The Red Nights of the Gestapo

At first I didn't believe such a gem could exist. Then, after seeing it a couple of times, I had to admit that the RED NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO was one of the best films of the genre.

The plot is a little confusing, but the emphasis is given on the directing, the acting and the shocking sex scenes. A nazi officer has to bring the 12 most influent german personalities into a "castle" for the week-end. 12 girls are already there, sexually trained to "entertain" the men. What follows is an orgy where sex and violence are king and queen, and a general atmosphere of spreaded madness. The scenes are powerful, the actresses are perfect, and I can't help but raise a couple of cut thumbs up to Fabio...

Unlike the typical example from the short-lived but oddly prolific Nazisploitation subgenre, THE RED NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO does not deal with the dehumanizing activities in Nazi concentration camps but rather with all the salacious perversions that a group of renegade anti-Nazi Germans get down to when they are holed up in a castle one night under the supposed pretext of plotting Hitler's downfall. What is even more surprising is that the plot is not only based on a book by one of the supporting characters but is ostensibly driven by actual historical events like Rudolph Hess' defection to Britain in early 1941 seeking to sign a Peace Treaty, the proliferation of anti-Hitler sentiments among key figures in the German bourgeoisie which came to a head in the unsuccessful "Night of the Long Knives" assassination attempt on Hitler's life, Hitler's march on Russia in mid-1941, etc.

The Gestapo blackmail Hess' right-hand man (after bugging his apartment and threatening him with the kidnapping of his son) into organizing a party which would gather together the leading figures of the uprising. But, for most of the film's running time, the Gestapo's intentions seem not to find out how the latter plan to overthrow the Nazi regime but rather to prove that even these would-be saviours of the Fatherland have their sordid weaknesses: aided by a handful of truly loose women, the meeting degenerates into one sleaze marathon which ends with the unceremonious gunning down of all concerned by SS troops. As can be expected, there is a sheer barrage of nudity on display exacerbated with the pre-requisite traits of lesbianism, paedophilia, sado-masochism, etc. Unfortunately, there are none of the familiar Euro-Cult faces or even a rousing score which would make all this palatable; what we have instead are an abysmal SS anthem, "Lullaby for Monsters"(!!), whose lyrics have to be understood to be disbelieved, stiff acting (pardon the pun) including a female Hitler impersonation and a hilariously defiant farting gesture from one silver-haired stud of an aristocrat!

If, like me, you prefer your Nazisploitation loaded with gore, perversion and nudity, with a generous side order of camp, then you would probably be best advised to goose-step straight past Red Nights of the Gestapo.

Ezio Miani plays Werner von Uhland, an SS Colonel attempting to infiltrate a select group of the bourgeoisie who are known for their dislike of Der Führer. Inviting the seven men to a secret meeting, Werner pairs each guest with a women chosen for her ability to cater for that person's specific perversion (amazingly, each guest seems to have his own unique sexual weakness).

By recording each couple with hidden microphones, Werner hopes to uncover the group's plans to overthrow Hitler's regime, whilst also gathering material for blackmail.

With a script that delves rather too deeply into the political history of the Nazis circa 1941, Fabio De Agostini's movie proves to be more concerned with factual accuracy than in delivering sleaze. Thus, we get frequent extremely dull conversations about the defection of Hess, the progress of the Wehrmacht, and anti-Nazi sentiments amongst the German intelligentsia, and not nearly enough time devoted to the lesbianism, sado-masochism, violence and extreme decadent behaviour that is normally associated with the genre (although a hilarious nymphomaniac and a female Hitler impersonator do try their best to liven up proceedings).

And with the entire movie set in a castle, rather than a concentration camp (like so many other films of its ilk), we don't even get any unnecessarily painful experimentation performed on prisoners. Shame!

"Red Nights of the Gestapo," as it is known in the US, is an unusual example of Nazi-exploitation films. Here the focus is on story rather than smut (sometimes regrettably), thus endowing the film with a certain credibility, even if it may disappoint viewers looking for softcore erotic horror like "Beat In Heat" or "Ilsa She Wolfe of the SS."

Production values are excellent: Cinematography, sets, locations, wardrobe, editing and score all present exceptionally well. Whereas most Nazi-exploitation movies are saddled with nearly all-female casts and endless scenes of lesbianism, "Red Nights of the Gestapo" gives us a (handsome) male lead and several equally handsome male supporting actors.

Boffing is kept to a minimum, sad to say; although there is an early scene where one woman takes on three good looking Nazi soldiers for a wild foursome, the scene ends before the men have a chance to drop their trousers. Not until around the 88-minute mark (in the uncut 110-minute version), do we get a real sex scene, in which one of the Nazi guests plows a prostitute in the castle lobby while a butler holds her in place and a violinist provides background music!

