Le deportate della sezione speciale SS

Falling somewhere between the camp excesses of the Ilsa movies and the grim nastiness of Last Orgy of the Third Reich, Deported Women of the SS Special Section is one of the more enjoyable (not sure if that's the right word to describe a film about war atrocities, but hey ho!) examples of the sleazy sub-genre commonly known as Nazisploitation.

With pretty good production values (for a film of this type), and an uncomplicated story that manages to tick most of the 'concentration-camp cinema' boxes (humiliation and degradation of the prisoners, multiple shower scenes, torture, lesbianism, rape, and murder), director Rino Di Silvestro ensures that fans of this kind of fare don't go disappointed.

Deported Women begins with a group of female prisoners being transported by train to a castle-turned-prison. Once at their destination, the women are processed, examined, shaved (each lady is given a 'Hollywood' free of charge!), and sorted into various groups: some are kept for experimentation; others become 'field whores'; the best looking are saved for the Joy Division—the prostitution wing of the camp.

Amongst these new arrivals is Tania Nobel (Lina Polito), a disgraced aristocrat who, before the war, was an object of lust for the nasty camp commandant Herr Erner (John Steiner, who excels as a maniacal tyrant who makes Caligula look sane by comparison). However, rather than reciprocate Erner's advances, Tania chose to run off with her partisan lover instead—a move which has left the Nazi with mixed feelings about the girl he once tried to woo: poor confused Herr Erner doesn't know whether to punish Tania, or attempt to win her affections.

So he does both.

After locking her in solitary confinement (for trying to escape) and threatening to make her suffer, he does an about-turn, and invites her to dinner, where he tries to impress her by forcing two of his subordinates (a couple of sadistic bitches who regularly abuse the prisoners) to give him a spot of fellatio. Needless to say, Erner's shocking display of power doesn't have the desired effect (perhaps a bunch of flowers and some fancy chocolates would've been a better way to go).

Eventually, Tania tires of Herr Erner's advances and attempts to end her life by starving herself. Admitted to the infirmary, Tania is nursed back to health by a kindly doctor, who, taking pity on his pretty patient, informs her of a secret tunnel that runs beneath the castle. Tania makes plans to escape, along with her fellow prisoners. But first, she has a score to settle with Herr Erner.

Deported Women starts off rather slow, and, to be honest, at first I thought it would be a real chore to sit through in one sitting. But as things progressed, the film got way sleazier and much more trashy, and by the end, I was pleased that I had stayed the distance. Amongst the dubious delights on display are the prolonged scene of hair removal (from all areas of the prisoner), a lesbian 'rape' that turns into a hilarious cat-fight between two of the guards, and a jaw-dropping moment where a frustrated Herr Erner finds temporary sexual release by buggering his henchman Doberman (Giorgio Cerioni).

And best of all is Tania's final act of revenge: she places razors in a cork, pops it up her cooch, and offers herself to the randy commandant... ouch!

"Deported Women of the SS Special Section" sure provides plenty of sordid details for those who adore the grim, gritty, and nasty side of B cinema. The thing is, it's going to require a fair bit of patience on their part, as this movie is *very* slowly paced.

The story deals with a variety of Jewish women taken prisoner during WWII and taken to a Nazi prison where they're subjected to the expected tortures. There's not much more story than that, except for the longing that ultra creepy camp commandant Herr Erner (John Steiner) expresses for leading lady Tania Nobel (Lina Polito).

There's some melodrama to get through, in between the exploitative moments, accompanied by plaintive music by the talented Stelvio Cipriani. But don't worry, voyeurs, you'll be more than happy with the constant parade of bare female flesh. In loving close-up, no less. We even get to witness as women are repeatedly (and slowly) shaved down below. Of course, there are shower scenes, and lesbian love making scenes. (There's even one male homosexual encounter.) And in addition to all of the female nudity, there's a brief glimpse of the male anatomy as well.

The acting is commendably straight faced. Polito is lovely but rather aloof. Erna Schurer co-stars as Kapo Helga; Solvi Stubing has a great role as a guard. The gorgeous Stefania D'Amario (of Fulci's "Zombie") plays Angela, and Rik Battaglia plays Dr. Schubert. The standout in the cast is clearly Steiner, offering a deliciously depraved performance. This is one kinky guy.

If you just can't get enough of this genre, this movie should prove to be satisfactory. Certainly the Italians were particularly adept masters at this kind of exploitation.

Seven out of 10.

For some odd reason I decided to give Deported Women of the SS Special Section a go today and was reasonably pleased. Noticing only one other user comment I felt compelled to give my opinion as well.

The story is fairly easy. A group of women are being held captive in a Nazi prison. Nazi prisons are (as we have all learned in films like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS and others) is not a happy place. Fortunately you can always take a long soapy shower with your fellow inmates; and they do! I didn't expect much from this one so I became pleasantly surprised. The violence is pretty tame, but the razor blade on a cork in the vagina made me raise an eyebrow as our kinky commandant was about to realize love really can hurt. There's a decent amount of nudity with one of the highlights being the pubic hair shaving, take your time.

Deported Women does remind me to some extent of Salò, although it tends to focus less on the cynical ideology (as most of its kind) giving the whole film a more campy tone. Fine by me. It tries to be a bad boy, but not THAT bad.

In the end I have to say that even though the running time of almost 97 minutes feels a bit too long, the nudity, the violence and the crazy commandant managed to keep me entertained. You could do a lot worse.

When one watches exploitation films of this genre, one really wants to see things taken more absurd, but this one takes things too seriously. The train cars having a light bulb in them was a startling puzzle. But then, things got more routine. Severe looking woman guards shouting to make sure there was no talking, and the requisite nudity. The Commandant, Herr Erner/Enner clearly was a monster, as some said, but he didn't act like that. His uniform showed attention to detail and he had an obese aide. They threw in some unnecessary liaisons, and that really interrupted the flow of the movie. Herr Enner had a past history with one of the captives, and had a scenario in mind with her that was all too predictable. I felt that everyone was taking the movie too seriously. If one thinks of some memorable movies of this genre, like in the Ilsa series, or even Love Camp 7, they knew what they wanted to be. I am not sure what this movie wanted to be.

After seeing countless 'Nazisploitation' movies, I lost hope that anything from this genre could actually qualify as "good cinema." But "Deported Women of the SS" has all the trappings of a good film; competent, sometimes beautiful cinematography, haunting and romantic orchestral score, and characters that are developed enough that you can actually care about their fate. Not to mention very authentic looking military/SS uniforms, and hairstyles correct to the 1940's. Best of all, we have John Steiner, as SS Captain Herr Erner. what a great, sinister villain he makes here. He played a similar role in Tinto Brass' "Salon Kitty," and I cannot imagine anyone looking more believable in those gorgeous black SS uniforms. In "Deported Women" we learn that Herr Erner had a passionate affair with an attractive young woman,and is reunited with her years later, when she arrives at the concentration camp..as a prisoner. His obsession for her grows to the point that it could be his downfall.

For WWII enthusiasts, this is a must-see film. As far as the exploitation elements go, this movie doesn't go overboard. You get a lesbian rape scene, that winds up not being very enjoyable, as we are made to care about the victim. This is so rare with this genre of film. The actors are attractive and the high production values prevent this from looking seedy. This is certainly the best film of it's genre. I also recommend another nazisploitation film called "Nazi Love Camp," as it has good production values, and a good story. Try to find a good copy.