Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975) User Reviews

Sleazy shocker delivers the goods in spades - and then some!

[Libretio · 6/10 · 28 February 2005]

ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

Ilsa, the sadistic female commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, conducts hideous medical experiments on her female inmates and is 'serviced' nightly by a studly male prisoner who is secretly plotting rebellion against her monstrous regime.

Produced in the wake of successful women-in-prison thrillers such as THE BIG DOLL HOUSE (1971) and the notorious LOVE CAMP 7 (1968), Don Edmonds' ILSA SHE WOLF OF THE SS preceded a wave of Nazi exploitation titles which flooded the grindhouse circuit during the 1970's, particularly in Europe (cf. Horrifying EXPERIMENTS OF THE SS LAST DAYS, THE GESTAPO'S LAST ORGY, SS EXPERIMENT CAMP, etc.). Aiming to outdo his competitors in terms of sex and horror, "Ilsa" was conceived by legendary producer David Friedman (SEVEN INTO SNOWY, THE RAMRODDERS, etc.) as a combination of softcore sleaze and hardcore violence, photographed on standing sets from the recently-cancelled TV series "Hogan's Heroes" (unfortunately, Friedman fell out with the film's Canadian backers during post-production and is billed on-screen as 'Herman Traeger'). Ilsa herself is played with unrestrained gusto by the wonderful (and wonderfully endowed!) Dyanne Thorne, a statuesque beauty who uses her voluptuous charms to seduce and destroy her helpless victims, in a manner both Sadean and erotic.

But the movie's sexual candor is offset by a series of tortures and medical experiments - courtesy of Joe Blasco's revolting makeup effects - rooted in appalling historical fact: For instance, the wound in a young girls' leg is deliberately infected with gangrene, and another unfortunate victim is forced to stand naked on a quick-melting block of ice with a noose tightening around her throat while SS officers dine in front of her. Reckless bravado or depraved opportunism? YOU be the judge...

Edmonds was clearly unable to get all the coverage he needed to tighten long-winded dialogue sequences (some scenes drag as a consequence), but while production values are sparse, the film is designed and photographed with consummate skill, and the climactic showdown between Ilsa and her former inmates closes proceedings on a note of genuine horror. You have been warned! Thorne featured in two legitimate sequels, ILSA: HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS (1975) and ILSA: TIGRESS OF SIBERIA (1978), along with Jesùs Franco's tawdry cash-in GRETA THE WICKED WARDEN (1977).

Not as bad as it should have been

[Groverdox · 6/10 · 9 August 2020]

I was reluctant to watch this first instalment in the Ilsa franchise. "Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks" is an exploitation classic, campy fun with over-the-top violence and nudity. "She Wolf of the SS", however? Kind of hard to enjoy camp value with the shadow of the Holocaust being wilfully evoked. The movie even has the shamelessness to begin with a message on the screen, claiming that the following BDSM porn that makes up the movie is actually some kind serious document of the horrors of Nazi Germany.

So I was prepared for a demoralising experience. What's more depressing than a Holocaust movie? How about a movie that exploits the Holocaust for an easy buck?

With movies like the Ilsa series, and all those "Pinky violence" flicks from Japan, I think filmmakers were basically trying to provide bondage porn to people who couldn't easily get it in the pre-internet age. Most of "She Wolf", as with the Japanese flick "Terrifying Girls High School", seems to be naked women being tortured.

Children of the 2000's thought they knew "torture porn" from all those Saw movies, and indeed, they thought it was a new invention. Wrong! In the '70s, movies like the above put the "porn" in torture porn, and they didn't skimp on the torture, either.

In "She Wolf of the SS", the tortures are surprisingly not very graphic, but the aftermath is shown in disturbing detail, with horribly burnt and blistered skin, and hideous wounds to the body, including burst eyeballs.

In one scene, the movie even evokes a fetish many might find even more disturbing than the BDSM scenes: urophilia.

I'm not going to summarise the plot, or what plot there is. Nobody watches it for that anyway. It's a series of BDSM porn scenes, some violent moments, and minimal character development. I'm struggling to think of why I didn't hate it as much as I probably should have. Maybe it's because I knew what to expect - and I wasn't disappointed. The special effects are good. The actresses are improbably beautiful. Dyanne Thorne makes an iconic villain. The movie is surprisingly well made. I just wish they hadn't evoked the memory of the greatest evil of the 20th century, in service of cheap BDSM pornography.

