This film practically ruined everyone associated with it and it's not hard to see why. It's all a bit too hokey to be frightening or realistic and beyond the lack of plot its really very boring.

I'd still recommend it to those outside UK just so you can laugh at our hypocritical film censors! After all, the UK is a place where for 25 years the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remained banned because the head of the BBFC claimed that whilst it was Ok for middle class intellectuals to view these sorts of films, imagine the effect they might have on your average car worker in the Midlands!!!

Why mention that here?...well, both films were released in 1974 are larglely exploitative, violent but overall darkly comical whilst masquerading as "true stories". This is why this film is banned in so many countries....it is not politically correct to make jokes about Nazi atrocities or to manipulate an uninitiated audience with this subject...watch it once, stick it on your shelf and never admit to anyone you've seen it!

Rating:
Summary: simply amazing
Review: a great film, a few too many sex scenes, i wish there were more detailed torture scenes, but great anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Heil Ilsa!!!!!
Review: Ah, now here's a movie. Ilsa, She-Wolf of th SS. A crazy, exploitiong, horror and blood filled movie depicting a Nazi Concentration Camp and it's Commandant, Ilsa.

The camp has it's share of inmates both male and female. The men have two functions, manual labor and sexually gratifying Ilsa. Of course if you fail to satisfy Ilsa, you will never again be with another woman as she and her two hot blond nurses turn you into a 'half-man' with a snip of the steel. Women serve another purpose, medical experiments. Ilsa is a doctor of sorts trying to prove to the Third Reich Command that women are superior to men. They can withstand more pain which makes them more saveage killers.

Among the prisoners are two freaks, one male, one female. The male is an American (of all things) who was studying in Germany's University when the war began. He can control his body until Ilsa (and all her nurses) are satisfied. Because of this his manhood is spared and he becomes a nightly visitor to Ilsa's private quarters.

The woman can withstand any pain the Nazi's can dream up. And they can come up with some very perverted, painful, and unusual techniques, most of them involving private and sensitive areas.

Yes you can plainly see that this was filmed on the location of Hogan's Heros. Also look for the lesbian guard who likes to hang out with the soldiers and guards. She is popular among the guards by providing female prisoners. Then there is the fat male doctor who seems to have TB or something.

Well as always, the prisoners revolt and a decent gunfight ensues. It escalates until the regular German army comes in and blows the place to hell. All the Nazi's are killed, and poor Ilsa ends up tied naked to a bed and has her head blown off by a Nazi officer. That is so that the coming Americans will never know what happened.

Good points:

Ilsa is HOT, this chick has a killer bod and huge boobs. She even turns on her commanding officer who orders her to pee on him.

Ilsa's nurses are both blond and beautiful. Watch them whip two prisoners while they are topless. They beat their prisoners until they can't lift their arms.

The female prisoners are a hit or miss. Some are hot, some are cute, some are butt ugly.

Bad Points:

Watched this movie twenty times. Never found one.

Rating:
Summary: save your money
Review: Althougth the transfer of this movie is really quite good, I cannot say the same for the content. It is not as gross or sick as some of the reviews make it out to be. The acting is awful and you will be bored after about half hour in. I purchased this movie based on the strength of some of these reviews listed here.
If you are looking for a truly good movie with better special effects and decent acting try Re-animator.

Rating:
Summary: GUILTINESS IS A WARM GUN
Review: Another of these cult movies generously presented by Anchor Bay, ILSA - SHE WOLF OF THE SS is now waiting for a second chance to pass to the posterity thanks to the DVD standard. The superb copy offered here should tempt the aficionados of the sadistic blonde doctor if not the WWII historians.

I hadn't seen this movie before but I expected the worst. Now, I'm reassured. If you just consider ILSA - SHE WOLF OF THE SS as another horror movie, your movie lover guilty conscience will leave you in peace. So enjoy the most sadistic scenes I've ever seen on screen ( I honestly admit that I'm not peculiarly fond of horror movies, so I'm sure there exist worst examples somewhere on films ) and the performance of Dyanna Thorne in the title role.

But watching this film is like watching, for instance, a movie about the love affairs of a religious figure or a comedy involving real terrorists. You don't feel well about it. And the initial producer's word, even if it's no more than a commercial trick, specifying that the events showed in ILSA have really happened don't improve at all your Zen level. But time will pass I suppose and, in a few years, we all will be able ILSA - SHE WOLF OF THE SS in the mood we are now when we watch PEARL HARBOR. We know that the movie depicts real events but we don't care. It's only cinema after all.

A DVD zone beware.

Rating:
Summary: Now this is shocking!
Review: Another one banned in the UK and this time you can see why!This is pretty strong stuff now even though its pretty old now.Allthough the effects are dated now the theme of this movie alone is surely contreversial enough.A film about nazi atrocities in WW2 is questionable enough, allthough this is fiction based looseley on fact obviosly.The picture and sound are really good for a film this old , and the ghastly deeds going on can be seen and heard very well,though sadly the extra features are fairly brief bar the commentary,still perhaps for the best how much of this can you take!Countless topless females are tortured in many different ways many many times,but the fake blood and ridicously hammy(but funny still) performances from all the lead bad guys lighten the mood a bit.Lots of great nudity but we could of done with a few naked females ... to make a change from all the boobs on show, and it was a shame you did not get to see Ilsa's sidekick chicks properley in the nude as well.Please do not buy this however if you are easily shocked and offended because this will.This is one I hope my girlfriend or her mum or someone like that won't be putting this into the machine.When I get some more money i'll defintley be finshing the Ilsa tilogy.Great(but rather sick)fun.Remember please though everyone IT IS ONLY A FILM.

Rating:
Summary: Worst of the worst . . . ..
Review: Anyone that gives this mess more than one star is sick in the head and needs medical attention. This is pure crap that should have never been made in the first place. Sick, sick, sick.

Rating:
Summary: quite the curiosity...
Review: Don Edmonds' ILSA - SHE WOLF OF THE SS is quite the curiosity. Imagine SALO directed by one of Roger Corman's less talented, like Steve Carver who did BIG BAD MAMA. SALO could always be summed up by Burroughs' koan "Wouldn't you?" and frankly SHE WOLF works in much the same way - beyond BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, there's an eroticized charge from the sex scenes that overrides and even permeates the really offensive gore. Of course, Pasolini uses this in an instructional manner, while SHE WOLF hasn't an intelligent thought in its head. Shot on old sets of "Hogan's Heroes", it's the idiot dark side of that show.

At least part of this is due to the Herschel Gordon Lewis goofiness of the blood baths, which are more like skits from "Saturday Night Live" than a Tobe Hooper picture. In short, you can't get very upset about it.

And let us now praise Dyanne Thorne. A kind of Sybil Danning crossed with Carol Doda, with echoes of Elke Sommer and May Britt... She actually studied with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.