Blitzkrieg: Escape from Stalag 69

Like a bloody Thanksgiving turkey stuffed to the crack with outrageous nastiness, Blitzkrieg: Escape from Stalag 69 entertains. While some might find its two hour running time too dense, this combination of Boys from Brazil meets Troma film, is filled with bloody mayhem, clinical savagery, exploding breasts and (yes, ladies and gents!) cocks in peril! Guard that genitalia, son! A group of prisoners of war- including Russian, United Kingdom and (somehow) very modern day Bronx stereotypes – decide to break out of the heinous Stalag 69, but not before a deranged doctor, a sadistic warden and an Asian military torture guru all have their way with them.

Director/co-writer Keith J. Crocker employs every stereotype in the prison film book from woman on woman shower scenes to naked whippings to jokingly delivered homosexual undercurrents. Nicely, Crocker exploits the Nazi Terror sub genre (a popular horror offshoot that even has a box set to its name) without poking a thumb in the still fresh acid burn of reality – there is not a recognizably Jewish character in sight.

Filled with exploitive but amazingly strong female roles (a scene where a very naked Natasha mows down a group of soldiers in the woods is an incredible sequence), Stalag 69 is filled with slightly buffoonish portrayals that actually enhance the atmosphere of the film – although Tatyana Kott (Natasha), Gordana Jenell (Frieda) and Stephanie Van Vlack as a sexy, twisted experimenter all give fairly accomplished and persuasive performances.

Not for those with short attention spans or with a 'blonde' sense of humor, Blitzkrieg: Escape from Stalag 69 eventually delivers in its over-the-top craziness.

Unwatchable. In a special features interview with director Keith Crocker, it is revealed that the budget for his film was $10,000, and it shows. With poor production values, long painfully boring dialog, delivered by actor talent equal to the film's budget, the film's 135 minute run time is difficult if not impossible to sit through. The few minutes of "sexploitation" and gore that occur in the film, even the decent performance by Tatyana Kot, cannot save this film. The only entertainment value was the interviews on the special features. The director compares his work with Stalag 17, others talk of the films authenticity as a period film and even of the uniforms. The director and screenwriters really believe the are producing a serious piece of work about POW camps in Nazi Germany, unfortunately the comic irony revealed in the special features cannot be enjoyed without sitting through 135 minutes of very poor film making.