The quintessential nazisploitation

[LoneWolfAndCub · 6/10 · 6 July 2008]

Sick and depraved are two of the many adjectives that could be used to describe Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS. For awhile I had been aching to see an infamous Nazi Exploitation ("nazisploitation") because of their enormous reputation. After finally seeing it, I can see why it is this controversial. Although the film is filled with bad acting and plenty of camp, it also has plenty of sadistic gore and torture, soft-core sex and copious female nudity.

Plot-wise, Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is fairly standard (and simple) exploitation stuff. Ilsa (big-chested Dyanne Thorne) is in charge of a Nazi Concentration Camp which conducts medial experiments. Her goal is to prove that women can take more pain than men, so they should be allowed to fight on the front lines. Alongside this, Ilsa also likes to sleep with the male prisoners and if they do not pleasure her, she takes their manhood away.

This story sets up many scenes of depravity which would still shock today. In particular, genitalia seem to be the main target and numerous scenes focus on destroying male and female body parts in many disgusting ways. I will not go into detail but I will warn anyone who is thinking of seeing this but has a weak stomach to stay far away. Not only is the film violent, but there is a disturbing rape scene. However, Dyanne Thorne's ever-present breasts are a welcome presence amidst all the horrible events. Thorne bares them constantly throughout along with almost every other actress.

In terms of acting and all the technical stuff, the film is lacking. Nevertheless, it IS an exploitation film so that stuff can be slightly forgiven. Why I give this such a high rating I do not know. Most definitely, it worked in sickening me and I think that is all director Don Edmonds was going for. When the film finished I felt dirty and somewhat depressed at what I had just seen.

3/5

There Goes My Appetite...for the next 3 years.

[Rusty-61 · 21 November 2000]

I first rented this sick flick in the 80's, and the guy at the video store who recommended it (knowing I was into shock/exploitation movies) told me he'd give me my money back if I wasn't completely offended. Guess who didn't get their money back? . I finally found a copy of the uncut version I first saw--hard to find, unless you have a DVD player-- and yep, it still shocked me just as much. It may have shocked me even more, because I kept thinking, "No WAY could they put a movie like this out today!" I've actually seen all of the Ilsa series and each time I watch one, I think "this is probably the sickest". Then I realize they are all really sick, just in different nasty ways. The first time I watched this, even though I wasn't watching it with anyone else, I felt guilty for not turning it off and returning it to the video store, it was so sick. People have said the violence and acting are unrealistic, but there were parts where I had to remind myself this was a movie (though it was supposedly based on real Nazi experiments...let's not dwell on that) and the women screaming in agony at the top of their lungs were just actresses. There's a few unrealistic scenes- for instance, a woman being boiled to the point where her skin seems to have come off looks almost fine a scene later. Most of it looks a little too real for me-enough so I was feeling sick to my stomach by the big dinner scene, and I didn't even watch it all at once.

First of all, anyone who didn't think this movie was violent or gory, you definitely have seen a cut version. Anyone who thought it was boring or tame obviously didn't see the version I saw with the woman being boiled alive onscreen or the patients with huge, open gaping wounds that had been deliberately infected. As another reviewer said, if you see the right version (or the wrong one, depending on your point of view) there are not 5 minutes that go by without some sort of sex, nudity, violence, or all 3 at the same time. If I ever heard anyone describe this movie as 'sexy', I would get away from them as quickly as possible.

In this debut of the Ilsa (Ilsa herself pronounces it as "Ill-za") series, Dyanne Thorne plays the title role, an extremely sadistic commander of a concentration camp where they perform 'medical research'. The men usually only get castrated (after sleeping with Ilsa and not 'satisfying' her) or beaten. The women have the bad luck to be in a camp where Ilsa is trying to prove her theory that women are naturally stronger and can take more pain than men. Some are taken away to the 'brothel' area, which is no picnic either (one of the scenes that actually made me lose my appetite showed a prisoner after the men are through with her- not a pretty sight) but the *really* unlucky ones are taken to the 'medical' area. One woman makes the huge mistake of not only telling Ilsa she can take whatever she dishes out (Rule #1 in an Ilsa movie-never taunt her with her tough you are) but giving her attitude and talking back (Rule #2, do NOT give Ilsa attitude or talk back, you will probably receive the most disgusting fate of any character in the entire movie) and Ilsa decides to make an example of her, resulting in some of the nastiest, hardest to watch scenes in the movie. I can't describe them in detail or this review probably wouldn't be posted. Ilsa picks one American man, "Wolf" to sleep with her, a so called 'genetic freak' who can satisfy Ilsa, so he gets to keep all his, uh, equipment for the time being. Of course, he has an escape plan...he also provides most of the unintentional comic relief in the movie, as his acting is so amazingly bad, even for an exploitation movie, that he sounds like he is reading from cue cards, a few words at a time: "I-will-make...love-to-you-like...you-have-never-been....made-love-to-before."

