Video Nasty: SS Experiment Camp (1976)

No rest for the wicked so back to the Nazi camp I go. Not that I'm lookin' fwd. today either , and not out of fear that I'll be tortured, and killed, but cause this has an even lower Imdb rating than SS Hell Camp, at 3.1, but if the same happens with this as Hell Camp, I'll be pleasently surprised, so without further to do, here I go to the:

Like yesterday it wastes no time, so straight to the SS camp we go where naked prisoner girls are being forced to swear allegiance to the fuhrer by means of electrocution, and if they don't, and at first they don't, it's lethal injections, and off to the crematory.

The grim, dark atmosphere tells me right away that this won't have the comic relief which made Hell Camp a fun but twisted ride. In other words, this will be much closer to the real thing, and probably much harder to sit through because of that, we'll see.

Once again we witness Nazi camp murder, torture, rape, sadism, nudity, orgies, and oh, did I mention hairy armpits?

Fine mix there for it to be banned, and labeled a nasty. This time it comes with a twist however as sexperiments are carried out between female prisoners, and Nazi soldiers to attempt creating the ultimate master race so the (un)lucky participants gets training through orgies, etc, and if they refuse to participate, they end up like this:

But it goes further than that as the head Nazi officer in charge decides he wants a new set of balls from a soldier younger than him, so to the operating table it goes where the surgery is shown in a drawn out vomit inducing sequence.

But when the young soldier finds he's impotent, and naturally goes "nuts" because of it by first approaching the officer who now possesses his family jewels, saying "You Bastard. what have you done with my Balls?", and from there on out, it's all down hill for the SSexperiment camp staff, but is justice served at the end?

What's good:
Funny at times, especially during the end, and when Nazis toast at a party they don't go "Cheers", but "Heil!" Hahaha. OK. The what have you done to my balls line was also worthy of some ROFLOL biz. The movie is at best somewhat realistic regarding what went on in those camps during the big one. The hot, and cold water torture shown in this film was one of the most painful SS torture methods according to a long gone friend, and neighbour of mine who was unfortunate enough to be a concentration camp prisoner during the war. The typical 70's Italian OST is ok, and has some catchy haunting tunes. Directing, acting, and all the other tech stuff is done well but not great by any means, the sets are fitting, and feels like it happened during WW2, and there's enough vileness goin' on for it to deserve it's video nasty stamp of disapproval. Well at least it was, back in the 80's, and this was no less than the movie that started the video nasty hysteria much because of it's original GO Video VHS cover art. GO video was also responsible for releasing Cannibal Holocaust, and more nasties, and of sending them to the censorship fanatics, hoping to get some extra promo that way, and they had Pandoras box wide opened at a level they hadn't dreamt of in their wildest nightmares, so SS Experiment Camp has to get props for kickin' off the vid nasty hysteria in the first place.

What's bad:
If it hadn't dropped before it, I'd say they tried to make a Holocaust for the big screen, but failed at that as it has few of the qualities that made the Holocaust TV series a masterpiece, so I doubt this hit many big screens if any at all. 3/4 of the movie is hella boring, and I was tempted to fast fwd. a lot, but it picks up in places, and towards the end. The love experiments are nothing but an excuse to show as much softcore porn as possible. Yawn. The testicle transplant scene almost had me puke, and that my friends has never happened to me, and I've seen a disgusting scene or two before surprisingly enough. That scene was hard to sit through, and has the power to make even the most jaded reach for the barf bag like it almost did to me though I'm fine now but not without scars, so as an endurance test I guess that scene's actually not a bad, but a good thing.

The Verdict:
Not all that much left to say really but it's not essential viewing,  however worth a one time watch to see if you can endure the worst bits, and to check the film that started the video nasty hysteria. Other than that it's pretty much boring, and worthless, so SS Hell Camp reviewed here yesterday was a way better example of a good Nazi explo film.

Rating: 2/6

Video Nasty: SS Hell Camp (1977)

Yay! Finally back again with more video nasty reviews after another two year absence, but I was locked up at Hell Camp, and oh no, now it seems I have to go right back there!

