Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS 1149303 224080491 2008-07-07T05:51:27Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Unreferenced|date=December 2007}} {{Infobox Film | name = Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS | image = Shewolf.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Don Edmonds | producer = [[David F. Friedman]] | writer = Jonah Royston | starring = [[Dyanne Thorne]]<br>[[George Buck Flower]]<br>[[Uschi Digard]]<br>[[Colleen Brennan]] (as Sharon Kelly) | music = | cinematography = Glenn Roland | editing = Kurt Schnit | distributor = | released = [[1974 in film|1974]] | runtime = 96 minutes | language = English | country = {{USA}} | budget = | followed_by = [[Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks]] | amg_id = 1:24366 | imdb_id = 0071650 }} '''''Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS''''' is a [[1974 in film|1974]] [[Nazi exploitation]] film produced in the [[United States of America|USA]]. The film was directed by [[Don Edmonds]], produced by [[David F. Friedman]] and written by Jonah Royston. == Plot == It starred [[Dyanne Thorne]] as "Ilsa," commandante of a [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Stalag]] ([[prisoner-of-war camp]]); the maliciousness of her character was very loosely based on that of [[Ilse Koch]]. Ilsa conducts [[Nazi human experimentation|sadistic scientific experiments]] designed to demonstrate that women are more capable of enduring pain than men are, and therefore should be allowed to fight in the army. Ilsa is also portrayed as a buxom woman with a voracious sexual appetite for men. Every night she chooses another one of her male prisoners and [[non statutory female on male rape|rapes him]]. However, due to her [[hypersexuality|insatiable hunger]], she gets disappointed when her current victim eventually [[Ejaculation|ejaculates]], and promptly [[Castration#As punishment|castrates]] him. Only an American prisoner, who can withhold ejaculating, manages to use her [[weakness]] to his favor. ==Location== {{Original research|section|date=July 2008}} The film was made on the set of the TV series ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]''. The series had already been cancelled and the shows producers let the movie be made on it once they learned that a scene called for it to be burned down, saving them the cost of having it demolished. == History and saga == Ilsa is actually a Canadian creation. When [[Lee Frost]] and [[David F. Friedman]]'s pioneering 1969 Nazi softcore epic [[Love Camp 7]] turned out to be a big hit in Canada, [[André Link]] and [[John Dunning]] of Montreal distributor [[Cinepix]] quickly drafted a script for a similar movie called [[Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS]] and contacted Friedman to see if he was interested in producing it. Friedman ([[Blood Feast]], [[The Defilers]]) accepted the job and hired former Vegas showgirl [[Dyanne Thorne]] to star as the nasty Nazi nympho. In the film, the busty Thorne gruesomely tortures and kills her prisoners until she gets her comeuppance when the prisoners revolt and she is shot to death by her superior. Although tongue-in-cheek, it's still a gruesome update of [[Island of Lost Souls]], and was a huge hit on [[42nd street]]. Unfortunately, monetary issues with [[Cinepix]] and then-producer [[Don Carmody]] would later lead Friedman to disown the film. The sadism was slightly toned down when [[Cinepix]] funded [[Don Edmonds]] to make the sequel, ''[[Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks]]'' (1976). Partially shot in Canada, this film takes the apparently reborn Ilsa to the Middle East for more torture and lustful activities among a group of women being trained as harem girls. That same year, [[Ivan Reitman]] was brought on to produce at [[Cinepix]], and taking a break from working with [[David Cronenberg]], Reitman teamed up with [[Roger Corman]] to bring Ilsa full circle. They created ''[[Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia]]'' and when it was finally released, [[Dyanne Thorne]]'s fans were generally disappointed with the final product. Most claim that this Canadian film is the dullest in the series, and Franco's "unofficial" third installment is usually preferred. A third "unofficial" sequel, 1977's ''[[Ilsa, the Wicked Warden]]'' was directed by [[Eurotrash (TV series)|Eurotrash]] favourite [[Jess Franco]]. It was released under the titles [[Greta, The Mad Butcher]] and [[Wanda, the Wicked Warden]] long before it was even tied to the Ilsa series. [[Dyanne Thorne]] is here of course, but few other elements connect it back to the original. The earlier films have a few parallels with early 1970s women-in-prison films, but none so much as Franco's installment, which brings the sadism to a Latin American dictatorship. All of the sequels are more standard [[women in prison film]]s which use exotic settings to render the exaggerated sadism of the plots more plausible. == Criticism and acceptance == The original film, ''Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS'', is the only film in the series which belongs in the [[Nazi exploitation]] genre. It is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the [[Holocaust]]. Despite this stated attempt at cultural sensitivity, the film is banned in [[Germany]]. Its over-the-top subject matter has turned the film into a [[cult film|cult movie]]. Perhaps the best explanation for its notoriety is that it is a cinematic version of the "[[men's adventure]]" [[genre fiction|subgenre]] of [[pulp magazine]]. Nazis tormenting [[damsel in distress|damsels in distress]] were perennial favourite subjects for the lurid, sub-pornographic covers of sensationalistic "true adventure" magazines such as ''[[Argosy Magazine|Argosy]]'' in the 1950s and 1960s; the film seeks to be a more explicit reversal of the same sort of [[sexual fantasy]]. "The Butcheress" from the video game ''[[BloodRayne]]'' was modeled on Ilsa.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} In the 2007 film ''[[Grindhouse (film)|Grindhouse]]'', a faux trailer for a film called ''Werewolf Women of the S.S.'' by [[Rob Zombie]] was shown. It was inspired by ''Ilsa''.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} The lead female officer, Eva Krupp (played by Zombie's wife, [[Sheri Moon]]), can also be seen as an Ilsa-like character.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} ==External links== *{{imdb title | id=0071650 | title= Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS}} [[Category:1974 films]] [[Category:Films based on actual events]] [[Category:American films]] [[Category:English-language films]] [[Category:Sexploitation films]] [[Category:Film series]] [[cs:Ilsa, She Wolf of The SS]] [[de:Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS]] [[es:Ilsa, la loba de las SS]] [[fr:Ilsa, la louve des SS]] [[it:Ilsa, la belva delle SS]] [[nl:Ilsa (filmserie)]] [[ja:イルザ ナチ女収容所 悪魔の生体実験]]