As a sidebar, I'd sure like to read Dyanne Thorne's autobiography, if she ever puts one out. Several times during the movie, I wondered if the actress ever told anyone how she was making a living in detail at the time. "Well, today I get paid to go dress up in complete Nazi regalia and pretend to pee on another higher ranking Nazi. Then, after lunch...". She hams it up as Ilsa, and was, let's face it, pretty brave to do this movie.

A warning to others who might consider renting this because they hear it's "campy and fun"- don't rent it for that reason unless you have a really sick sense of humor or a real &*%$ed up idea of fun. Some co-workers of mine unwisely didn't listen to any warnings from people who have watched the entire movie and went to see a midnight screening thinking they were going to see some kind of bad-in-an-Ed-Wood-way B-movie. They made it through maybe 15 minutes tops before walking out in total revulsion. It's not the kind of movie you want to watch over and over because it's so fun. I watch it every once in a while to see if I'm still as easily shocked as I was a few years ago. So far, I am. Why do I own it, if it's so horrible? I guess I have no excuse for that, other than to show it to people who think they've seen it all. If you think you've seen it all, you haven't, until you see the first 3 Ilsa movies.

Ilsa on the prowl

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 18 June 2016]

Dyanne Thorne is Ilsa the Kommandant of the concentration camp in this Naziploitaion Grindhouse classic of the 1970s. She conducts private experiments to show that women have a higher threshold for pain than men and should be used in the front line which the Nazis actually did to a small extent.

Some of the nasty treatment dished out to the female inmates include electro shock treatment to the nipples including an electrified dildo thrust into their vaginas. At a dinner party for a visiting Nazi officer, a naked woman is placed on a block of ice with a garrote like noose tied around her neck. While they eat dinner, the ice slowly melts bloodily asphyxiating her. There are open wounds covered in Typhus infected maggots as well as women being infected with venereal diseases. There is also whippings and gang rapes of the female inmates. Women are submerged in hot water and slowly boiled, others are put into a decompression chambers. In all the torture scenes the women are naked.

The men also do not get away so easily from Ilsa. Right at the beginning we see a man who does not sexually satisfy Ilsa getting castrated for his shortcomings. The emphasis on the porn torture though is on the women.

Ilsa shows plenty of her ample breasts throughout the film and at one point urinates on the visiting Nazi officer.

This is a quickly shot film made in 9 days in the film lot containing the sets from Hogan's Heroes. Some of the script is laughable, some of the gore looks tame nowadays and the whole feel is more camp than exploitation 40 years on.

The guy who plays the American inmate and who manages to sexually satisfy Ilsa because he can keep on going like the Duracell Bunny can just about deliver his lines in a wooden manner.

There are some well shot action sequences at the end of the movie as some of the inmates stage a daring escape. As a film of its exploitation genre this is regarded as a classic even though it is a low budget, quickly shot and badly made film.

repulsive, exploitative, and poorly acted

[Jonny_Numb · 3/10 · 7 October 2005]

On the heels of Lilia Cavani's incomparably better "The Night Porter" comes this offensive, well-produced exercise in showy sadism. Dyanne Thorne possesses an undeniable sexiness as the dominatrix head of a Nazi prison camp, delighting in torture and murder as much as kinky sex, but she, as well as everyone else involved in this production, acts in a caricatured style that only makes the exploitation elements of this allegedly fact-based shocker all the more repulsive. The opening note from the producer reeks of shallow ambition trying to mask the rot within–and that's where "Ilsa" ultimately falls–it has nothing to say, nothing to illuminate, and quickly deteriorates into a lurid, masochistic fantasy of excess, with an appeal only to the most prurient desires of underage males. In spite of the dreadful acting and the overall execution that renders the events with all the reality of a Saturday-morning cartoon, Thorne's physical talents and Joe Blasco's makeup effects lend some value to this otherwise despicable film.