Because today's nasty is none other than the infamous SS Hell Camp aka Beast In Heat, and here we go with some Italian Nazi flick madness which should be fun so let me break out the old Gestapo uniform, and Mein Kampf to get in the mood to enjoy the SS havin' fun @ experiment camp!

Ok. That was a joke, and a bad one at that, as I don't consider WW2 Nazi atrocities fun entertainment, but it's a video nasty so it has to be reviewed. My expectations are low with an Imdb rating of 3.4, but the shock value should still be worth it. Only one way to find out, so let's do this!


Plot:
First thing we see is a Swastika, then it's straight off to the Nazi camp where atrocious experiments take place on the poor prisoners, and nothing's left to the imagination, to the sound of a sinister 80's style synth score, which is far from a masterpiece, but gets the job done.

The oh so notably beautiful, but oh so evil Dr. Ellen Kratsch is portrayed by Macha Magall, (un)known for a handful of not so notable Italian erotic, and Nazii exploitation films, does a great, and believable job here as the head Nazi mistress in charge. Why the hell didn't she do more films? She has only nine to her credit, and looking as great as she does, one would think she could've done a lot more, but at least we get to see just about all there is of her in this movie. ;)

She's got an experiment goin' where a 100% retarded beast of a man is injected by something that makes him go bonkers. He rapes, screams, howls, growls, drools, etc through his entire screen time, and his favorite dish is pubic hair!

All that during the first 30 minutes! So far, so gross. Of course, even a nasty can't be all sex, and violence, so there's a plot too. Imagine that! It's your basic WW2 Resistance vs. Nazis with plenty of battlefield action.

Of course there's also brainwashed, sadistic SS including this guy who gets a call from a superior, and when Der Fuhrer called it was "Stop your grinnin', and drop your linen'!"His girlfriend has a habit of yelling "Heil Hitler!" while jumping naked on their bed too.

The plot switches back, and forth between the Nazi camp experiments, the Nazi vs. Resistance fight, sadism, torture, violence, rape, and twisted sexual desires, so it's all lined up for some of the good old video nasty business here.

The arguably worst scene has the Nazis throwing a baby in the air, then shooting it with a machine gun, which is up there with the worst scenes from any video nasty.

And they all look like they're having so much fun doin' it, and get turned on sexually by it, and so much, the head Nazi bitch in charge cuts off this poor dude's dick too.

As it was in WW2, the Nazis get limited time to do evil though as the Resistance closes in on them which results in a final showdown at the experiment camp, and by then it's gonna be hard for the Nazis to save their asses even if they have the Gestapo version of Laurel & Hardy coming to their rescue:

What's good:
I expected this to be bad so I waited for years to view it but was pleasently surprised actually. It has enough sex, violence, gore, torture, etc to deserve being a video nasty, and though I'm sure it was supposed to disgust, and apall the viewers it does that yes but is often un-, and intentionally funny, especially Salvatore Baccaro as the caged beast who's performance is so over the top we rarely see anything like it, and none quite as savage as him, so that alone is worth the price of a free download, and even a purchase as this can be viewed repeatedly with no problems, and is a great one to disgust your friends by showing them the demented delights of a true video nasty. It's fast paced, has lots of nudity, and once again I gotta stress how hot the Nazi experiment mistress is even though she's pure evil.

What's bad:
The fight coreography is clumsy, and I can't help but wonder if the Nazi vs. Resistance plot was such a good move as it would've been more interesting to stay at the camp more but hey it sorta mixes the hardcore atrocities up with a basic action war movie a bit for some relief. There's also a fighter plane which is definitely a toy plane model. See for yourself below, but that too makes for some unintentionally fun moments.

Verdict:
Luigi Batzella is miles away from one of the best Italian directors being best known for the lackluster Nude For Satan, but hit more of a home run with SS Hell Camp. I was pleasantly surprised, and had a twisted fun time watching this. The Beast is insane, the acting was passable for such a C grade flick, the nasty bits were fun, and makes the film rewatchable for shock value, and Macha Magall was a hottie! Way better than I thought it would be, and the Imdb rating, so I'm lookin' fwd. to reviewing the next video nasty which is also an Italian Nazisploitation flick. If you like 70's trashy shock cinema, violent video nasties, and have a no holds barred sense of humour, then by all means give this one a shot.

 Rating: 4/6