Gretchen sans uniforme

This one was a little bit of a surprise to me. It's another of those delicate and tasteful films that fell under the nazisploitation sub-genre. These films still cause a shudder in many even forty years after they were released. The mixing of the Holocaust with sadistic horror and salacious sexploitation being a combination that continues to trouble today; if nothing else, the nazisploitation sub-genre is one of the few types of genre cinema that remains shocking decades after its heyday. But I digress, as I mentioned earlier this one shocked me. And the reason wasn't the usual one when it comes to this kind of thing, in that it wasn't the salacious content that struck me, it was the fact that when watching it I thought to myself could this possibly be an actual German movie? It seemed incredible that the German nation, so directly associated with the evils of Nazism would ever have the brass neck to produce a film remotely in the ballpark of nazisploitation. The Germans would spend decades trying to shrug off the Nazi association so had they gone insane in 1973 and made a Nazi sex film? Well, as it turned out, no they had not. This movie had been produced by none other than Germany's 'neutral' neighbours, the charming Swiss! But given the shared language, this is the nazisploitation film that feels most 'German'. Which certainly gives it a whole new aspect of wrong-headedness.

During the last days of World War II a battalion of female Nazis are sent to the eastern front to service battle weary soldiers fighting the relentless Soviet advance. There's really not very much more plot to it than that and what there is really serves as no more than a framework for a succession of soft-core sex scenes. This one came out very early in this cycle of films and in fact was a year ahead of the movie that is often considered to be the template in this genre, Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS (1974), so its perhaps unsurprising that it seems a bit different. Unlike that film, or all of the subsequent outrageous offerings from the Italians, this one focuses on Nazi women, as opposed to female victims of the Nazis. There is no death camp setting, nor is there any real violence to speak of. Its sex, sex and more sex in this one; although I found it oddly unerotic (thank god). Somewhat unusually, the Nazis are presented as essentially sympathetic and not really the baddies we are used to them being, which is unsurprisingly not something you see very often! It also seems to possess higher production values than these types of movies normally have, with more sets and some battle scenes too. But it ultimately is kind of boring too. It lacks the sheer excess that the later nastier films still radiate. It's really a soft-core sex film with Nazi iconography, which makes it very odd, that much I will admit. Its worth at least checking out if you are interested in the seamier side of 70's exploitation cinema but there are more entertaining nazisploitation movies out there, and yes I know that is a strange thing to say.

This film has been re-titled Frauliens in Uniform. There a really nice color print on the Roku. Not sure why some of the reviews said this is Nazi exploitation for Germans when the Nazi imagery isn't even allowed there.

The color of the film really pops and the wardrobe looks custom made. Wonder what the budget was?

This has everything you could possibly want out of a sleaze, exploitation grind-house film from the 70s. Only difference is the production values are superb.

The nudity kicks in immediately following the credits and keeps pumping. Including some hot for the 70s lesbian sex. Don't miss it.

I recently watched She Devil of the SS (1973) on the Full Moon app on Prime. The storyline follows the German soldiers towards the end of World War II. Desperate to inspire the troops who know they're about to lose the war, women form free brothels on the front line to inspire the troops to fight harder and overcome impossible odds.

This picture is directed by Erwin C. Dietrich (Caged Women) and stars Karin Heske (Secrets of Naked Girls), Renate Kasché (Lady of Frankenstein), Carl Möhner (Carmen, Baby), Helmut Förnbacher (Manipulation) and Birgit Bergen (Sex Clinic '74).

This is a Swiss exploitation featured plenty of beautiful women, with the expected focus on nudity, including the obligatory shower and sex scenes. However, that's about where the film's appeal ends. The sex scenes are uninspiring, mostly showing soldiers in uniform laying on top of the women, and the humor feels forced, with more misses than hits. That said, the ending sequence does add a bit of fun to the otherwise lackluster film.

In conclusion, She Devils of the SS is a below average addition to the exploitation genre. While it delivers what you might expect in terms of visuals, there's little substance beyond that. I would score this a 4/10 and only recommend it with the appropriate expectations.

As an accurate portrayal of World War II Nazi Germany, SHE DEVILS OF THE SS (aka: FRAULEINS IN UNIFORM) is surpassed only by ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE SS.

It's a quasi documentary about those brave fighting women of the Third Reich, able to disrobe for action in mere seconds. Who knew the war was this much fun?

In spite of its setting and rampant nudity, it's impossible to be offended, due to the utter lunacy / idiocy of the entire project!

Filmed in the blissful, early 1970's, it's difficult to imagine such a movie being made today...

With World War II rapidly coming to an end several young women volunteer to join the German army to show their support for their beloved Fuhrer. However, one of the doctors charged with helping them enlist comes into conflict with the Gestapo and as a result he and his two daughters are subsequently drafted and sent to the Russian Front. That said this film essentially tells the story of the ordeals that these three people encounter as the Russian army begins to close in from the east. Now as far as the overall movie is concerned, although it is billed as a comedy I have to say that I didn't find much humor anywhere. What it did have however were a lot of naked women and scenes of simulated sex, which not only lacked both passion and eroticism, but also lacked any tangible story to make any of these scenes interesting or worthwhile. Additionally, the characters lacked depth and the acting was quite second-rate as well. In short, this was a pretty bad film all around and I have rated it accordingly.