Nazisploitation..what a genre.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 4/10 · 26 October 2009]

Exploitation movies of course never have really been a sign of good taste but perhaps the most tasteless sub-genre within the exploitation genre are the ones featuring Nazi's.

Even though the intro text at the beginning of the movie suggest otherwise, this movie is made for one reason only; to be provocative and shock the viewers with basically every exploitation element from the book. Not only is there all lot of blood and violence, the movie also contains lots of nudity and rape sequences, in which both males and females are the victims and they are not only being raped by males this time. After all, this is a movie about Ilsa, she wolf of the SS. A dominant female doctor who conducts all horrible kind of tests on her female prisoners in a camp, in order to prove her own developed theory that women are better at handling pain than the male species. The male prisoners at the camp serve a whole different purpose for her; to please her in bed and when she isn't pleased with the result, you'll never get out being the same man again.

This is basically what the entire movie is about. Rape and torture. The movie is porn for sadist, without of course truly convincing as being a very credible movie. It all above all really remains a big fat B-movie, that often is ridicules but more often still truly disgusting. It doesn't alway convince visually but the ideas and set up of some sequences are already enough to be provocative.

It's not hard to see why this movie has grown out in to becoming a cult classic. The title of the movie alone is already good enough to make this an instant cult classic of course. It hove doesn't mean that the movie is also good enough, even for within its genre, to truly impressive and call this a must-see cult classic.

4/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Notorious nasty deserves its reputation.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 4 May 2006]

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS certainly deserves its reputation as a nasty film. Although it is thoroughly cheesy, poorly acted, routinely directed, and extremely camp at times, the film still packs a punch due to its ability to offend and disgust at every turn; the depiction of Nazi atrocities in the name of entertainment is hard to defend (so I'm not even going to try) and this movie pulls no punches with its well executed graphic violence and horrific torture scenes.

Ilsa, played with gusto by chesty blonde Dianne Thorne, is the Kommandant at a concentration camp where she oversees medical research performed on the female prisoners. Meanwhile, she uses the males to try and satisfy her sexual needs (and when they fail, she has them castrated!). It is up to German/American stud Wolfe to lead the prisoners in a revolt against the guards whilst simultaneously gaining Ilsa's trust by rogering her senseless at every opportunity.

This notorious sleaze classic packs so much depravity into its 96 minutes running time (uncut), that lovers of exploitation will have a field day. From the opening scene in which Ilsa's sex slave is dragged back to the camp to be emasculated, to the ending in which the prisoners exact bloody retribution, sex and violence pervades every frame. The effective make-up FX by Joe Blasco are repugnant enough for hardened gore-hounds and fans of the female form will be delighted by the copious amounts of nudity (nearly every woman gets naked at some point in the film!). And lets not forget the scene in which Ilsa pees on the Nazi general...

Thirty years after it was made, Ilsa still has the ability to shock—the mark of a true exploitation classic!

Disturbingly scuzzy

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 4 August 2016]

Dyanne Thorne stars in her most infamous role, the titular character, in this downright sleazy and unpleasant exploitation movie, probably the most famous of its kind. It goes without saying that this is adults-only stuff, a catalogue of sickening scenes which are only for the strong of stomach. In my opinion this is far worse than any of the Italian cannibal flicks I've seen, as all of the atrocities are played out with the utmost realism which gives them a real sickening impact.

Amongst the worst things on view are a man being castrated (thankfully the act is hidden), a woman being burnt alive in a tub of boiling water, and another suffering electro-shock therapy. Other characters have their toes cut off and are whipped until they die. All good healthy entertainment of course. Probably the most disturbing thing about the film is the quality of the special effects; for such a low-budget exploitation piece you would expect them to be rubbish but they're rather effective and realistic-looking - fortunately or not, as the case may be. Producer David Friedman (so called "sultan of sleaze") - here producing under an obviously fake name - ensued that he got the best effects man for the job and it shows.

As much a sex film as it is a horror, ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS also contains a never ending parade of naked women, mostly being tortured or humiliated. Not five minutes goes by without some characters either having sex or walking around nude, which is probably why the film has such an enduring success to this day: for its blatant disregard for politically correct values, instead it is happy to wallow in sex and violence just for the exploitation value.

