Once one of the most obscure and notorious video nasties, SS Hell Camp AKA The Beast in Heat is now here for all to see on DVD via US cult specialists Shriek Show.
Whether it matchs expectation depends on what you're were expecting.
If you're after something competently made, maybe even thought-provoking then this isn't the Nazi exploitation film you're looking for, move along.
But if jaw-dropping sleaze and tastelessness is your thing and you're willing to endure a lot of boring and ludicrous crap along the way, then you could do worse.
Some idea of what we're in for is apparent as early as the credits.
First thing is they unfold over a pink swastika – fine for a Bruce La Bruce gay nazi porno, but a touch mood-destroying before we've even begun here.
Second thing is their brevity and the prevalence of obvious pseudonyms, as if almost no-one wanted their involvement made public.
Seasoned scholars of Italian exploitation will, however, soon recognise Salvatore Baccaro AKA Sal Boris in the title role. If Luciano Pigozzi/Alan Collins is "the Italian Peter Lorre", Baccaro/Boris must be "the Italian Rondo Hatton", doubtless getting the role here because his naturally neanderthal-like physiognomy saved a few lire on make-up.
Here Boris is supposedly the pinnacle of Dr Ellen Kratsch's experiments into transforming normal men into subservient beasts of burden. Well, that or a psychotic rape beast who fucks to death any female that falls within his clutches…
After a demonstration of his priapic potency, complete with whacked out camerawork and gurns of ecstasy from Boris, apparently enjoying his work, we switch our attention to a group of partisans.
This is where it gets boring and, believe it or not, technically worse as the inane dialogue, awful dubbing, amateurish direction and performances are joined by liberal dollops of mismatched battle footage culled from director Luigi Batzella/Ivan Kathansky/Paolo Solvay's equally inept 1970 WWII (in)actioner When the Bell Tolls .
And so it continues for the next hour or so, interminable intrigues and shoot outs enlivened by some nudity and inventive nastiness – fingernail pulling, baby skeet shooting, frenzied rats (well, guinea pigs) clawing their way through a woman's chest – until, well, watch and find out…
Bizarrely there are also some things – a partisan being KO'd with a frying pan as the Nazi's approach, a priest driven to action by Nazi desecration of his church – that reminded me of Roberto Rossellini's Rome Open City .
Only in Italian exploitation…
Given the nature of the film, the presentation here on this R1 disc – anamorphic widescreen no less – is more than adequate. Indeed, it almost feels too good at times, making the mismatched stock footage more obvious and lacking the illicit 'aura' of an old bootleg dupe VHS.
The extras package comprises a four-page essay on the Nazi exploitation genre, the film's trailer and those for some other Shriek Show releases, including Elsa Fraulein SS for those who can't get enough tits, ass and swastika…
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
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