Kaput Lager - Gli ultimi giorni delle SS

This is how John Sturges really wanted his classic film - with nudity, whippings, and castrations! American Major Lexman (Richard Harrison) finds himself amongst Brits in a Nazi prison camp in Northern Africa run by Kommandant von Stolzen (Gordon Mitchell). Taking sadistic Dr. Lessing (Lea Lander) hostage, the Allies make their escape into the desert with the Germans in hot pursuit. As always, Harrison and Gordon do their jobs well and are fortunate in that they are the only cast members who don't get whipped. Yup, there is a lot of whipping going on in this one. Italian director Luigi Batzella (operating under the pseudonym Ivan Kathansky) packs the film with enough fighting and sleaze to at least keep viewers awake for its scant 80 minute running time. Batzella would return to this sub-genre the same year with SS HELL CAMP and, since Harrison isn't involved, I'm not going there.

This film is one hour of boring war action with about 20 minutes of tasteless sleaze stuck in the middle. And even the sleaze is pretty tame compared to director Batzella's later foray into shocking sadism, SS HELL CAMP. You get whippings, castration and a Nazi gets a cup of urine splashed in his face. The rest of the movie is total fast-forward material. Along with most of the offerings from France's Eurocine (HELLTRAIN, FRAULEIN DEVIL), this is one of the worst films in the disreputable genre of Nazi concentration camp exploitation films.

The film lasts for 78 minuets on the Dutch DVD, due to its status in cult fandom, this film is regarded as one of the worst ever, here's why: -Has been 1960s stars wide up here, Gordon Mitchell and Mike Monti. -Luigi Batzella is the director, writer, and editor, and no doubt a one man crew, most of his films were garbage, three to four westerns shot on one wooden town built by Gordon Mitchel, three cheap war films and two erotic horror films, shot in crappy locations. -Despite its 78 minuet running time, there are around 15 minuets of stock footage, of things blowing up, and large amounts of soldiers fighting, inter-cut with around a dozen stupid extra's running around. -Poor lighting, most likely done with broken equipment, shot in Spain using locals as Arabs! (no offence intended) -The camp scenes are shot on the same sets as SS Experiment camp. -No ending, just a soldier throwing down a shovel. -Around twenty actors were used for the entire film.

...But despite all that, today's film students, can learn from it, and hopefully make their own.

God bless you Batzella!

I'm actually a big fan of these cult films, I know their shortcomings, but I'd still pick this over any Hollywood blockbuster coming out today, with overflated money grabbing stars and more CGI than actual film!

Luigi Batzella, best known under his Eurociné pseudonym Yvan Kathansky, has directed a fine piece of nazi camp sexploitation that mixes not so well with a military drama. The fights are badly choregraphed, the actors are a shame and the storyline seems a bit improvised.

Technically this ain't a reference; at times, the image is so dark you can barely see what's happening. Richard Harrisson, the cheapest mustached hero ever, teams up once again with Gordon Mitchell (they worked together for another of Batzella's fine moments, BLACK GOLD) and with newcomer Lea Landers (the terrified girl we appreciated in Mario Bava's RABID DOGS) as an attempt to create thorn characters that will grip our hearts. They fail miserably and we are stuck with a sometimes funny but overall strange movie. Just give an ear to the music playing in the background during the orgy scenes and you'll get my feeling.

This movie is great for Batzella fans like me, but if you're not familiar with this psycho-trashic director, stay away.

Whipping isn't my thing, and the war part is a good bunch of BS. But I am a sucker for a good Naziexploitation. The best part of this movie is the sex scene with the Nazi that oddly resembles a touch of Powers Boothe. One of the better scenes I've seen in a while.