Customer Reviews

Ilsa Collection (She Wolf of the SS/Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks/The Wicked Warden)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dyanne Thorne's Ilsa is somewhat of a classic and beloved exploitation character and AnchorBay has put together a solid and extremely good value DVD collection of Ilsa films.

The Nazi exploitation or Naziploitation film genre can be traced back to the early film "The Night Porter" and in typical 70's European film fashion was pushed to limits with films like "Love Camp 7", "Gestapo's Last Orgy", "Beast in Heat" and the epic "Salon Kitty" and various Ilsa clone films like "Desert Foxes" and "Elsa-Fraulien of the SS". These charming films surely offended some people and many of them were banned in some countries.

"Ilsa-She Wolf of the SS" proved that American film makers could come up with an equally political incorrect product. Interestingly "She Wolf" was shot on the set used for tv show "Hogan's Heroes" after the show was cancelled and instead of Col Klink, we have Ilsa as camp commandant. The story is basic: women prisoners are brought in (and stripped for inspection), Ilsa performs experients on them (while they are mostly naked) with her two assistants (hot women who also get naked) later Ilsa helps herself to the male prisoners who are castrated afterwards. Hilariously campy German accents, corny lines (particularly by the male prisoner hero), slightly gorey scenes and of course gratuidous nudity ensure.

"She Wolf" became a classic and three sequels followed, despite the fact Ilsa dies. The second disc is "Ilsa-Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks". Replace the two arian assistants from "She Wolf" with sexy black sisters and the women prisoners with new captives for the Harem and theres not much difference between "She Wolf" and "Harem". Even Sharon Kelly who played a prisoner in the first film returns as a harem recruit, she's the cute woman with red hair and not just on her head ;)

"Ilsa-the Wicked Warden" is the odd film out as it is actually Jess Franco's knock off which was originally called "Greta, the Mad Butcher" and in this one Dyanne Thorne plays the warden of a south American girl's prison?! Of course Franco's wife Lina Romay is featured and it has all the classic women in prison type happenings, shower scenes, torture ect.

The quality of this set is amazing, it is AnchorBay of course, with the superior Audio/Visual quality we've come to expect from the company and even DVD commentaries featuring Dyanne Thorne herself (she is surprisingly witty and charming). The only fault one could possibly fiind with the set is the fact that it doesn't contain "Ilsa-Tigeress of Siberia". Why is that commrade?

Overall a great purchase, Thank You AnchorBay!!!

Let me start by saying that Duke's review is totally accurate, and I really have nothing helpful to add to what he said. This review is written from the point of view of someone who had never seen one of the Ilsa movies before I bought the set, so people who are new to these sleazefests may be able to relate.

From what I've heard and read, these movies are textbook examples of 70's grindhouse cinema the likes of which would play in the crime-infested movie houses of NYC's 42nd Street. Watching these films, you can almost feel yourself in the front row of the theatre smelling the marijuana smoke, hoping you don't get mugged, and wondering what exactly those weird sounds are emanating from the rows behind you. In other words, these movies are gutter sleaze that go directly for the shocks and titillation.

Ilsa is played by Dyanne Thorne. For anyone unfamiliar with this actress (as I was), let me just say I was mighty impressed with her talents, both talents to be exact. This was before breast implants were the norm, which adds on extra points for her being a "natural."

The first in the series, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS is the best of the three. Talk about sick! Basically I would describe all three films as softcore 70's sex with gore and torture scenes, with She Wolf being the most extreme. The films do have plots, but the storylines are almost incidental to the shocking scenes featured within. She Wolf had the most blood and gore, so as a horror fan I appreciated it the most.

Next up is Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks. It's pretty amusing how the Ilsa character was updated from WW2 times to the oil-starved 1970's without blinking an eye (or aging). There is really no explanation given for this, which adds to the campy fun. Sheik El Sharif is played by Victor Alexander, who is actually Spalding "Swimming to Cambodia" Gray! I was surprised to see that this favorite of the 1980's-90's college spoken word circuit used to play in sleazy softcore films. There's a little more story here than in the first film, weak though it may be. I thought the Kissinger-parody character "Kaiser" was pretty funny myself. Not as much gore and sadism as the first film, but still worth checking out.

