Sergio Garrone's first foray into nazisploitation and to be brutally honest it's considerably uninspired. SS Experiment Love Camp, also known as Lager SSadis Kastrat Kommandantur and SS Experiment Camp. Starring: Mircha Carven, Paola Corazzi, Giorgio Cerioni and Serafino Profumo.

First making a name for itself by being one of the most notorious during the video nasty witch hunt of mid-'80s Britannia. Made a year before Batzella's The Beast In Heat (1977). Garrone's SS Experiment Love Camp has a marginally rich depth to its story, given the subject matter and questionable plot devices, a few off the top of my head include; torture, surgical experimentation, castration and of course love.

The picture essentially showcases atrocities taking place at an unspecified concentration camp. Female POWs are subjected to repeated raping from a selection of German soldiers, in an attempt to...umm learn something? Or perhaps aid the creation of the 'super' race, either way they're definitely taking a page out of Mengele's book. Running alongside this is a Colonel (Cerioni) who needs a new set of balls - after having them bit off/mutilated by a woman he attempted to rape, a female POW (Corazzi) who falls in love with a German soldier named Helmut (Carven), a misogynistic Sergeant (Profumo) and a doctor working against his will.

Helmut - the said soldier in love strikes a deal with Col. von Kleiben, he will volunteer to be the second subject for an experiment so long as he is allowed to stay at the base and continue seeing Mirelle (his love). Unbeknown to him the experiment is really a ball transplant for the scheming von Kleiben, culminating with Helmut going 'nuts' when he tries to make love to Mirelle and thus sets out to seek revenge against von Kleiben. To be honest, it's really in the last 10 - 15 minutes when this film comes together and truly entertains the viewer.

I have intentionally used 'friendly' images as to not have my blog reported for not having a warning for adult material. So, apologies if they are somewhat boring.



I was disappointed by SS Experiment Love Camp, I think I hyped it up to something of a super sleaze-tacular and what I got was more snooze-tacular. The wooden acting, bad script and scraping of the proverbial barrel production values are only further marred by the sluggish pace, overly long scenes of dialogue scenes, a complete lack of style, and the most important ingredient sleaze. Yes there's boobs, yes there's bums, yes there's some scenes of dodgy surgery, but they're just so few and far between that aside from the boobs and bums and human experimentation there's little to captivate one's attention.
Seek only if you want to watch your way through the nasty list; if you're a nazisploitation fan it's likely you've already seen it.

I thought I would switch things up a bit and tackle a double bill of Vicente Aranda's The Blood Spattered Bride (1972) and Luigi Batzella's The Beast In Heat (1977). The Blood Spattered Bride Starting off a little like a kitsch Hammer flick, I quickly began to feel the warmth and familiarity I feel when watching European films of this era. Starring Simon Andreu and Maribel Martin as a newlywed couple. It is clear that Susan (Martin) is having trouble adjusting to married life and is becoming scared of her husband and his increasing sexual dominance and violent ways. She soon begins to believe that she is being visited by a spectral Mircalla Karstein (Alexandra Bastedo) who 200 years ago murdered her husband. She also happens to be a descendant of Susan's husband. Now Mircalla wants Susan to take a page out of her book and kill her husband. Apologies if that is extremely convoluted, Simon Andreu's character is simply referred to as 'The Husband'. The Blood Spattered Bride deals with misogyny, virginity and lesbianism through metaphor, without it really becoming tasteless and sleazy. A scene worth of a note; when Susan is first 'visited' by Mircalla Karstein and given the dagger, the entire sequence has a strobe effect adding a real dreamlike quality to it. It also ends with Mircalla kissing Susan in what would appear to be a vampiric manner introducing a supernatural element to the story. The film's plot has some minor gaps in logic which are easily overlooked and aided by sublime climax. Coupled with exquisitely dreary mise en scene and a picturesque autumnal backdrop, atmosphere is something this film doesn't fall short on. A stylish, tasteful, slightly janky paced entry into the Euro horror genre. A film that will continue to gain fans year in, year out. DVD: Blue Underground Running Time: 101 Mins Extras: U.S. Combo Theatrical Trailer The Beast In Heat A film from the morally bankrupt niche sub-genre, Nazisploitation. And a film which harbours a number of the most ridiculous scenes ever committed to celluloid. Within the first 5 minutes we see The Beast (Salvatore Baccaro) doing his thing to an unlucky female prisoner. The plot is absurd to the max, a female doctor within the Nazi war machine has created a neanderthal man-beast sex fiend who bonks victims to death. I still can't fathom how creating an aphrodisiac laced throwback fits in with the larger picture of world domination, but what do I know. Working against the scientific abomination and his cruel mistress, Officer/Doctor Ellen Kratsch (Macha Magall), are a group of resistance soldiers who intend on overthrowing their town's occupation. The film is unfortunately runs at a snails pace and the promise of something gruesome are very much few and far between. Featuring poor set pieces and drab cinematography, it ranks low. If you're into cinematic oddities and Nazi war crimes, you've likely already endured The Beast In Heat. DVD: Exploitation Digital (Shriek Show) Running Time: 86 Mins Extras: Photo Gallery, Trailer and Shriek Show Trailers.