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S.S. Experiment Love Camp (1976)
By lngway2go | April 21, 2008
(aka SS Experiment Camp, Captive Women II: Orgies of the Damned, Lager SSadis Kastrat Kommandantur)
Director: Sergio Garrone
Writer: Sergio Chiusi, Sergio Garrone
Music: Vasili Kojucharov, Robert Pregadio
Starring: Paola Corazzi, Almina De Sanzio, Attilio Dottesio, Giovanna Mainardi
In the exploitation arena of film making there is apparently no subject that is off limits. The horrific acts of the Nazi’s and their treatment of Jews in the concentration camps of Germany is definitely not off limits. There has been a slew of, dare I say, highly entertaining films in this subgenre.
The Nazi concentration camp films began with the Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter (1974), and we were then graced with a whole slew of classics of exploitation with the likes of Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975), Salon Kitty (1976), and Beast in Heat (1977). But who could forget SS Experiment Love Camp? This was the film that began the “Video Nasty” madness in England, during the rise of Video in the early 80’s. The cover art of its initial release depicting a woman hung upside down, almost completely naked, in kind of upside down cross, was discovered by some highly offended individual. All hell soon broke loose, and nothing was quite the same again.
A number of female Jewish prisoners have been sent to a German concentration camp for a series of experiments ordered by the Fuhrer. If you need any help in figuring out what those experiments might be, well lets have a look again at the title: SS Experiment Love Camp.
Hot off the front lines a number of Germany’s best soldiers have been pulled to help with this special assignment. They don’t quite know what the experiments are, but are hoping for some action with all the women around the camp. It appears that the Fuhrer wants to improve the master race by conduction experiments into reproduction, and the countries best soldiers are sure to be able to improve the master race.
As with any test into fertility, the first thing you need to do is get a couple of willing participants (or unwilling, whatever the case may be) getting it on in a tank of water. Luckily, SS Experiment Love Camp is not amiss on this vital test, even having a tank in which you can turn the heat up and down in - just in case things get too hot or not hot enough! In these first experiments, along with the wave making couple, the other participants are left to get things going in a more traditional bed scenario. I’m still personally trying to figure out how getting German soldiers to rape Jewish women is going to help improve the master race. A ‘master race’ that wanted to eliminateall Jewish blood, the inferior race, but it seems I’m thinking way to hard right about now.
The Love Camp portion of the title of the film is not far off because there is love in the air. One German soldier, Helmet (I am not joking), who have been enlisted to help with the experiments has been making eyes at one of the female prisoners, and she’s been making some eyes back. Luckily for them, they have to experiment together, and their love blossoms in this vile place. Another couple isn’t so lucky though. When the woman really isn’t into the man she was paired with, claiming “He’s not my type” she is exposed to the full ”terror” of the water tank. In order to cure her fridged nature she is put in the water tank and the heat is turned up to boil, and she quickly begins to cook. She’s seems to warm up to their ideas pretty quick, so they decide to cool her down again. But instead of just cooling her down, they freeze her alive in the tank (or cover her in cotton wool - you get to decide!), and it’s off to the furnace for her.
The film began with a woman being thrown into a furnace after being killed on an electric chair. Along with other naked bodies in the furnace the flames devour them… but you can’t help but chuckle when the bodies start dancing about in the ”fire”. The pain the dead bodies must be enduring!!
The Colonel of the camp has his own agenda in regards to the experiments. When his manhood was manhandled in a war zone after raping a woman he has some reproduction issues of his own. He bribes the doctor into doing a transplant in order to cure his problem. The doctor has to agree after it is revealed that the Colonel knows his secret, that of being a master surgeon who is hiding his identity from the German’s. Handy that!
So the surgeon begins to prepare for the surgery by experimenting on the women in the camp, transplanting their ovaries, only to have the women die on him during the procedure. The doctor complains about the wasted loss of life, but is forced to carry on.
The Colonel has his man picked out for his transplant and invites Helmet to his office one evening to see just how well he performs. A couple of women from the camp brothel come for a visit and the Colonel watches as Helmet gets down to business with the women. When Helmet later confesses of his love for the woman in the camp, the Colonel offers Helmet a way to be with his love forever, by volunteering to be part of a surgical experiment. He is given one more night with the woman of his dreams and then the surgery begins, little does he know what is about to happen.
After a night of bliss with his love Helmet’s testicles are removed during the operation. Maybe it’s just me, but these things are enormous, the size of eggs! The Colonel receives these humongous objects, and in a matter of hours he’s ready to try them out, and who wouldn’t be?? Those German’s are a tough sort. Amazingly enough they work!
Helmet on the other hand… starts getting really mad when he can’t perform. He doesn’t realize he is missing his egg sized friends and so begins his enraged journey to find out what happened to him in surgery. When he gets his answer he confronts the colonel and asks “What have you been doing with my balls?” to which he responses “I’ve been trying them out and seeing how they feel”. Hilarious!
In reality SS Experiment Love Camp is a pretty tame affair. There isn’t any extremely nasty torture of the inmates. Compared to something like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS it is almost a Disney movie. There is torture, a couple women are put in an electric chair and forced to pledge allegiance to the Fuhrer. Some of the women have a pressure test conducted on their ears to see what kind of pressure the ear drum will with stand, not very shocking, but it is pretty mean! The most shocking moment though is when the female doctor takes an interest in one of the prisoners, subjecting the prisoner to a naked examination with the doctors mouth…stomach turning stuff!
There really isn’t much of anything that makes sense in SS Experiment; from the dancing furnace scenes, to the illogical use of Jews to create a master race, and the fact that if you had a couple of egg sized testicles removed you might actually notice. But still, this is what makes the film entertaining, and entertaining it surely is. If you want compelling viewing, and some sense of realistic logic, stick to Schindler’s List, but SS Experiment Love Camp is schlock at its greatest.
Exploitation Digital have been releasing a slew of these SS films, films with appalling bad taste, but trust me I’m not complaining. After first witnessing Ilsa, She Wolf Of The SS some years ago, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for the SS films. Exploitation Digital’s releases are somewhat varied in their quality, and unfortunately SS Experiment Love Camp is one of those that have suffered slightly. The picture is nice and crisp, and the colors seem well balanced, but the sound is really appalling. It is only a mono soundtrack, which is fine in itself, but the levels are far too low and I had to really crank the TV up to get a decent level. Which is a shame as it’s an otherwise really nice, and yes, essential release.
Specifications: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Extras: Trailer, Photo Gallery, Exploitation Digital Trailers, Interview with Sergio Garrone
Topics: SSploitation, Video Nasty |
March 29th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
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