The first time I saw Ilsa She Wolf Of The SS, I was in a downtown Chicago grindhouse after fellow Art Institute students had told me about this film. This was before the internet, when word of mouth could make or break a picture. Those of us who saw the film on its first release tend to talk about it the same way people talk about where they were when JFK was shot or 911 happened.
My friends said things like, “Most shocking film I’ve ever seen”, “I couldn’t believe it”, “I was disgusted but couldn’t look away”. These were students who had seen Un Chien Andalou with its eye splitting scene, Stan Brakhage’s The Act Of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes which showed a complete real autopsy. When it came to film we were already a very jaded bunch. But Ilsa shocked my friends who had already seen those films.
Grindhouse theaters typically had a rat clearing show early in the morning, so my friends and I could catch the latest black film, horror movie or kung fu movie before class. I learned never to put my popcorn down on the floor after a friend of mine took a handful of popcorn and put it under the aisle light at the end of our row and within seconds it was swarming with mice. To this day I never, and I mean never, put my popcorn on the floor. I don’t care how clean and sterile the theater is.
It was the days of the real Mayor Daley, whose law firm partner ran a bookie joint out of Schaller’s Pump bar and restaurant. A building inspector could be bought off for a box of popcorn and $20. Chicago was so corrupt it was thrilling.
My friends were right. I sat watching the film, which by the way was well made, in shock. I had never seen a film like this before. If it wasn’t for Dyanne Thorne’s over the top campy performance, I’m not even sure the film would be watchable. But I had to admit, by the end I had seen a film like no other movie. Here is an interview with Dyanne Thorne.
“Dyanne Thorne began her career in show business as a band vocalist and New York stage actress. She also worked as a comedic sketch artist/talking foil. Comedy albums, with Allen & Rossi, Vaughn Meader and Lohman & Barkley, earned her appearances on many TV variety shows such as The Tonight Show, Red Skelton, Steve Allen, Merv Griffin, and with Tim Conway at Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas.
Filmed in New York City, Thorne's first major film role was in Norman Chaitin's short Encounter (1965), which was also an early screen credit for Robert De Niro. Moving to Hollywood to appear in Star Trek, and star as another villainess in Crown International's thriller Point of Terror (1971), led to further film roles.
In 1975, Thorne married composer, conductor, musician and actor Howard Maurer. The couple subsequently starred in five films together, co-produced and starred in several Las Vegas Strip showroom productions and their careers took them around the world.
As an actress, Thorne was known for her characterisation of the heinous international dominatrix and soldier of fortune "Ilsa". After her debut as Ilsa in Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975), she reprised the role in the sequels Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks (1976), Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia and an unofficial entry Greta, the Mad Butcher (both 1977), the last directed by Jess Franco.
Thorne died in Las Vegas on January 28, 2020, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 83.” Wiki
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All 3 plus 1 Ilsa Movies click here
ILSA SHE WOLF OF THE SS
Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is a 1975 Canadian exploitation film about Ilsa, a sadistic and sexually voracious Nazi prison camp commandant. The film is directed by American filmmaker Don Edmonds and produced by David F. Friedman for Cinépix Film Properties in Montreal. The film stars Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, who is loosely based on Ilse Koch, a convicted war criminal and overseer at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Upon its release in early 1975, the film was immediately met with widespread controversy and critical derision, with Gene Siskel calling it "the most degenerate picture I have seen to play downtown". Particular criticism was directed at the film's graphic violence; which includes depictions of castration, flogging, human experimentation, and many other forms of torture. Word of mouth quickly spread, and the film was a considerable financial success, becoming a staple of grindhouse and drive-in theatres.
The popularity of the film led to the creation of three sequels, each of which saw Thorne reprise her role. The film's infamy eventually evolved into a considerable cult following, with the character of Ilsa becoming a pop cultural icon ubiquitous with "strong, aggressive" female authority. The film is considered one of the prominent entries of the Nazisploitation sub-genre, and to a lesser degree the sexploitation sub-genre.
Ilsa was given a wide release in the United States and Canada in October 1975. It was rejected by the British Board of Film Censors in June 1975 and remains unreleased in the country. It was also banned in Australia, Germany, and Norway.
Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks
Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks is a 1976 sexploitation women in prison film, the first sequel to Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS
Ilsa comes back from the dead to torture more voluptuous young women with titty squeezing devices and explosive birth control pills that make you explode if you fuck too hard. This time for the Muslims.
I’ve been surprised that this and Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS have actually both been solid movies. Of course they won’t be for everyone—there’s lots of sex and violence and nude chicks everywhere you look, but at least they feel well made and feel like people cared enough about them to try and make a decent product. Over the top and ridiculous yes, but also something I can recommend if you want to watch a film that’s a little…different. - Horror News
Ilsa, the Wicked Warden
Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (originally released as Greta: Haus Ohne Männer, and also known as Greta, the Mad Butcher, Ilsa: Absolute Power, and Wanda, the Wicked Warden) is a 1977 sexploitation film directed by Jesús Franco and starring Dyanne Thorne.The film is considered to be the third entry in the Ilsa film series, but was not originally filmed with the intent of being as such, despite starring Dyanne Thorne. The film's plot follows Greta, a warden at a psychiatric hospital for young women, and a girl who feigns illness so that she can investigate what happened to her sister who stayed at the hospital.
Ilsa, the Wicked Warden contained scenes of graphic violence, which writer Ric Meyers commented was "sicker" than its predecessor in its depictions. Meyer also opined that the movie had been filmed at the same time as Franco's Barbed Wire Dolls due to the shared cast and setting of the two movies.
Ilsa, the Tigress of Siberia
Poor Ilsa (you haven’t heard that very often, have you?). I feel like, deep down, all she’s ever tried to do was prove that women can be as strong as, if not stronger than, men. It’s a valiant enough goal, but I think the problem lays in her methods. Running a Nazi prison camp, a slavery ring, and an abusive women’s prison, while simultaneously trying to essentially take over the world, are often activities that are frowned upon. And so, when Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia tries again, this time as “Comrade Colonel” of a 1950’s Siberian gulag (after once again being miraculously resurrected), you almost just want to give her a hug and ask her to maybe look into a new hobby.
It is Siberia, 1953, and Ilsa has taken control of Gulag 14, a camp for political prisoners in which the Stalinist army attempts to break down their prisoners both physically and mentally. In the whispers around the country, it is said that anyone sent to Gulag 14 never returns. And so, much like in Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS, we watch as various prisoners are tortured and killed.
Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia could have just been a recreation of the original Ilsa movie, but instead shifts gears about one third of the way in. When word comes that Stalin is dead, Ilsa has to.. you'll see.
Review w/spoilers, like that matters
Watch all 4 films here:
The Ilsa Endurance Test
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