#80 - Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975) Review

Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975), Don Edmonds
3/5

This classic exploitation film is all things ridiculous and gratuitous. It is definitely not for the overly sensitive as it is highly sexist, racist, violent and pornographic. Despite all that and in fact because of it, this film is brilliant. While that might sound strange this film is hilarious because of those things. The overacting, the gratuitous nudity and violence make a mockery of itself. The film doesn't take itself seriously and it is enjoyable to watch the bad acting, and the hilarious absurdity of the "plot". Born in the era of the Grindhouse cinema which would predominantly show exploitation films Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS is based upon the the Nazi doctors experiments in concentration camps during World War 2. Ilsa is the doctor and leader of a group of women who torture and experiment upon their prisoners. While the film is definitely sexist depicting numerous counts of humiliation and torture of women and by women, it also depicts Ilsa as this strong and ruthless woman. Despite the negative depictions of women, the film is also misogynistic as well, particularly with Ilsa's lack of sexual satisfaction and punishment of her prisoner lovers through castration. Although the film is poorly acted, over the top and ridiculous a lot of the "experiments" shown are based upon actual experiments conducted by Nazi doctors on Jewish and other prisoners.  There is a sort of horror element to this film and an inability to look away, with the strange juxtaposition of melodramatic ridiculous portrayal of horrific torture which is at the same time laughable. As an exploitation film I think it would sort of beg the question if one were to chastise the film for it's exploitation and abuse of serious issues like WW2, Nazis and the torture of women and men. Instead I choose to view this film as entertainment, albeit bad, cheap entertainment it is still enjoyable. This film harkens back to the time before there was home movie viewing before the advent of VHS and Beta-tapes, DVD, BluRay or the internet where you could view pornography or explicit films. In a way I see this film as a cultural snapshot, and a prime example of exploitation film where people would go to the Grindhouse to watch cheap B grade films that were gross, violent, sexual and all things explicit that weren't shown in mainstream cinemas. Although the film may be simplified as "immoral" it in fact follows much of the traditional mainstream moral system built into Hollywood cinema since the studio system where the "evil" characters are punished in the film and good tends to win out in the end. Overall this is a sadistic and gratuitous delight to watch.