Finally, there's Ilsa: The Wicked Warden directed by the legendary Jess Franco. From the little I heard of the audio commentary, it seems that Dyanne Thorne and co-star Howard Maurer were told beforehand that this was definitely NOT an Ilsa movie, but during shooting it became painfully apparent the filmmakers were intending for it to be an (unofficial) part of the series. Maurer theorizes that this may have been for financial reasons, specifically to avoid paying for the use of the name and the character. It ran under many titles, including Greta: The Mad Butcher and Wanda: The Wicked Warden. Conveniently, Thorne's character remains nameless as the head of a "therapeutic" prison-clinic for female sex offenders where the inmates all wear shirts but no pants or underwear (!!!!). Out of the three, this one was the most erotic due to the constant nudity, including two shower scenes and one with a great catfight featuring the luscious Lina Romay. Again, a throwaway storyline but lots of amusing dubbed acting and terrible dialogue. The final scene was similar to the ending of Blood Sucking Freaks; in fact if you liked that movie you will probably dig this box set as well.

Unfortunately there's no Ilsa: Tigress of Siberia included here to round out the series. From what I've heard that film is by far the weakest of the four. Like the Wicked Warden, Thorne's character was never referred to as Ilsa, so it was another attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the first two films. Maybe Anchor Bay could release a DVD edition of Tigress with a bonus disc of a Dyanne Thorne biography/scrapbook, for all us collector nerds out there? Wishful thinking, I know.

To sum it up, if you're considering buying any of the Ilsa films you might as well go for the box set. All three are worth seeing, and if you compare the price of buying the movies separately versus the set price, it's a no-brainer.

The first film in the Ilsa series, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS," stands as one of the most horrific exploitation films ever made. Even I blanched over the atrocities depicted in the movie. Moreover, it's a rare bird as far as films go because it never loses its power to shock. In fact, I think the first Ilsa movie becomes even more disgusting with each subsequent viewing. Apparently, audiences flipped their cookies after seeing the movie at the drive-in. Word of mouth led to bigger ticket sales, which in turn led to thoughts about a sequel. If you've seen "She-Wolf," you know the idea of a sequel is laughable since Ilsa took a header at the end of the movie. But the wacky world of cinema knows no bounds when the scent of money is in the air, and even the demise of a primary character won't prevent Hollywood hacks from revisiting old ground. Remember the Bobby Ewing dream sequence imbroglio? If they can get away with something that outrageous, resurrecting the deceased Ilsa presents no problem at all. Thus a sequel to the first "Ilsa" film arrived on the scene in 1976. Two other films would follow before the series ground to an ignominious end. Thanks to Anchor Bay and the DVD revolution, Ilsa has returned from the grave to haunt us once again.

Set in the waning days of the Second World War, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" unfolds in a medical camp where the brutal 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 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.

"Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks" takes place in the Middle East many years after World War II. This time around Dyanne Thorne isn't strutting around in a German uniform. Instead, she wears khaki garb in the service of the wealthy but morally depraved Sheik El Sharif (Victor Alexander). The oil wealth in this little kingdom gives the monarch plenty of time to indulge in decidedly unsavory activities, and it is Ilsa who serves as his main honcho. She procures the girls, develops the torture implements, and helps run a tight ship around the palace with the help of Velvet (Marilyn Joi) and Satin (Tanya Boyd), two scantily clad thugettes with some mean karate skills. The latest scheme cooked up by Ilsa and the sheik involves kidnapping several wealthy white women (one played by Uschi Digard) in order to make money in a slavery racket. They figure they can sell these women to some of the powerful local sheiks and thus keep El Sharif's enemies pacified. But just as Ilsa's powerful appetites for men undid her in the first film, the same thing happens here when a spy named Commander Adam (Mark Thayer) of the U.S. Navy pops in to say hello. What follows is sleazy sickness, exploitation style.

Dyanne Thorne again reprises her role as a sadistic torturer of young women in Jess Franco's "Ilsa, the Wicked Warden," but this time she's hamming it up somewhere in South America as the head kook at a clinic for female degenerates. The plot is the equivalent of crayon scribbling by a three year old: a young woman escapes from this clinic, receives mortal wounds during the escape attempt, and manages to tell her story to a local physician before dying (Or does she?). This man, Dr. Milton Arcos (Jess Franco himself!) tries to goad the authorities into launching an investigation into the clinic. Nothing much happens at a public committee meeting, but a young woman named Abbie Phillips (Tania Busselier) accosts Arcos in the parking lot afterwards. She's the sister of the aforementioned victim, also a journalist, and she wants Arcos to help her infiltrate the clinic in order to bring the evildoers to justice. Like I said, a three year old with a box of crayons likely crafted the script. It's not like the plot is all that important; it serves merely as the most tenuous of threads with which Franco can tie together his usual penchant for nudity, depraved violence, and ham fisted dialogue. One thing is for certain: "Ilsa, the Wicked Warden" easily maintains the sleaze factor established in the first two films.

