Die Todesgöttin des Liebescamps

What a funny ride! Written, directed, produced by and starring Christian Anders, then one of Germanys foremost "Schlager" singers ("Schlager" being a low-brow chanson-like musical style popular with the elderly and nowadays fondly paid tribute to by "remember the 70s" disco-night revivals), it's main attraction undoubtedly is Laura Gemser in the role of a love cults' divine goddess destined to bring love to the people – or else, if that won't work. Anders, who is of course also responsible for the half-cheesy, half-stolen soundtrack, later, under the influence of eastern religious philosophy, wrote a book on "The Sense of Life", claiming that 30ft high apes once made love to other monkeys, and out came – mankind. His aims looked different back in 1981 (good picture quality on the DVD, by the way; I'm referring to the full uncut release), for "The Death Goddess of the Love Camp" (literal translation) resembles everything you would expect from a cheap, exploitative soft-sex movie out there to do nothing else than make money. The story looks a bit as if the Jim Jones tragedy meets early 70s porn, complete with some musical numbers (badly dubbed) and lots of nudity, and there are even a few torture-like scenes. Direction is terrible, but the film has it's entertaining moments, has Laura Gemser, and is weird enough to be watched at least once.

Whatever lurid expectations the title conjures, Die Todesgöttin des Liebescamps delivers on the sleaze but not much else. This 1981 exploitation flick is more concerned with flesh and fantasy than coherent storytelling or filmmaking craft. The film bathes in a cheap, sun-drenched aesthetic, relying heavily on soft focus, overexposed jungle lighting, and bare-bones set pieces that seem borrowed from a low-budget travel documentary. The atmosphere aims for exotic danger but ends up feeling like a disjointed fever dream, stitched together with clumsy transitions and directionless pacing.

The performances range from wooden to outright baffling. Laura Gemser, who has carved a niche in Euro-erotic cinema, does her best to lend mystique to her role but is let down by a script that gives her little to work with. Her magnetic screen presence almost rises above the material, though not enough to save it. The rest of the cast fluctuates between stiff line deliveries and awkward physicality, with many scenes bordering on accidental parody. One could argue that the acting suits the tone, but when every dramatic beat lands flat or veers into camp, even that defense wears thin.

Technically, the film is a mixed bag. The camera lingers more on bodies than landscapes, and what few action sequences exist are clumsily staged. Dialogue is often drowned by dubbed-over music, which ranges from kitschy synth to vaguely tribal rhythms, adding to the disorienting mood. Whether intentional or not, the film often feels like a series of disconnected tableaus loosely threaded together by barely motivated characters and exploitative shock value.

Yes she does! Well Laura Gemser does, in this rather enjoyable little slice of soft-core sleaze.

This plays along the lines of a "Jim Jones"/"Raj-Neesh" sex cult, with Gemser as the conspicuous Sex Goddess of the group. Giving orders from from her luxurious setting (Complete with man servant in gladiator gear?!?!). She gives orders to enlist people of magnitude and wealth, so as to extend her own wealth and not much more.

If you get into this sort of exploitation, I recommend you give it a whack. The settings and photography are well done and the "Love" song continuously played throughout is REALLY annoying. Though it gets used by the actors at times, which is quite funny.

Well, it's blatantly obvious that this film has absolutely nothing to do with the Black Emanuelle series and is just a cash in on the name since it stars the great Laura Gemser. However, that should not be held against the film too much as Gemser is cast in a slightly different role as the all-powerful 'Divine One' - the Goddess of a camp of free loving hippies, and I'm not going to argue with anyone who puts Laura Gemser in that elevated status! Despite not being an official part of the series; Divine Emanuelle is still a more than decent little film with plenty of sex and nudity as well as an interesting, though not particularly original, plot line. We focus on a group of hippies ruled over the by The Divine One. They preach free love but really it's only a front to make money in the form of 'donations', which people give for sex. Things are shaken up when the daughter of a powerful US senator is inducted into the group because she fancies the slimy blonde cult leader, who is more a pimp than a preacher (and looks a bit like Owen Wilson).

The film benefits from a style that suits the breezy nature of the free love ideal. We've got a soundtrack decked out by catchy jingles, the film is full of beautiful people making love in beautiful locations and we even get a few strange dance sequences. Laura Gemser is the standout, of course, and this role requires something a little different from usual from her as unlike most of her characters; this time she's the one completely in charge. It doesn't suit her as well as playing Emanuelle, but it's a change and seeing Laura Gemser on screen is always good. The plot is stronger than what Emanuelle fans will be used to and this is a benefit to the film. There's still plenty of sex and nudity but it's not overused and the plot does actually seem to be coming first! The film moves along at a steady pace for most of the duration and the ending contains no real surprises, although we do get treated to a hilarious fight sequence. Overall, I would quite categorise this film as 'good', but it's not that bad and there are certainly a lot of worse examples of films like this!

If a quasi-mythical, strange odyssey into a distorted matriarchal society marked by strange hippy ceremonies and sexual torture of all and sundry sounds like your desire for the night this might just be your choice viewing material. Its an intriguing oddity marketed in some countries as porn (Divine Emanuelle), in others as some sort of crime/action film. Its reminiscent of the "cult" films like Guyana and the real events on which they were based like the Jonestown cult: ie, kooky dnacing, chanting and solemn ceremonial garb soon ripped or torn like some Greek melodrama/historical play with bouts of murder and violence mixed with sexual power games. It is an undeniably luscious cheap film in terms of design and location with kinky indulgence in various fetishes from whipping to stalking plus generous doses of nudity both male and female. Its a quirky flick starring the Nubian-like Queen of exploitation (Black Emmanuelle) Laura Gemser wielding her power generously upon a vast array of dutiful and punishable subjects as she seeks further power and wealth. A film for exploitation/film-porn junkies with a sense of humour.