Nathalie rescapée de l'enfer

It must have been ten years since I last watched a so-called Nazisploitation movie, and "Nathalie: Escape from Hell" instantly reminded me why I gave up on them. Man, these movies are terrible! After the unexpected success of "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" and "Salon Kitty", all the untalented directors of the euro-exploitation industry suddenly wanted their piece of the cake as well. All these Nazisploitation flicks desperately try to be shocking, controversial and erotic, but the painful truth is they are boring, tame and downright pitiable.

The only advise I can possibly give is to enjoy the unintentional incompetence of these movies! Like, how in "Nathalie: Fugitive from Hell" the stereotypes are hilarious! The British general has a ridiculously oversized moustache, the Scottish colonel wears a kilt and the Russian officer looks like ...well, how every stereotypical Russian looks. The Nazis were supposed to be cruel and relentless, but here they are miserable creatures with only booze and perverted orgies on their minds. The beautiful doctor Nathalie must infiltrate into the Nazi brothel/castle Stillberg, to either rescue or murder the captured British spy Ingrid. Inside the castle, the Nazis also installed the most powerful radio-transmitter of the entire Third Reich. I never really understood why it's there, though. The true star of "Nathalie: Rescued from Hell", however, is Jacqueline Laurent as the Nazi-dominatrix Helga Hortz. She dresses up in leather, whips naked women in the dungeon and hysterically laughs whenever she does something cruel. Remarkably, also, how many people are shot and killed without losing a single drop of blood.

PS: note how I subtly used three different, yet "official" a.k.a. titles in this review. Fugitive from Hell, Escape from Hell, Rescued from Hell... What's the difference, right?

When red-headed Russian doctor Nathalie Baxova (Patrizia Gori) falls foul of the Nazis, she finds herself imprisoned at Fort Stilberg, a luxury brothel for German top brass where the women are overseen by sadistic lesbian officer Helga Hortz (Jacqueline Laurent). Nathalie's medical skills (which seem to comprise of simply dabbing the patient with a wet cloth) bring her to the attention of nice Nazi Lieutenant Erich Muller (Jack Taylor), who saves the lovely lady from becoming one of the establishment's 'hostesses' by assigning her to the infirmary. Given the freedom of the château, Nathalie is able to carry out a secret mission to locate missing British undercover agent Ingrid, but with Helga bearing a grudge against both Erich and Nathalie, the brave doctor must be extra careful to avoid suspicion.

In comparison to the more infamous Nazisploitation classicks, Nathalie Rescued From Hell is pretty tame stuff, loaded with nudity and soft-core shenanigans but light on the sadistic violence and mean-spiritedness; however, for a Eurocine production, the film is surprisingly watchable, managing to be more cohesive and engaging than most of their similarly themed output. It definitely helps that this one isn't an awkward patchwork of scenes borrowed from other films, and that there is something actually resembling a plot, but most of the credit must go to its two leading ladies, Gori and Laurent, who go a long way to making this nonsense bearable: Gori's stunning looks and impressive physique make her absolutely captivating throughout, while Laurent is absolutely hilarious, her camp performance (which includes much flexing of a whip and a maniacal cackle) and outrageous attire (PVC thigh-high boots and matching body) making her a memorable movie bitch.

You know what I'm talking about.

I hate dubs. All these old exploitation movies have bad ones. (The MVD Blu-ray gives you no choice in the matter). Actually I'd say they range from terrible to embarrassing, and Nathalie: Escape From Hell falls under the latter. To make matters worse, a number of nationalities are represented in this movie, and dubbing provides primarily American accents, and a few British ones. The star male Nazi is British, for some reason. Anyway, it only causes confusion when you're trying to identify where someone is from, and where they fit in the story. Fortunately (yeah, right) characters tend to verbalize who they are, and what country they hail from. Assuming this dialogue was added to the movie's native language, which makes this story even CLUNKIER than it already is.

This sure was tame for a Nazisploitation flick. All the battles and deaths utilize the kids-playing-cops-and-robbers technique. So, no blood, a lot of 'uh, ya got me!,' and quite a few downright hilarious deaths.

I found one reason to watch this movie. It's Jacqueline Laurent, twirling her moustache and camping it up, as sadistic SS officer Helga Hortz. And her skimpy leather dominatrix outfit she parades around in really seals the deal.