Written by: Michael Den Boer on December 24th, 2006
Theatrical Release Dates: Italy, 1977
Director: Sergio Garrone
Cast: Mircha Carven, Paola Corazzi, Giorgio Cerioni, Giovanna Mainardi, Serafino Profumo, Attilio Dottesio, Patrizia Melega
DVD released: July 12th, 2005
Approximate running time: 94 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: N/A
DVD Release: Media Blasters/Exploitation Digital
Region Coding: Region 1 NTSC
Retail Price: $29.95
Synopsis: The Nazi’s round up some of the most attractive women and send them to a camp where they are expected to make love with some of the Nazi’s soldiers in hope of making an unstoppable master race. Those who refuse to cooperate are subjected to cruel and painful experiments. While all of this is happening one of the soldiers named Helmut falls in love with one of the women prisoners and when he hears that he is going to be shipped out he agrees to take part in a dangerous experiment in order to stay close to the women he loves.
SS Experiment Love Camp was directed by Sergio Garrone who also directed the Nazi exploitation classic SS Camp Women’s Hell and the surreal western Django the Bastard. Garrone’s direction immediately draws you in and even though this film made cheap and quickly his sense of visual style gives the film a more polished look overall. The story is simple and one that has been used many times over with in the Nazi exploitation genre.
There is a twist that sets this apart from just being a retread about the Nazi and their diabolical experiments. This twist involves a lunatic Colonel Von Kleiben who has become impotent because of an accident and now he has become obsessed with regaining his manhood. This personalizing of the madness behind the experiments is unique and when it is revealed what the experiment involves it is without a doubt one of the most disturbing moments you will ever encounter in a film like this.
Another bizarre twist that sets this story a part from most of its ilk is the love story that develops between a German solider and a prisoner. Most soldiers just take what they want and falling in love almost feels taboo and out of place in this type of story. The organ transplants which are shown in this film are not for the faint of heart. The is plenty of torture that occurs though out this film with the most memorable scene of torturing occurring when one of the girls who just tried to kill a solider is then hung naked and bleeding to death upside down in the courtyard.
The dialog is delirious and the acting often goes overboard. The story is meant to be shocking and this level it succeeds. The score is above the quality I would have expected for a film of this nature. The films only minor set back is that the story tends to drag at times and even though it has its fare share nastiness it might not be sadistic enough for most viewers.
The DVD:
SS Experiment Love Camp is presented in an anamorphic widescreen that preserves the films original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Colors look nicely saturated and details look sharp through out. There are no problems with compression or artifacts and the source material used for this transfer is in great shape.
This release comes with one audio option an English language track which is presented in a Dolby Digital mono. There are a few instances when the dialog sounds a tad thin and the audio needs to be adjusted. There are no problems with distortion or any other major sound defects. Overall this audio mix sounds evenly balanced and it is more then adequate as it gets the job done.
Extras for this release include SS Experiment Love Camp, SS Girls, SS Hell Camp, Yellow Emanuelle and Porno Holocaust. This release also comes with a brief photo gallery. The main extra for this release is a ten minute interview with director Sergio Garrone who discusses researching the holocaust for the film, the Nazi exploitation genre and censorship.
Keeping in line with their previous Nazi exploitation releases like the cover art for this release is another stand out effort from Exploitation Digital. Sergio Garrone’s SS Experiment Love Camp is one of the few Nazi exploitation films to perfectly balance story with the more trashy elements we have come too expert while watching these type of films. Exploitation Digital gives one of the best films ever to come out of the cycle of films known as Nazi exploitation a fully loaded DVD release that is sure to please hardcore fans and first time viewers of this film.