Dyanne Thorne certainly lends an icy beauty to the film and is the best thing in it; the surrounding cast are mainly amateurs so some fun is to be had with the acting. The one thing I did like about this film was the action-packed finale which is done well on a low budget, with shoot-outs and explosions to enjoy. There's also an immensely cheesy throat-slashing to top things off. Sadly, this action fare can make no amends for the disturbing scenes beforehand, which is why I am unable to recommend this movie to anybody - apart from maybe the die-hard gore fans looking for something a little stronger than the usual fare.

Classic

[Rathko · 7/10 · 23 March 2006]

An exploitation classic that is a surprisingly enjoyable film. Ilsa, the Arian commandant of a secret medical facility, sets out to prove to her doubting superiors that women are able to endure greater pain and suffering than men. She does this by torturing the female inmates in increasingly diabolical ways, while trying to break the American 'sexual freak of nature', Wolfe. Cue lots of gratuitous nudity, castration, strangulation, boiling alive, magnificent pre-implant breasts, softcore sex and gang rape, golden showers, and general bloody mayhem. The German accents are hilarious, and the acting barely one step up from Hershael Gordon Lewis and early John Waters. It even has the ubiquitous 'moral message' at the beginning. But unlike so many of these movies, 'Ilsa' manages to avoid descending into tedious repetition half way through, and builds to a brilliantly ludicrous climax in which an entire camp is gunned down by machine gun fire, without a drop of blood being spilt. Brilliant.

This was shot on the Hogan's Heros set?

[[e-mail] · 5/10 · 27 October 2005]

I can believe that this movie was made. The 70's seemed to be a bastion for bad exploitation fare involving gratuitous sex and violence. Dyanne Thorne plays Ilsa, the Kommandantin of a secret SS research facility that uses women as guinea pigs for experiments on reactions to pain. She's convinced that women can bear more pain than men and this will some way advance the war effort (how the hell this will work, I don't have the foggiest clue seeing as how all the German soldiers on the front lines were men). Ilsa has a very promiscuous sex life; she sleeps with every male prisoner in camp and then castrates them after the lovin'. Ilsa meets her match when an American POW who can control his ejaculation comes to camp (I didn't write the script, so don't blame me).

The whole thing is loaded with sex, violence and very explicit torture scenes. What's really shocking is that the movie was shot on the left over Hogan's Heros set. I'd really love to see Col. Klink and LeBeau pop up somewhere in this thing. This is probably the best of the Ilsa series (that's not saying too much, but it probably has the best plot of the bunch. Dyanne Thorne either enjoyed playing Ilsa, or really needed work). Definitely for those who don't mind watching pointless torture and gratuitous nudity.

Exudes B movie charm

[Zombie79 · 8/10 · 10 December 1999]

When this movie first came out in the 70's it was a 42nd street style grindhouse pleaser that would have shocked mainstream audiences; however with the advent of video few will be so shocked today. Ilsa is impossible to take seriously. Sure medical torture was carried out by the Nazis but this movie is not like Men behind the sun, and you will be left questioning the authenticity of Ilsas source. Ilsa can be enjoyed as an exercise in bad taste that John Waters would enjoy; torture, Nasty nazis and a range of bad accents, though Joe DeBlascos SFX makeup is pretty good.The camerawork is good giving it a gritty feel, and the sets (used by Hogans heros!) are impressive. Ilsa will neither exceed nor dissapoint as an exploitation flick, and thats my recommendation.

Guilty pleasure

[kenjha · 6/10 · 23 April 2006]

Ilsa is one sadistic mama who tortures men and women to prove that women have a greater threshold for pain and also just for the fun of it. This is the first of a series of exploitation films featuring Thorne, who is endowed with certain God-given gifts that are prominently displayed. In fact, her bra should have received the Oscar that year for best supporting an actress. It is intended to be trash and it makes no attempt to rise above that. There is plenty of nudity and gore. It would have been better if the violence could have been toned down a bit but the blood looks so fake that it is not very disturbing. This qualifies as a guilty pleasure.

what a horrible movie - why?

[loumiles-25568 · 1/10 · 19 February 2016]

this movie is the worst, i'm astounded by the positive reviews, it is just sick for no other reason. time has not diminished how disgusting the film is. why? what does anyone gain from watching this stuff.....this film used to be banned in Australia, and i generally don't think anything should be censored, but the idea of people sitting down and enjoying this movie makes me feel sick - people keep bringing up the exploitation genre as some kind of reason the movie is OK to watch. people that know that genre, and I'm not talking about the Ilsa sequels. this one is pathetic in every way. i hate this movie, and please people avoid it like the plague. and if you gained pleasure from watching this film, please get help!!!!

