Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974)
Starring: Dyanne Thorne, Gregory Knoph, Sandi Richman, Jo Jo Deville, Uschi Digard
Director: Don Edmonds
Synopsis: Revolting, Stomach churning piece of classic Trash Exploitation....Fabulous!
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

An unparalleled masterpiece of degradation, this stands out as a trashsploitation classic of huge proportions. The film features one of the screens most memorable characters in the crazed Nazi goddess of sadism and brutality, Ilsa.

She runs the highly efficient Camp 9 for "Medical Research" where she and her team of battle-hardened dykes subject the hapless inmates to the most shockingly horrendous tortures….among them, injecting young women with lethal strains of syphilis and typhus of the most nightmarish kind. We have delectable scenes of open sores and wounds being left to fester with wriggling maggots, we are treated to women being electrocuted and ripped apart by electrocuting dildo's….and exploding diaphram's…..fingernails being extracted, all depicted in loving close ups with several lingering shots of gaping wounds spouting jets of blood here there and everywhere.

Ilsa's undoing comes through her insatiable libidinous desires which leave her vulnerable and open to attack. She uses the services of a remarkable American stud who has the ability to perform endlessly without break - just the tonic Ilsa needs.. Pining for more and leaving her guard down long enough alas to allow her toy boy to turn the tables in a cruel twist of fate.

Ilsa's dedicated and tireless efforts at Camp 9 are largely to support the Fraulein's theory that the female is capable of withstanding pain to a far greater degree than the male. The film is filled with blood and gore and enormous amounts of nudity which is a prerequisite for an exploitationer of this ilk. It succeeds in appalling and shocking in equal doses but the script and the marvelous performances should have you guffawing in approval as well as reeling in revulsion at numerous points in the film.

It's a classic, trashy, super-cult farce all the way to be relished and enjoyed by all with a taste for the sick. Camp classics don't come too much sicker than even if they are produced by John Waters. Its at least as funny as it is revolting and then there is the phenomenal performance of the wonderful Dyanne Thorne who performs miracles by not cracking up at least once during the course of events. Ms. Thorne's performances ranks among the finest of campy cult, she sinks her teeth into this role with true relish and that Germanic accent is also one to behold.

A delectable king size slice of exploitative trash to be enjoyed by dedicated fans of Cult and Exploitation to the absolute hilt. Meanwhile, we look forward to watching the other Ilsa films in quick succession having found this one such a "treat".