Rent Ilsa the Wicked Warden (1977)
2.5 of 5 from 56 ratings
1h 27min
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- Synopsis:
Greta del Pino is the sadistic warden of a female concentration camp thinly disguised as an asylum, somewhere in South America. This terrible place is the last destination of the undesirable elements in an obviously fascist state. Protected by the government, Greta is unassailable and has absolute power over the lives of her prisoners. A girl almost manages to escape, but at the last moment her pursuers catch her on the porch of the humanitarian Dr. Arcos, who is disturbed by the obvious indifference for the life of the young woman displayed by Greta and her henchmen. Dr. Arcos brings the case to a human rights organisation, which can see no way of getting through the red-tape of protection and corruption. Aby Philips, the sister of the girl Arcos saw being abused, persuades him to smuggle her into the so-called asylum. She is determined to find her sister, even though it seems almost impossible. After her arrival at the asylum, she endures humiliation at the hands of sadistic wardens and fellow inmates. There's one obnoxious lesbian called Juana whom Greta likes to use as a human pin-cushion. Juana promises to tell Aby about the whereabouts of her sister. Unfortunately, Greta gets wind of this .... - Actors:
- Dyanne Thorne, Tania Busselier, Lina Romay, Eric Falk, Angela Ritschard, Howard Maurer, Esther Studer, Peggy Markoff, Esther Moser, Jesús Franco, Dagmar Bürger, Lorli Bucher, Sandra L. Brennan, Alex Exler, Karl Gysling, Roman Huber, Mike Lederer, Sigad Sharaf
- Directors:
- Jesús Franco
- Writers:
- Erwin C. Dietrich, Jesús Franco
- Studio:
- Anchor Bay
- Genres:
- Drama, Horror
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Reviews (1) of Ilsa the Wicked Warden
Spoilers follow ... - Ilsa the Wicked Warden review by NP
This Jess Franco/Erwin C. Dietrich collaboration is sometimes considered a very loose continuation of the ‘Ilsa’ series that began two years earlier with ‘Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS’, also starring Dyanne Thorne in the title role. As you may expect, this is also known as a variety of titles: ‘Greta, the Mad Butcher’, ‘Ilsa: Absolute Power’, and ‘Wanda, the Wicked Warden’. These changes in title, and in the name of the lead character, suggest this film might not have been initially intended as part of the series at all.
So, then – Abbie Philips (Tania Busselier) is admitted into an austere psychiatric hospital for women. Unbeknownst to all, she is here because of false pretences: with the help of Doctor Milton Arcas (Jess Franco), who has long suspected foul play at the establishment but been unable to do anything about it, Abbie, or ‘No 41’, is a ‘plant’, here to find out what happened to her sister and possibly rescue her. She comes across perverse Juan (played by the always excellent Lina Romay, as cute as a button in a bob cut), ostensibly the ‘top dog’ amongst the women, and secretly the lesbian lover of terrifying chief warden Isla (or Wanda, or Greta, of course).
This follows very much the pattern of other Franco ‘women in prison’ fantasies I have seen. The very effective – even restrained – scenes of torture are few and far between but pretty shockingly realised. For all his invasive camera techniques, Jess rarely lingers on gore, and that is the case here (although the abrupt ending is a pleasing exception), although what there is, is realistically (and painfully) conveyed. The dubbing is a lot better than on non-Dietrich collaborations, and Jess’s direction is deceptively straightforward, happy to let the acting and circumstances speak for themselves without frantic zooms, etc. The locations are breath-taking and whenever a gun-shot is fired, it is a dubbed sound effect. The story moves at a fair lick too, and doesn’t meander too much although there are moments of dullness. In short, these films show Franco’s style in an effective, disciplined manner, but still allow him to indulge (and delight) in his non PC eccentricities.
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