Healthy Slice of the Perverse

[rannixx · 18 April 2007]

I completely see why some people really like this movie (director Quentin Tarantino among those that do).

The movie may have been slightly cringe-worthy when I saw it (mostly the way the director relishes in the dirty art he has created), but in retrospect is fluff compared to a lot of the movies I've seen since then. Even though this movie is pure, unadulterated carnage and heinous acts throughout the entire course of the film, it had a redeeming quality.It's hard to pinpoint what made this movie so appealing to me. It was a perfect emblem of the pure sleaziness and overall decadent atmosphere of the 70's smut prevalent at this time. Like all grindhouse films, it appeals to the baser senses - filled with excess violence (grizzly and well-done) and sex. And it's shot amazingly well for such a poor film. I expected it to be grainy and imperceptible.

There's an element of immorality felt when watching films like this, but it's a healthy outlet to sublimate impure thoughts. It's sensationalist, yes. Probably no artistic merit either. But it's an appetizer of the 70's Perversia. I do think it's mostly meant to be titillating and gross for the sake of being gross. It's so blatantly in-your-face tasteless and bad that I love it. Stay away from it if you don't have a knack for the depraved.

SS – Sick and Sadistic Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 14 May 2004]

Yesterday I bought this imported DVD in a sale offer. It is not available in Brazil, I had no reference about this title and the price was not expensive. I decide to try and I found a too sick and sadistic movie, not so nasty as Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom", but also very disgusting. There is no story, only violence against the prisoners, most of them women. I noted that the 42 years old (in 1974) `star' Dyanne Thorne participated of one episode of Star Trek. The persons who voted excellent in this film are joking, or needing to go to a psychiatrist. This type of `cult' movie is not for my taste. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): Movie not available in Brazil.

Silly but Fun

[billcr12 · 5/10 · 1 August 2012]

Ilsa is Dyanne Thorne, a buxom blonde actress with little acting ability, as a Nazi camp commander. Loosely(very) based on the real life war criminal, Ilse Koch, the voracious lady tortures the prisoners, especially the women, in order to prove that they are tougher than men, and therefore, should be able to be allowed in combat.

Ilsa loves sex, and every night she selects a prisoner for intercourse, and after the guy finishes, she has him castrated. This is repeated on a regular basis until she finds a partner who can go all night like a machine. This is pure exploitation, and the campiness is at its height with the set of Hogan's Heroes used as the backdrop for a fun filled movie. The only thing missing is Bob Crane and Werner Klemperer to complete the circle of insanity. Sit back and rest your mind for a while to escape reality with Ms. Thorne's sexiness.

Overrated

[herrvonblitzkrieg · 3/10 · 21 January 2008]

I tried watching this thing after reading the other comments on IMDb, expecting to have my mind blown. Or at least the part responsible for good, sound moral judgement. Maybe I'm just dulled from seeing contemporary newscasts, but the most shocking feature turned out to be the ample supply of untrimmed 1970's bush.

The only other thing worth noting was that the German soldier kept shouting 'raus, raus' at a prisoner even when she was already well out of the truck. Clearly one of the supermen. Didn't stick around long enough to get in to the rest of the storyline. I can see the artistic merit of the lead figure, though, in a Lacanian sense: 10 points for inventing her, minus 7 for putting her in such a sh@tty movie. Can't wait to skip through the 3 sequels.

Brutal and Sadistic

[Uriah43 · 6/10 · 24 January 2015]

As an SS officer during World War II, "Ilsa" (Dyanne Thorne) serves as both a doctor and as the kommandant of a special prison camp in Nazi Germany. In particular the prison camp is allocated a certain number of young women for which Ilsa conducts inhuman medical experiments upon. Along with this the female prisoners are routinely beaten, tortured and raped. There are also a few male prisoners there who are used for manual labor with one specific man named "Wolfe" (Gregory Knoph) who has managed to arouse Ilsa to heights of sexuality she has never known before. But there are dangers associated with this action which are probably best left unmentioned in order to avoid spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it. I will say however that this film is not for a general audience as it is quite brutal and sadistic. Even so Dyanne Thorne put on a very good performance and she essentially carries this movie all by herself. Again, I should warn viewers that this film is not for the squeamish but it pretty much kept my attention and I rate it as slightly above average.