Aside from these two vignettes, there are many mildly risque moments throughout, which amount to little more than PG-13 tease. It's a shame, because with such excellent production values and a (mostly) attractive cast, this could have been the definitive Nazi-exploitation film, had it not pulled its punches.

Well worth seeking out and long overdue for a blu-ray release. Check it out.

This below-average and erotic 70s movie filled with sexual manipulation , perversion , humiliation , female nudity , and sleaze events ; being set at a Nazi mansion . This embarrassing film is filled with sexually-warped as well as rare characters , quirky sex in which the roles play various humiliating games with their victims , forcing them to execute suggested erotic games . It concerns about an illustrious group of German bourgeois industrialists scheme to overthrow Hitler by negotiating a peace treaty with England . 10 May 1941 Rudolph Hess , Secretary of the Nazi party , Hitler's chosen successor , number two in the Reich flies to England , it was a dramatic and disturbing escape . Disgraced , but dedicated Standartenführer SS Werner von Uhlandis (Ezio Miani) is accused for collaborating with Hess . However , being forgiven and he is assigned by Himmler to a complicated mission , to ferret out these deceitful dissidents , these middle-class people are the followings : Helmut Von Danzig (Fred Williams) , Erich Schwab (Luciano Rossi) , General Von Guderwal (Mike Morris) , among others . SS Werner must stop them before it's too late . Von Uhland recruits a group of gorgeous girls (Alessandra Palladino , Penalti , Francesca Righini , and several others) to seduce these traitors and undermine their conspiracy . Later on , the women being tortured and humiliated . At 3,30 a.m. on June 22 1941 , as the Schloss Grunewald massacre shattered the resistance of the German intelligentsia , Hitler launched the attack on Russia . The Nazi hierarchy created the most depraved society the world has ever known . At the end the film states : ¨The sleep of reason generates monsters¨.

Strange exploitation film by Fabio De Agostini dealing with obsession , perversion and strong tortures . This inferior Euro-sleaze effort criticizes the decadence of bourgeoisie in Nazi Germany and explores the perverse dialectic between power and sexuality , including amount of nudity , sex , and misogynistic degradation . It's also a convenient excuse to show beautiful and frequently naked European actresses being abused and sexually degraded . Slow-moving tale plenty of nudism , sexually charged mood-pieces , sadomasochism , sadistic tortures , surprising ending and an almost diabolic badness . A weird flick that contains drama , sadism , deprivation , copious naked scenes , some twisted events and a lot of characters mistreating girls due to their traumatic lives . This psycho-historical-erotic-drama revolves around several themes as physical possession , domination , humiliating games and sexuality . This dull and disturbing picture is well set in Germany , 1941 , where takes place the complex relationship among some characters and including a surprising finale . The film relies heavily on the relationship between them , and it does a little bit boring . The cast is really unknown , giving ridiculous acting , as Ezio Miani playing the Nazi officer Colonel Werner Von Uhland assigned by his superiors a twisted assignment , he is a dominating person who carries out the Himmler plans to discover the conspirators , Fred Williams who acted for Jess Frank in various films and Luciano Rossi who performed several Giallos and Spaghetti , usually in offbeat roles . Furthermore , an uncredited Tom Felleghy who also played various Spaghetti.

The picture belong to ¨Porno-Gestapo¨ genre also called ¨Nazi-sexploitation¨ , whose first representation was ¨Love Camp 7¨ (1970) by Lee Frost , and subsequently , the successful and strong ¨Il Portiere Di Notte¨ (1974) by Liliana Cavani , ¨Salo or 120 in Sodoma¨ by Pier Paolo Pasolini . And , of course , ¨Salon Kitty¨ (1975) by Tinto Brass that mainly began the popular series of Porno Gestapo in which ordinarily dealt with sexual practices of Nazi officers and ¨Ilsa , She Wolf of the SS¨ (1974) by Don Edmons and its sequels . Its commercial hit caused a real ¨boom¨ and succeeded a lot of knock-offs and imitations such as ¨La Svatica Nel Vientre¨(1976) by Mario Caiano , ¨Le Deportate Della SS¨ (1976) by Rino Di Silvestro , ¨Love Nazi¨ or ¨SS Lager 5¨ (1977) by Segio Garrone , L'ultima Orgia Del Terzo Reich¨ (1977) by Cesare Canevari , ¨La Bettia in Calore¨ (1977) by Ivan Katansky , "Private House of the SS" (1977) by Bruno Mattei , ¨Elsa Fraulein SS¨ with Malisa Longo , ¨SS Il Treno Del Piacere¨(1977) by James Gartner and finally ¨Senso 45¨ by Tinto Brass . If you're into this sort of stuff but can't handle the rougher WIP, Nunsploitation, or Nazi death camp movies, this one , Le Lunghe Notti Della Gestapo (1977) , might be for you.