Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks

HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS, is a relatively decent follow-up to the classic SHE WOLF OF THE SS. This one has the mammoth breasted sadist running a slavery ring for some Sheik. Ilsa trains the girls to be good little sluts, and the expected sleaze begins...Not as powerful as the aforementioned SHE WOLF, HAREM KEEPER has a "lighter" tone and was obviously an attempt to cash-in on the probably unexpected success of SHE WOLF. It also seems the tone was intentionally lightened, probably to draw a larger audience. Not my favorite of the series, I prefer SHE WOLF and the under-rated TIGRESS OF SIBERIA, but this one is still decent. Still a classic exploit film and worth a look - 7/10

As everyone no doubt knows, this is the follow up to the notorious movie Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS. That flick was a real controversial one, seeing as it was mixing a Nazi concentration camp premise with an extremely exploitative story-line. Despite all of this, it was essentially a very exaggerated movie and really quite hard to take very seriously. In Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks Dyanne Thorne returns as the super-bitch Ilsa. In this one she runs a harem for a sleazy sheik. Or more specifically, she is tasked with turning captured women into his sexual slaves. Of course, this involves much elaborate torture and copious amounts of nudity.

If anything, this one is more 'upmarket' than the first film. It has a bigger budget and some decent locations. It's also less controversial subject-wise, although it's still clearly an exploitation movie. The film revolves around sleaze and torture. We have charming things like flesh-eating ants and exploding vaginas after all. So, fear not, this one is still in the same general ball-park as the first. Unfortunately, the sexy Miss Thorne just doesn't get naked enough though, which is somewhat unfortunate and to this movie's detriment. However, we do have a couple of topless female kung-fu experts called Satin and Velvet who rip a poor fool's balls off. And two of the captured slave-girls are played by Russ Meyer regulars Uschi Digard (Supervixens) and Haji (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!). Both of whom are always a welcome presence in any movie.

Despite all of the atrocities, the Ilsa series is basically cartoonish. You cannot take these movies seriously, nor were you intended to. This one, like the others is another combination of gory violence, sleazy erotica and deranged silliness. For my money this one is neither as good as the original, nor Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia. But it's still an entertaining trash-fest.

Rated highly by fans of the grubby 'Ilsa' series but for me it's way the weakest of the four movies. Also as Ilsa (herself), has been transported into different countries, even continents, the character or persona seems to be out of sorts with the subject matter. Still Dyanne Thorne (cult actress No 1), is always larger than life and this Italian style exploiter (extremely nasty in parts), is actually a Canadian, US co production. See it if you must.

Dyanne Thorne returns as buxom bitch Ilsa, in 'Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks—the second in the infamous exploitation series that began with the sleazy and repugnant She Wolf of the SS. Where the first film made viewers feel decidedly uneasy due to the controversial 'Nazi concentration camp' setting, Harem Keeper manages a lighter tone due to its comic book premise and tongue-in-cheek execution, yet it still contains enough violence and nudity to keep fans of the first film happy.

This time round the busty blonde sadist is to be found running a harem for evil oil sheik El Sharif, ably assisted by her two topless ball-breakers, Satin and Velvet. The buxom bitch has resorted to kidnapping beautiful women to ensure a steady supply of hot babes for the sheik; it seems that he has a nasty habit of getting carried away during sex and 'damaging' his ladies. Ilsa must train the newest additions to his harem, teaching them how to be subservient and willing to please; any resistance is punished with torture.

Meanwhile, two guests have arrived at the sheiks home; Commander Adam Scott and his associate Kaiser are hoping to convince El Sharif to give up some of his oil which lies untapped beneath the desert. As a last resort, they intend to use incriminating recordings of the sheik, secretly gathered by their undercover spy, to blackmail him into cooperating. Little do they know that the sheik has already rumbled their plan and isn't going to make life easy for them.

Ilsa, however, takes a shine to hunky Commander Adam and indulges in much rumpy-pumpy with him; when the sheik orders her to have Adam killed, she disobeys and leads a revolt against the despicable tyrant.

There is a real sense of fun to this installment of the Ilsa franchise; director Don Edmonds injects huge doses of camp into the proceedings making this film less of a 'guilty' pleasure than the first. Of course, a strong stomach and hardened sensibilities are still beneficial for those who choose to watch—there is still plenty of cheesy gore and inventive torture in evidence to qualify the film as a genuine shocker: a man has his testicles pulled off by Satin and Velvet, a thief has his hand cut off, two women have explosive vaginal implants inserted into them (which are triggered during sex), flesh eating ants eat a woman's foot, and an enemy of the sheik is doused in oil and set on fire.

It may be a different style of movie to the first one, but Ilsa Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheils is a more than worthy sequel and well worth checking out.

Dyanne Thorne is at her campy (and sultry) finest in this second installment of the Ilsa series, delivering juicy dialogue with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Kudos also go to Victor Alexander, who plays the degenerate Sheik El Sharif to the hilt, as well as C.D. Lafleur for his hilarious Henry Kissinger impersonation. Lest anyone should think this is a comedy, well, it is, sorta... It's also one of the most over the top sleaze fests you'll ever witness. As the old saying goes, they don't make 'em like this anymore. As Harem Keeper begins, we find Ilsa at the head of a white slave ring where her primary duty is to train innocent young girls for service in the lecherous El Sharif's harem. When she's not instructing recruits on proper "tongue" technique, Ilsa also busies herself adding to her stable of eunuchs with the help of her lesbian henchwomen, Satin and Velvet. Yes, Ilsa is your classic man-hater, but the frigid ice goddess soon melts in the arms of the studly American diplomat, who's actually a spy intent on overthrowing the sheik's corrupt government. But let's not let trivial details such as story get in the way of a great performance by Ms. Thorne, who shifts between wicked witch and giggly schoolgirl with ease. Marvel as Ilsa succumbs to her own lustful desires and falls under the spell of some good ol' fashioned "manpower!" Think of it as an adult comic book come to life, full of hardcore gore (at least by 70s standards) and softcore sex, and enjoy it for what is is - trashy exploitation at its best.