Ilsa, gardienne du harem

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.

The best of the three principal ILSA films, this one's got Dyanne Thorne, Haji Cat and the impossibly pulchritudinous Uschi Digart -- scenes such as the fight with the guards, the various audiences with El Sharif, and the tortures of Haji are just beyond belief! And you don't even want to know about the Love Machine... if you get the DVD, be sure to listen to the Director's Commentary, it's hilarious!

Yeah, this first installment of the notorious Ilsa-series is a real goody! It is not as disturbing as "She Wolf" or "The Wicked Warden", but also not as campy as "Tigress" was! Fans of traditional adventure flicks might love it, too. The only difference is, that "Harem Keeper" features much more sex´n violence than you may find in popcorn movies à la "Indiana Jones" and friends..! If you´re a fan of the series you know what´s awaiting you! If not, prepare for a bundled load of sleazy erotic, some bizarre torture and lots of comic-like brutality! Once more Dyanne Thorne is over the top (A pity that she doesn´t take off her clothes more often..!), but also her two African helpers named "Satin" and "Velvet" are put on a show very well! And a film where Swedish supermodel Uschi Digard is casted can´t be that worse..! Exploitation cinema at its best!!!

The cartoonish Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) is the keeper of the Sheik's (Jerry Delony) harem, and trains the beauties kidnapped from around the world. She is just what you would expect in the role of a Nazi she-bitch.

The Americans are sending a Henry Kissinger type (Richard Kennedy) along with a naval officer (Max Thayer) to try and overthrow the Sheik and get his oil. So, what else is new? Ilsa and her henchwomen, Satin (Tanya Boyd) and Velvet (Marilyn Joi) are ruthless in their methods and devise extreme methods of torture to get what they want.

Despite what Ilsa tells the Sheik, it is apparent that she is becoming close to the naval officer. He becomes tired of her delay and devises punishment that was decidedly extreme.

Of course, there is a bloody Palace coup after that. And, Ilsa gets her reward.

The porn was decidedly soft-core.