Greta, la tortionnaire de Wrede

I have seen all of the Ilsa movies several times and this one is by far the best. First, a warning: if you are easily shocked, offended, or disturbed, you won't make it through this (or any other Ilsa)movie. It takes a lot to disturb me, but this movie did the trick. If you love campy women's prison movies, this is also a must-see, though it is darker than most of them.Yes, this is an exploitation flick and does not try to hide this fact, but it has a plot, and characters you care about. A woman's sister is being held in a women's prison, so she goes 'undercover' to try to rescue her. The b*tch in charge of the prison is the most twisted, sick, evil, sadistic warden you will ever find in any women's prison movie--Ilsa, (or Wanda, depending on which version you see) the Wicked Warden. Her idea of a nice relaxing evening is using one of the female inmates for a pincushion, and I am describing the scene tactfully. Others she lobotomizes when they get out of line. The woman's plan to infiltrate the prison and her sister goes horribly awry when she realizes things in there are much, much worse than she could have dreamed of and there is no escape. The movie's ending is a total show-stopper, when Ilsa comes to one of the most fitting, vividly grisly, ugly endings that you will ever see. Not the most pleasant movie to watch--the first time I saw it, I felt sick for not turning it off and continuing to watch the horrible acts being committed. However, I've seen a lot of really bad horror/shock/exploitation films, and this one really stands out amongst the rest, with realistic characters, the courage to have a very downbeat ending, and no glamourization of the violence. The images in this movie will stay with you for a long, long time. For some people, that's a warning, for others, a strong recommendation. You think you've seen it all? You haven't, till you've seen this.

As far as politically incorrect movies are concerned, this one (and the entire "series", for that matter) must rank as one of the MOST incorrect ever. Not a recommendation for all movie viewers, that's for sure. But for some of us, the blunt outrageousness of ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN with its calculated S&M games filling in for a plot, and the grand, almost operatic, pleasure that actress Dyanne Thorne unapologetically conveys with each terrible torture bit, makes this a jaw dropping, exploitation adventure. WICKED WARDEN is my favorite of the series for a couple of reasons. First of all, Jess Franco, not one of my favorites and not a great one for telling an understandable story, obviously enjoys stringing together horrible moments of torture and violence. His approach, surprisingly effective here, is to provide a context for what's going on - and the context is enough. The prison is Ilsa's own private funhouse; what she does is for her own pleasure, period. Unlike Don Edmons, Franco understands this kind of movie: he starts with Ilsa and filters the punishment down through the ranks. Ilsa's brand of immoral hedonism turns the entire prison into an S&M club where inmates use sex and humiliation as currency. Franco knows how to stage scenes with pins and plastic bags; played low key and with simple means, this stuff gets to you. It seems like the movie is constantly crossing the line and what we're watching is real - which, of course, it's not. But Franco's straight forward, unashamed voyeuristic style transcends the silliness inherent in material like this and gives it a weird kind of weight. Sometimes you can hardly watch what's going on, but you can't take your eyes off of it either. The other element at work here is the GREAT Dyanne Thorne who in my mind is a terrific actress. As big a performance as her Ilsa is (and is in all the movies) there's not a hint of parody. That would be the easy way out for any actress playing such a despicable role. Thorne plays it straight. You believe that Ilsa's life is worth living because of what she does in this prison. Her gestures are grand, but her playing is internal: she shares Ilsa's dark and primal joy with the viewer. That's what makes these movies still sort of difficult today. Ilsa's not kidding, and Dyanne Thorne drives this movie with an unbeatable force. If these movies had been made in the 1940's (Ha!) Thorne would have emerged a big star. Where is she now? Am convinced that an actress who can pull off Ilsa can pull off just about anything. No longer a young woman, I know; but I'll bet she's still a striking figure. Come back, Dyanne, come back. All that said, ILSA THE WICKED WARDEN is worth the effort. It's as guilty a pleasure as you could ever hope to find.

I've never understood the Ilsa films. They are set across different parts of the world, different time periods and the ending of certain films suggest that a sequel simply should not have been possible.

This one goes by about three or four different names which confuses matters even more. Whats even more confusing is just how little entertainment value there is. I know this is an exploitation flick but the previous two had their moments, this is just bafflingly poor.

This is the worst third part of a franchise since Terminator, I mean seriously who thought it'd be a good idea to make that R rated franchise so tame and do cut away deaths? That person needs to be punished with having to watch this Ilsa movie on a loop for 6 continual weeks. That right there is cruel and unusual punishment, but so is this film

ILSA--THE WICKED WARDEN (aka any one of the dozen other titles it goes under) is not the most disturbing, brutal or violent of the infamous series, but it is by far the sleaziest.

Dependably twisted schlockmeister Jess Franco dishes up enough nastiness, violence, sex, nudity and sleaze for a dozen average exploitation pictures. A female journalist infiltrates a women's prison to expose the corruption within. Once inside (posing as a prisoner), she is exposed to the grim, vile world that is a women's prison.

Ilsa (Greta? Wanda?), played by Diane Thorne, is the vicious warden, who puts her prisoners through all sorts of physical and psychological abuse, although the prisoners manage some pretty outrageous behavior on their own. There's a nice, long, voyeuristic catfight in the showers, as well as an unspeakably tacky scene in which self-appointed lead prisoner Lina Romay forces the reporter to lick her ass clean after a bout of diarrhea. That pretty much sets the standard for taste in this movie.

Franco shows an odd Tinto Brass-like fetish for female buttocks in this movie, as every prisoner's standard uniform is knee high boots and a prison shirt--no pants or underwear--thus giving the viewer plenty of glimpses of bare bottoms.

Overall, THE WICKED WARDEN is about as sick and twisted a movie as the average viewer is ever likely to find. There are nastier movies out there, even nastier women in prison movies, but this will more than acquaint you with the subgenre.

Strange, depraved vision of Jess Franco's concerning Ilsa, that wicked, blouse-popping sadist of the famous/infamous series starring statuesque/bosomy Dyanne Thorne. This time around a young girl gets into a hospital run for women who suffer from sex-related diseases such as lesbianism and nymphomania. It seems she had a sister admitted a year ago and wants to find out what has happened to her even though she knows no patient has ever left. The film takes place somewhere in South America where a government is fighting rebels. Well, you get what you might expect from a series like this: lots of nude girls, lots of perversion, lots of sadism, lots of sleaze, and generally a sick/guilty feeling having seen it. There are many scenes which are downright disgusting such as one dealing with the use of a plastic bag, another with pins and a human pin cushion, shock therapy, a night with the boys from the local prison, and the grand finale where Greta(Thorne) is out to lunch with the girls. Franco is a decent director in terms of piecing a film together(despite what the subject matter might be). He can draw scenes out for suspense. He can also shock which he does well too. The acting was decent overall. Thorne is way over-the-top, but hey who cares once they see her? She is the personification of voluptuousness wearing her strained military blouse and high boots with red hair this time round. Ilsa, the Wicked Warden is a unique look at what film can do...and perhaps should not do.