Fascism on a Thread: The Strange Story of Nazisploitation

This was a documentary that caught my attention when searching for ones to watch at work. This is a subgenre, Nazisploitation, that I'm not overly versed in. I've seen ones on the lighter side with Puppet Master 3: Toulon's Revenge. That technically isn't the style of the movie they're talking about here, as this is more about the ones that are venturing into sexploitation, sado-masochism and the like.

Something I've been running into lately with documentaries that I have been watching is rushing through the subject matter. This subgenre having a more finite stretch allows them to delve deeper and explore specific movies more. What also makes this interesting is that we hear from filmmakers or behind the scenes staff like Mario Caiano, Liliana Cavani and Sergio D'Offizi. They also have an archived interview with Bruno Mattei. They are also able to interview the likes of Malisa Longo, Dyanne Throne and Howard Maurer, who have interesting stories to tell about their time making these movies.

What makes this work so well for me are the academics and critics who have watched these movies. It is funny because this subgenre is schlock. That's not to say there aren't things that they can discuss. They also try to figure out why these movies were made, outside of making money. We got the likes of Kim Newman, Allan Bryce, Russ Hunter, Mikel Koven and John Martin. They supply an interesting perspective.

I'd also say that this is well-made. They do a great job of pulling footage, then editing it in to show the movies discussed. There are also clips from other movies showing a similar idea to help show that point. I did appreciate that. This supplies good insight about this odd subgenre. I personally own some of the films here, I just haven't watched yet. I'd recommend it to those that are intrigued like myself for sure.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

I didn't know much, if anything, about Nazisploitation before watching this. Sure I had seen a couple of these films but this documentary is so well done and in-depth on this crazy topic I loved watching it. It made me very curious to see all the bizarre movies it mentioned. I think it's so great documentaries like this are being made now. What a wonderful world :) I love how it goes into why these films were made and the serious arthouse movies as well as the exploitation flicks that just tried to cash in. It's really such a strange genre (or rather it's probably a subgenre of exploitation) but it's very interesting to see a serious analysis of it.

It was bound to happen. There's a documentary of the dreaded Naziploitation films. Yes, the movies that most likely are on the top of Britain's Video Nasties list have a documentary about them.. Sad! What's really sad is that I am familiar with most of the films mentioned. Oh well. I always wondered what was going through the mind of the performers in these films when they did those scenes? Oh well, for a look at a genre that will never be critically acclaimed, this documentary will give you some info on that genre. Whether or not you want your friends and family to see this is another story.

And there's always a "but"...

Somebody needed to make a doc on this fascinating subgenre of exploitation films.

Most of the most in that genre are unwatchable. But this doc is totally watchable and it makes one miss an era of taboo filmmaking.

That wants to know all the filmgenre there is... and its very well made film about the phenomenon called nazisploitation, or how sex and violence where used in all its form by the nazis in their fight to establish the '' 1000 year reich'' , but most of all the s an m a and dominatrix techniques, a genre dominated by italians, french and canadians (not germans???) a genre known for its graphic sex and violence with a lowbrow factor, almost always edging the screens of the pornographic cinema theaters first, until eventually commercialised if successful.

so to all of you whos become curious, this documentary is like an open encyclopedia especially for the movie geeks among us, its not fodder for neonazis i can assure you it might kill your cat and idy-lice the mice, and could cause some abrasion to fainthearted sore skinned individuals due to lots of bare tits and bottoms and even some jungle snails that wants to extinguish the bush fires in front of their director. its very well made and hope other genres will be scrutinized as well in the years to come. a recommend from the grumpy old man