Sick films, all of them, although the law of diminishing returns is apparent in these three pictures. Anchor Bay treats them all with respect, however, by giving us commentary tracks on each disc. It's well worth your time to listen to these insights on the films, as all three are full of humor and intriguing remarks about the agony and ecstasy of low budget filmmaking. My only quibble with the set is the absence of the fourth Ilsa film, called "Ilsa, Tigress of Siberia." To my knowledge, this entry in the series has yet to appear on DVD. Anyway, give these a shot if you love sleaze cinema; they're practically required viewing for exploitation lovers.

If you're gonna revel in trash, might as well go all the way-and Anchor Bay's epic (and economical) 3-DVD "Ilsa" set is a "trash" collection of the highest order. The box kicks off with the one that started it all-"She-Wolf of The SS", which is every bit as deliciously tasteless as its title suggests. Famously, "She Wolf"'s exterior scenes were filmed on TV's "Hogan's Heroes" set (!) with an amazing 9 day shooting schedule. The "Hogan" connection seems oddly prescient, now that the twisted backstage antics of Bob Crane are public knowledge (screen "Auto Focus" with "Ilsa" for the ultimate in bad taste double-bill). "She Wolf" and its two sequels are presented uncut and immaculately remastered (although there are times you'll wish the images weren't so sparkling). Obviously, you need to possess a certain, er, sense of aesthetic to appreciate this type of exploitation film. As the director himself states,these films were made in the days before you had to be "greenlighted" by studio suits after spending years in "development hell". If you had financial backing, a camera and a willing cast, you simply went out and shot your film, and that was that, no apologies owed to anyone. In the case of the "Ilsa" series, the filmmakers were lucky enough to attract a huge enough cult following over the years to keep interest alive. All three films feature commentary tracks. One caveat: the "comedian" who appears on the commentary tracks and is billed as the "moderator" is a complete moron. Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne and her director/husband are endearingly good-humored about the whole thing and very funny on thier own, I'm not sure whose idea it was to include this "moderator" who obviously has NO sense of movie history (9 times out of 10, whenever he attempts to add trivia, he is corrected by the others!). And, thankfully, the director himself (and he should know!) finally puts a ridiculous urban legend to rest: No, that is NOT the late great Spalding Gray working under a non de plume in "Oil Sheiks". (Spalding, God bless you, you can stop spinning now.) That aside, this is a treasure trove for lovers of cinematic sleaze!

I had never seen any Euro sexploitation films before getting this box set, even though I'd heard quite a bit about these kinds of films. I was not disappointed with the content. The Ilsa box set (for those of you who are new to Euro B-flicks) contained exactly what I expected to get--plenty of gratuitousness in every sense of the word. If you're looking for something that you can watch with the whole family, then don't get this (unless your family is related to Dyanne Thorne); but if you're looking for a good introductory look into the world of Euro sleaze, then you should definitely get this box set. If you want violence, cheesy plots, and most of all TONS OF NUDITY, then this is for you. All three DVD's in this box set are full of uncensored stuff that you won't find in 99 percent of the stuff that's been released in the US. The DVD's in this set are all good, but the best are She Wolf of the SS and Wiched Warden. Don't just buy these two, because you'll wind up paying more than if you just went ahead and bought the entire box set. It's well worth it.

I've read so much about these infamous 70's exploitation films that I just knew I had to see them. In the mid-1970s the limits of bad taste were stretched by the notorious Ilsa films, these were over-the-top exploitation films which had plenty of stomach-churning gore, violence and sex that they both shocked and amazed grindhouse and drive-in audiences. Crowds generally lined up to watch a larger-than-life Dyanne Thorne whip and torture her way through these films and the audience loved it, Ilsa was the evil dominatrix nazi that loved torturing and mutilating her victims and in each film she would be in a different setting and time period, while most of the acting was pretty laughable you just can't help but enjoy these films if off course you weren't offended by this material. Dyanne Thorne was just great in this role and you must admit that Ilsa was quite a cool and memorable villain and not to mention quite despicable and yet still attractive, but a one night stand with Ilsa is something you'll definitely regret in the morning! ;-).

In Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS, a Nazi medical camp during WWII provides the backdrop for brutality as Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) and her minions including the sinister Dr. Binz (Buck Flower), perform bizarre experiments. A truckload of fresh prisoners, both male and female are subjected to insidious and extreme torture as Ilsa tries to prove that women have a higher threshold for pain and suffering than men. At night Ilsa indulges in in a liaison with one of the new inmates, an American named Wolfe (Gregory Knoph) with abnormal sexual powers. While Ilsa prepares to show off her cruel scientific breakthroughs to the General (Richard Kennedy), the other inmates plan an escape and to get their revenge on the She-Wolf. The scenes of torture were pretty heavy and there was some nasty stuff like a woman who gets boiled alive in scolding hot water agh!, you also get electric shock, genital torture, whipping, castration ect. This was probably my favorite from the Ilsa films, the hamminess of the acting can distract the viewer into laughing at inappropriate moments but you will still feel sick at the shocking scenes of torture. this film is still essentialy 'wrong' on so many levels it's just not true, and I doubt it could even get made today! That alone is probably enough to keep those who aren't easily offended glued to the screen to the end. Great stuff!.

In Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, this time Ilsa shows up in the Middle East. The evil Sharif (Victor Alexander) depends on Ilsa to run his white slavery ring, which kidnaps young girls and sells them to the highest bidder. Between auctions Ilsa trains the girls to please their new masters who are rich oil barons looking for new additions to their harems. There's also a subplot where a secret agent shows up to investigate and Ilsa risks the security of El Sharif's operation as her sexual desires once again outweigh her duties, just like how it happened in the first film. Off course the plot was ridiculous, how did she survive at the end of the last film and how come she hasn't aged one bit when this film supposedly takes place in the present 1976, but then again you probably won't be watching this for a great storyline or oscar worthy acting, just watch this for the gore and nudity there was an exploding stomach scene that made this worth watching as the special fx looked pretty good for a 70's flick. The amount of flesh on display is just staggering, so sexploitation fans will definitely get their fill and it was pretty good but not as shocking or great as the first film.

In her third incarnation as Ilsa the Wicked Warden, Ilsa is the keeper of a South American prison infirmary dedicated to cleansing its female inmates of nymphomania, lesbianism, and prostitution. After a prisoner of Ilsa's institution named Rosa mysteriously disappears, her younger sister Abbie (Tania Busselier) has herself committed to find out what really happened. Meanwhile, Ilsa who is never satisfied with just torture, has an attractive sideline going. She secretly films her girls in sexual situations and then sells the footage to rich private collectors. This was the weakest film in the series cause it took a while for the torture to happen and it was a bit tame compared to the previous films so I was a bit disappointed, however there was plenty of nudity and sleaze. This particular film had alot of boring dialogue scenes and what made it worse was the horrible acting and dubbing, it was more like a prison film but I wasn't that impressed.

Each of the films has an enhanced widescreen aspect ratio of (1.66:1) and the picture quality was quite impressive and looked well, each of the films had the same features. You have a theatrical trailer, commentary track and talent bios and that's about it but Anchor Bay did a great job restoring these films. Fans of cult and exploitation cinema simply have to own these films, or at least rent them but make sure there the uncut versions, my bet is that probably at least half the general population will be repelled, the rest would be bored or possibly seriously offended. It's not PC, it's not clever but at least they're well-made sleazy exploitation trash, which doesn't take itself the least bit seriously and they are kind of enjoyable. I highly recommend these films to hardcore horror fans with strong stomachs, the rest should probably avoid this you have been warned.

These three are all amazing classics. It definitely takes a strong stomach and probably a deviate mind to watch, but there are very few movies I've ever seen that have the strong graphic violent and sexual nature combined that these three movies have. Definitely not for the squeemish.

i only recently got into grindhouse films. it's a good place to start - nudity, torture, sadism, nudity, blood, ridiculous dialog, torture, nudity, blood. here's the ultra-brief breakdown: she wolf - AWESOME. harem keeper - RAD. wicked warden - DUBBED and fairy weak. still, the collection is affordable and a must for any grindhouse collection (somewhere between 'cannibal holocaust' and 'thriller: a cruel picture,' right next to 'i spit on your grave.'

These are the sleaziest movies I've ever seen! Produced by David Friedman, famous for the H.G.Lewis stuff. Not as gory as say "Cannibal Holocaust" but still extremely demented. Dyanne Thorn who plays Ilsa is absolutely beautiful , and spends her days torturing women to prove that they can take more pain then men, and some of the tortures in these movies are downright sick. I wont go into details because I don't think Amazon would let me, you just have to buy this set and find out for yourself.

"She wolf of the SS": 5/5
"Harem Keeper": 4.5/5
"Wicked Warden: 3.5/5

This set: 5/5

The Ilsa series is pure schlock and shock cinema. PLOT SUMMARY FOR ALL 3 MOVIES: Ilsa is always an evil warden in charge of abused, naked woman in a harem, Nazi death camp or secret prison. Lots of nudity and perverted torture scenes fill each movie. She Wolf Of The SS is the sickest of the 3 films. Not much to get worked up about (unless watching women boiled alive, tortured with an electric vibrator or men being (...) is your thing). WIcked Warden is a bit (...) as it mostly involves lesbians wrestling in the shower and sexually tormenting each other. Harem Keeper is more of the same. Hope this review helps you decide if this box set is for you.