ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1975) Review

Directed by: Don Edmonds
Written by: Jonah Royston, John C.W. Saxton
Starring: Dyanne Thorne, Gregory Knoph, Tony Mumolo, Maria Marx, Nicolle Ridell

I’ve been on a bit of an exploitation kick lately. I’m talking everything from blaxploitation to nunsploitation, sexploitation and everything in between. That of course includes one of the more unusual and interesting subgenres; nazisploitation. ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS may not be the first of these (That honor goes to Lee Frost’s LOVE CAMP 7) but it is the one that really kickstarted the genre, and it is easily one of the best (or worst, depending on which way you look at it). There’s a good chance that you have at least heard about the film before (why else would you be reading this review?) and if you have then you’ve probably been told of the sex and/or the violence which comprise the majority of the film.
I’ve been promised countless times by these types of culty, grindhouse flicks that they are shockingly violent and filled with lots of sexy sex. Most of the time I have been disappointed with what I’ve seen. However in the case of ILSA I think I can confidently say that it lives up to its reputation (assuming you’re not watching a cut version). Sure the gore effects are dated, but if they’re enough for my fiancée to leave the room while trying to eat her dinner then I’d say they’re good enough.

Ilsa (Thorne) is the commandant of a Nazi prison camp, but not just any ordinary prison camp no. This is a ‘medical research’ camp where Ilsa and her sexy female officers spend their time performing horrific experiments on the female prisoners. Apart from the pressure testing and heat endurance testing Ilsa is performing her own procedures to try and prove a theory she has; that women can stand more pain than men. And speaking of men, there are male prisoners in the camp as well. They however are used as workers rather than patients, and some also double as Ilsa’s sexual partners. This sounds like a good deal right? I mean screwing the commandant has to come with its privileges, doesn’t it? Well apparently not, in fact it’s quite a risky business because if the men can’t meet her sexual needs Ilsa punishes them by having them castrated. Ouch.

A fresh shipment of prisoners arrives at the camp, including the German-born American Wolf (Knoph) - who intrigues Ilsa right from the start – and a group of women determined to find a way to escape, especially after they see the results of some of the commandant’s experiments. One of these women Anna (Marx) confronts Ilsa with the challenge that she is not afraid of pain. Big mistake. Rule #1 in Medical Camp 9: Don’t piss Ilsa off! She is an iron-fisted, ball-breaking bitch and doesn’t take shit from anybody. Needless to say Anna’s stay in the camp is considerably worse than the other women’s (that’s not to say theirs is a walk in the park either). Soon Ilsa recruits Wolf to be her new lover and after he shocks her by actually pleasing her in bed (he has the incredible talent of being able to hold his jizz load for as long as he wants) she becomes further intrigued. And doesn’t have his balls cut off. Hooray!
Meanwhile the female prisoners concoct a plan to escape.

Although there is some plot built in to it ILSA is all about one thing; shock factor. It meets this criteria by cramming in as much sex and torture as it can manage. Thorne is very well endowed in the breast area and spends much of her screen time either naked, semi-naked or at the very least showing some nice cleavage. Similarly her fellow female officers are seemingly always nude, especially when they’re ‘experimenting’ on prisoners. The nudity might be considered sexy in another context but when it’s accompanied by such horrendous torture it’s just kind of… weird. Essentially what I’m saying is that it’s difficult to hold a boner when people are being raped with electrified dildos and boiled alive.
There are a few exceptions, for example in the opening sequence Ilsa is shown taking a shower (accompanied by some terribly splashy-splashy water sfx) and the camera takes its time, slowly scanning her wet, full melons. The only problem is that you know 5 minutes later somebody is going to be whipped or sliced open or worse.

For those of you who actually care, the acting is bad. But I’m sure if this is the kind of movie you’re into that isn’t going to bother you at all. Dyanne Thorne hams it up as Ilsa, but I honestly can’t see anybody portraying the character as effectively, and if she’s happy to get her tits out then who am I to complain? The rest of the actors are just as bad (or worse) and terrible German accents abound. And the fact that the movie was shot on the exact same set as Hogan’s Heroes? Brilliant. I kept expecting Colonel Klink and Schultz to come wandering into frame.

For exploitation fans and fan of extreme or shocking cinema, ILSA is a must-see. Joe Blasco’s effects may not have the impact they did in the 70s but there is still enough violence here to satisfy most gorehound’s hunger. The movie begins with a sex scene and ends in mass violence, and in between it is more of the same. Although I question some of the experiments’ authenticity (it’s claimed the film is based on real events) and the acting is bad all-round, ILSA is an essential part of the exploitation catalogue and probably the best example of nazisploitation out there.