I continue my series where I show my Blu-ray/ DVD collection. I start off the video mentioning two DVDs I missed talking about before, Black Christmas (2006) and George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. From there, I continue from where I last off with the letters J-N.
Title: Nazithon: Decade of Destruction Director: Charles Band Writer: Kent Roudebush Cast: Michelle ''Bombshell'' McGee, Ian Roberts Min: 80
In a bunker, Frau Bombshell (Michelle ''Bombshell'' McGee) is accompanied by a silent Nazi solider. She hosts a bunch of Naziploitation and Nazi centered exploitation movie trailers. They are shock of full babes, violence, gore, torture, and/ or the supernatural.
Nazithon: Decadence and Destruction is a heartwarming trailer collection from Charles Band and Full Moon's Grindhouse Collection. Our host, Michelle ''Bombshell'' McGee, is best known as the chick who broke up Sandra Bullock's marriage to Jesse James. She also appeared in some pics online where she wore a swastika armband. Her appearing on this collection can be seen either as distasteful and sleazy or as pure exploitation sensibility. I'll go with the former. Everything here is done with tongue firmly in cheek as an exploitation trailer collection should be. McGee is not a great host, not by a long shot, but she is adequate and serves her purpose. At least, I suppose she does.
The trailers are broken up into sections: Nazi camps, Nazi babes, Neo-Nazis, and supernatural Nazis. The last two add a bit of variety to the sick mix by focusing on blaxploitation (The Black Gestapo) and various biker flicks (The Tormentors and others) for Neo-Nazis, while the last section is all horror flicks. Nazi zombies (Zombie Lake, Shockwaves,etc.) and even Nazi ghosts (Death Ship) are featured.
All of the trailers are fun. In case of the first half centering on Naziploitation, they are in considerable bad taste. They are also usually really bad movies, so the truth is that many of their trailers are better than the films themselves! Among the movies of this nasty sub-genre presented here are: SS Camp 5: Women’s Hell, SS Hell Camp, SS Experiment Love Camp, Salon Kitty (a genuine classic of the sub-genre), and more. Also included are trailers for all of the Ilsa movies, which are generally considered the creme-de-la-creme in exploitation circles.
Tossed among the trailers are clips from two movies. First off is Video Nasty SS Hell Camp (AKA The Beast in Heat) (pictured above). Seeing the clip they show here may lead you to believe that this is a great movie with a hot and evil chick. Well, she certainly is hot and evil, but the movie is pretty far from being good at all. Meanwhile, the clip from Jean Rollin's Zombie Lake almost put me to sleep. But, honestly that's about the only weak part in an otherwise fun compilation.
Nazithon: Decadence and Destruction is a fun and not very politically correct trailer collection of a pretty tasteless sub-genre. Centering on Naziploitation and Nazi-centered sex and violence movies, it might not be for everyone. However, if you are not offended by subject matter and, most specially, if you are curious about it, dive right in! After all, Charles Band truly knows how to put these trailer collections (The Best of Sex and Violence anyone?) successfully together, and this perversely fun edition is no different.
Title: Gestapo's Last Orgy (AKA The Gestapo's Last Orgy, L'ultima orgia del III Reich) Writers/ Director: Cesare Canevari Cast: Adriano Micantoni, Daniela Poggi (as Daniela Levy), Maristella Greco, Fulvio Ricciardi, Antinska Nemour, Caterina Babero Running Time: 92 min
Lise Cohen (Daniela Poggi, here under the name Daniela Levy) gives testimony in a Nazi war crimes trial that helps to set Commandant Starker (Adriano Micantoni) free. She takes him to the now abandoned concentration camp, where we flashback years ago to the time she was a prisoner there.
Back then he ran a camp where Jewish women were separated based on their beauty and tortured, raped, and killed by Nazi officers. During a repulsive dinner, where Jewish baby meat is consumed and a Jewish woman in immolated, Lise shows him, that she wishes to die. To teach her a nightmarish lesson, he instead keeps her alive and tortures her physically and emotionally. Eventually, perhaps due to her own strong will and immense beauty, he falls in love with her. Has she bought him here to this very hellhole, to rekindle their "relationship" or for vengeance?
This entry in the short lived, but nasty Italian cycle of Naziploitation films, is one of the very best of the lot. It's also one of the sickest. It draws it's inspiration from the two movies, that most of these films, do: Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS and The Night Porter. The later seems to be a much bigger influence, in the similar plot of former prisoner and Nazi officer having relationship. Though this one is exceedingly more extreme. I'll talk about that in a bit, but first let's talk about it's Ilsa influence.
We have a sexy, perverse, and evil female Nazi officer named Alma (the gorgeous Maristella Greco) with a fondness for grabbing men's balls while torturing women, feeding menstruating women to her Doberman, panties made of Jewish women skin, and other sick acts. She's a twisted individual for sure, but plays less of a role than other women in some other movies like this.
The aforementioned relationship, between the Nazi who runs the camp and the beautiful blonde captive is definitely uncomfortable to watch. But, it is just one of many points that make's it a movie that is anything but fun. It itself apart from the others like it, because it is devoid of the campieness or stupidity that frequently overruns these movies. Now, I have seen quite a few of these movies, and I find them hard to take seriously or even really enjoy on even the basest of levels.
The best of this cycle (not counting Ilsa or arthouse stuff like the Night Porter) that I had seen up until now were, decent, at best, with most just being plain shit. This one is a damn good movie, though, albeit a thoroughly repellent one. Perhaps it is not as gory as others are, but it's far more extreme in it's content of lesbian incest, cannibalism, coprophagia, immolation, torture, and other atrocities.
At the same time it's all very well acted, in particular, by it's two leads Levy and Micantoni, both of whom give memorable and strong performances. Greco also gives a great performance as Alma that is evil, cruel, and, yet, sexy. Meanwhile, writer/ director Canevari crafts a movie filled with dichotomies here. One that is vile, repellant, sick, disgusting, and thoroughly exploitative. Yet, it's also poignant, moving, and artistically shot. The beautiful, soaring score by Alberto Baldan Bembo is something not typically associate with movies like this.
The movie is one of Britain's banned Video Nasties, and it more than lives up to it's sick reputation. It maintains a disturbing feeling throughout it's running time. But, it's because it take its subject matter in a more serious manner, that it stands heads and shoulders above the more laughable or snooze inducing crap in this questionable sub-genre. Yet, it still remains firmly an exploitation movie.
Abhorrent but yet shockingly good, Gestapo's Last Orgy isn't a easy movie to recommend. The subject matter, alone, should be enough to repel many an audience member. But, if you are curious about the movie based on it's reputation or interested in higher quality extreme cinema or looking for a quality entry in this cycle of Italian sleaze, then this one is for you. But, be warned even one, even as jaded as I was left feeling uncomfortable, even with the mere concept of liking it. And, perhaps that, in of itself, is the best complement that I can give it.
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