Not a Fan

[Scars_Remain · 4/10 · 7 March 2008]

I usually like exploitation quite a bit but I just couldn't get into this one at all. I felt like nothing really happened and it just sort of dragged on and on and on. It almost seems like the people who made it were just trying to be controversial for the heck of it and it definitely fell flat for me. I can kind of see what people like about it but I just am not one of them.

The acting is solid the whole way through and some of the characters are pretty well thought out. The gore was good but just got a little old after a while. I really did not enjoy this film at all until the climax which I thought was great and is the only thing that kept me from giving this movie a 2/10. All in all, you should see what you think for yourself instead of listening to my rambling, but I didn't like it.

Ilsa, the cult goddess..!!

[ShaShank_MovieFreak · 7/10 · 16 April 2012]

I've always wondered why they never make flicks like this... Oh, how I miss them.

Anyways, Ilsa, the She wolf of the SS is, as many know, a cult classic. It shows the story of ILSA, an evil SS officer and how she tortures women in her SS camp. Its a very simple story.

The cast was fine. You can't expect much from a flick like this. But the Ilsa character portrayed by Dyanne Thorne was fabulous. She was voluptuous, evil, vile and seductive at the same time. She really steals the show. There are a handful of soft core scenes of sex, featuring Ilsa.

Also, this movie does not get you bored. Nope, no way you are getting bored. The movie is filed with gratuitous sex and torture scenes, though they are not even half as graphic as the scenes in many other contemporary 'Video nasties' like the Italian Cannibal films.

If you are an exploitation era fan, you should have already watched it. If you are not and want to be one, please, do yourself a favor and watch this piece of beauty. This naziploitation classic is never to be missed by fans. Ilsa never disappoints.

Sleaze and sadistic movie with a lot of gory scenes , grisly killing and loathing frames

[ma-cortes · 3/10 · 7 May 2021]

Dyanne Thorne show as a villain Nazi Warden at a death camp mistreating inmates and undergoing creepy medical experiments . She is the most dreaded Nazi of them all and she will stop at nothing to get her purports and at whatever means . Ilsa is a really villainous and heinous warden who even the SS feared her . Things go wrong for Ilsa when eventually prisoners stage an uprising.

Disagreeable movie stars the naughty Dyanne Thorne as the evil Nazi warden Ilsa enjoying the male prisoners and torturing women by experimenting they can withstand more suffering than men . Plot is incidental to violence , tortures and loads of nudism . Here the sinister entertainment is watching as the torture-loving Ilsa runs a medical camp for the Nazis by using all kinds tortures and mistreating. This is below average and extremely sadistic film with lots of graphic gore , violence , guts and naked women.

Produced in short budget by David Friedman from the left sets of the Hogan's Heroes TV series. The motion picture was lousily directed by Don Edmonds with lots of skin and no acting , providing a boring flick in low budget with plenty of shortfalls , failures , flaws and gaps . Ila series is formed by four films : "Ilsa : She Wolf of the SS" 1975 with Thorne, Ushchi Digart , Sharon Kelly , George Buck Flower . "Ilsa Harem Keeper of the Oíl Sheik" 1976 with Thorne , Max Thayer . "Ilsa the tigress of Siberia" 1977 with Thorne , Michael Morin, Tony Angelo . "Wanda , The Wicked Warden" 1977 by Jess Frank with Thorne , Lina Romay , Tania Busselier .

Probably the Greatest Exploitation Film Ever

[swnthom · 10/10 · 1 May 2005]

First off, understand my rating of Ilsa. Ilsa by general movie standards is not a good movie. If you were to put it up against any of the so called "classic" movies, it would not stand up. But those who search out Ilsa She Wolf of THe SS or any of the others in the series aren't doing so because they want to see a tense, well acted, well directed movie.

Ilsa is first and foremost an exploitation film and, realizing that, I have to say it is in the upper echelons of its field because it wallows in filth and does so unapologetically. It boils down to this. If you search out a Euro Trash film, be it an Italian Giallo or English 70's horror, you desire it to be as sleazy and un politically correct as possible but also you want the movie to have some semblance of a plot, be it ever tiny. Ilsa scores big on all these points. There is wall to wall nudity, all female. Gratitutious torture scenes that are more ridiculous than offensive, (I mean every time Ilsa drags a prisoner down for torture they are completely naked as they are being tortured). And all most everyone of the female cast members at some point is completely naked. Let's be honest, It ain't Shakespeare, nor does it pretend to be.

