L'ultima orgia del III Reich

Out of sheer lurid curiosity I rented this Naz-xploitation flick and it fully lived up to its shocking promise. This treats the Nazis not just as "sadists" commonly understood, but true sadists, i.e., those who are sexually excited by inflicting pain, mental toment, anguish and death on others. So, it serves up not just the violence expected in concentration camp storytelling, focuses exclusively on sexual cruelty. It's production values are uneven, but it's obvious someone spent a fair amount on producing this, and it makes one wonder: did the filmakers really think there would be a wide audience for this depravity? I can't imagine any cinema programming this. The banquet scene, where some debauched "doctor" proudly and leeringly announces the evening's entree, "pot roast of unborn Jew", is out there on the disgusting scale with the banquet scene in "Salo". In other words, this is extreme stuff. Yikes.

It's also obvious that the screenwriters did their homework on the writings of DeSade; the speeches some of these characters make could have been transposed from "The 120 Days of Sodom". Plus, the fact that the depravity all takes place on an isolated castle ground, on an island in the middle of a river, is yet another Sadean tableau.

Not for weak stomachs.

Unlike the extremely camp exercise in bad taste that is 'Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS' , Gestapo's Last Orgy is a more unflinching look at the atrocities committed in a Nazi concentration camp, shot in a quasi-serious style. With its harrowing scenes of sexual abuse and violent death and torture, it is easy to understand why this movie might be considered more shocking than other similarly themed flicks from the same era; but is delivering a rawer and nastier (but still very exploitative) movie any more distasteful or disrespectful than making light of the subject matter?

In my opinion, all Nazisploitation movies are treading on dodgy ground and if you're going to use such a touchy subject to make a film that is designed to titillate and disgust, then you might as well go the whole hog. Director Cesare Canevari certainly thinks so; with Gestapo's Last Orgy, he delivers an often sickening piece of no holds barred cinema that should satisfy most fans of extreme movie-making.

Daniela Poggi plays Lise Cohen, a beautiful young Jewish woman being held in a Nazi 'love camp'. Believing that she is responsible for the death of her family, she has lost the will to live and offers no resistance when tortured by evil Commandant Conrad von Starker (Adriano Micantoni). Frustrated by the lack of emotion shown by the woman, Conrad makes Lise his special project and tells her that she will learn to love life once she has experienced real fear.

When a friendly doctor discovers that Lise was not actually to blame for the death of her loved ones, he tells her, thus restoring her will to live and, in turn, her fear of death. In order to survive, she must now pretend that von Starker has succeeded in breaking her, and become his lover...

With scenes of mass extermination, violent rape, and general lack of respect for human life, Canevari's sick flick is certainly disturbing; although not packed with the the wall-to-wall gore that one might expect, the sheer nastiness of some moments make this one hard to stomach at times. When the head honchos at the camp tuck into a meal made from 'unborn Jew', or douse a woman in Cognac and set her on fire, it's not necessarily the visuals that will make you gag, but the idea being portrayed.

Occasionally the pace of the movie lulls and sometimes Canevari sees fit to get rather pretentious with his direction, but, on the whole, the film is a decent enough watch for those seeking some sleaze. And although I imagine the makers never intended to provide any laughs, I defy anyone to not giggle at the moment when Lise is suspended above flesh-eating rats (actually rather disinterested gerbils) or the 'sex' scene between Lise and the doctor, which consists of several minutes of them rolling around together naked, but never actually seeming to bother with any serious boning!

6.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 7 for IMDb).

If it's a bad film you're after, then I recommend seeing anything from the abysmal Nazisploitation sub-genre, as unless I'm missing something; they're all terrible! Never has there been a film type so moronic and redundant, and The Gestapo's Last Orgy doesn't do anything to make me reconsider that notion. I suppose in fairness; it has to be said that this isn't as bad as the completely crap SS Experiment Camp, but it really isn't too far off. My only reason for bothering with this film is because of the fact that it was a part of the DPP's Video Nasty list back in the eighties, and I'm pleased to say that now I've seen three of the four Nazisploitation flicks on the list, I only have one left to go (the almost certainly mind numbing Love Camp 7). The Gestapo's Last Orgy is slightly more epic than most of the rest of the sub-genre, but that's not a good thing as it only means that it's even more boring. The plot has something to do with a prisoner of war whom various sick Nazi's see fit to experiment on, only for her to start playing her own game with them...or something. The storyline is too meandering to be satisfying, and most of the film is caught up in showing how sick the Nazi's were - like we need a film to show us that! I'm a big fan of cult cinema, and almost all the sub-genres have some decent films among them - that is, except Nazisploitation. Overall, I have to say that unless you're working your way through the Video Nasty list - this is one to avoid!

This sickie has very good production values, decent acting and an exciting storyline for this kind of trash. Them deranged nazis is at again in one of those generic "women's work camps". It's not as graphic as others but the vile tone is unbelievable harsh as the officers torture and humiliate young jewish girls and...(hold tight!)...EAT THEM AND THEIR UNBORN BABIES!!?! It's unsettling as hell cuz it's so well made. There's also a lot of De Sade-like master/slave games going on. Only for the most jaded thrill seekers (like me) who're tired of Hollywood's PC blockbusters.

CALIGULA REINCARNATED AS Hitler is a decent, yet somewhat dull Nazi flick in the same realm as ILSA and all the other copy-cats. Basic story- Lise is taken to a camp where the head Nazi-guy tries to break her will with torture. Lise is a strong-willed young lady and won't be broken so easily. Eventually, Lise realizes she can turn the game on it's head by cooperating and giving the head Nazi-guy what he wants. She finally pretends to fall in love with him so that she can act out her revenge... The main difference between this film and many of the other "Nazisploitation" films is that this one appears to take itself pretty seriously. It doesn't have the "campy" feel of the ILSA flicks and every thing is played straight-faced. I think this adds to the atmosphere of the film, but to be quite honest, there isn't much to this film anyway. The torture scenes are pretty tame and there's a few lame sex scenes. There are a few decent moments. The human-flesh-dinner-scene comes to mind...but overall this film is rather dull and not very shocking. A decent attempt but all-in-all a rather forgettable film. If you are looking for a real shockfest or bloodbath - this isn't it. Obviously CALIGULA REINCARNATED won't be for all tastes due to the subject matter, but for the exploit/horror enthusiasts out there, this one will seem rather bland. A generous 6.5/10