Of note is the lead actress Dyanne Thorne. Apparently Ms. Thorne had lofty ambitions of being a serious actress at one point in her career but the fickle finger of fate lead her to Ilsa fame. In her mid 40's, Ms. Thorne is competent enough not to look like an amateur on screen. She has a several nude scenes throughout the movie and anyone who watches Ilsa will no doubt remember her more for her large breasts than her acting ability.

Ilsa She Wolf of the SS is a noteworthy entry into the world of exploitation films and should be the starting point for anyone who journeys into this genre. I rate it as a 10 because it knows what it is and does not pretend to try for anything higher

Political Correctness: The Movie... NOT!

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 6/10 · 30 November 2011]

ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1975) is doubtlessly one of the most notorious Exploitation movies of all-time, and for good reasons. There is no doubt that the film is sick and sadistic, and it is understandable that many find it to be despicable. Yet it is also undeniable that this is classic Exploitation stuff and that every hardcore lover of cult-cinema (such as yours truly) kinda has to see it. Along with Tinto Bras' SALON KITTY (1976), director Don Edmonds' film which was produced by the prolific David F. Friedman (who also produced Hershell Gordon Lewis' early gore films) spawned the Nazisploitation (or Nazi-Exploitation) sub-genre (which practically is a sub-sub-genre of the WIP or Women In Prison movie). These films, mostly from the otherwise best Exploitation country Italy, usually managed to be extremely sleazy and brutal, yet very boring at the same time. ILSA is the undisputed classic of the Nazisploitation genre, and certainly the most memorable film of its kind. Whether that is a recommendation lies in the eye of the beholder. While ILSA (and all the other Nazisploitation films) are strongly against the Nazis who are entirely portrayed as evil, it also trivializes this very sensitive topic, which is of course even more questionable since way more Holocaust-survivors were still alive in the 70s. (Then again, the producer's name is Friedman, and I recently saw a documentary about the popularity of Nazi-porno novels in 70s Israel, so who am I to judge...)

The eponymous sadistic female Nazi-villain Ilsa (played by the huge-breasted blonde Dyanne Thorne) is the commander of a Nazi experiment camp. In order to prove that females are better soldiers than men, she conducts gruesome experiments on the female prisoners. She also has sex with the male prisoners, whom she castrates after being disappointed in the can. This changes when the super-potent American prisoner Wolfe is brought to the camp and satisfies her non-stop...

Apart from the idea of Nazi-exploitation as such being questionable, ILSA also has a somewhat anti-feminist message: Even the man-eating villainous bitch gets tamed when she is properly getting... err... satisfied. The film is incredibly perverted and gruesome, and while the violence is often exaggerated to a ridiculous point and hard to be taken seriously it is yet very disturbing. The female cast members, most of which are naked for the majority of their screen time, are beautiful, but the setting and sadistic violence makes that impossible to enjoy. Without getting into detail, I can say that there are plenty of notoriously gruesome sequences, some of them hard to look at even for experienced exploitation fans, others more ridiculous than truly disturbing.

Interestingly, this is a German-American co-production, even though the film was banned in Germany (probably both for the violence and the controversial Nazi-topic). Apart from the countless rip-offs, the movie also spawned two sequels, ILSA: HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS (1976) and ILSA THE TIGRESS OF SIBERIA (1977), as well as the unofficial sort-of-sequel GRETA: HAUS OHNE MÄNNER (aka. ILSA THE WICKED WARDEN, 1977) by the Spanish Exploitation deity Jess Franco.

In a nutshell, ILSA is highly questionable and I can understand everybody who finds it despicable to make such a trashy movie about such a sensitive topic. However, it is a must-see for my fellow Exploitation fans (even though nowhere near as essential as other super-notorious classics such as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST or MARK OF THE DEVIL in my opinion). Definitely not for the easily offended.

Uninspired trash

[Tito-8 · 3/10 · 28 March 1999]

I sat down to watch this film expecting to see the most disgusting film ever made. However, some very sick thoughts are about as disturbing as this film gets. The filmmakers were not at all afraid to suggest more than a few violent ideas, but they were surprisingly hesitant to get particularly graphic with the violence and torture. A film like this should only be watched for the shock value, but if you're looking for something that is truly offensive, you can surely find a movie that is more shocking than this. This movie will offend most people I'm sure, and the few people who are warped enough to want to see this picture will probably find that it didn't go far enough. It's somewhat watchable at best, a real piece of garbage at worst.