Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks

As everyone no doubt knows, this is the follow up to the notorious movie Ilsa She-Wolf of the SS. That flick was a real controversial one, seeing as it was mixing a Nazi concentration camp premise with an extremely exploitative story-line. Despite all of this, it was essentially a very exaggerated movie and really quite hard to take very seriously. In Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks Dyanne Thorne returns as the super-bitch Ilsa. In this one she runs a harem for a sleazy sheik. Or more specifically, she is tasked with turning captured women into his sexual slaves. Of course, this involves much elaborate torture and copious amounts of nudity.

If anything, this one is more 'upmarket' than the first film. It has a bigger budget and some decent locations. It's also less controversial subject-wise, although it's still clearly an exploitation movie. The film revolves around sleaze and torture. We have charming things like flesh-eating ants and exploding vaginas after all. So, fear not, this one is still in the same general ball-park as the first. Unfortunately, the sexy Miss Thorne just doesn't get naked enough though, which is somewhat unfortunate and to this movie's detriment. However, we do have a couple of topless female kung-fu experts called Satin and Velvet who rip a poor fool's balls off. And two of the captured slave-girls are played by Russ Meyer regulars Uschi Digard (Supervixens) and Haji (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!). Both of whom are always a welcome presence in any movie.

Despite all of the atrocities, the Ilsa series is basically cartoonish. You cannot take these movies seriously, nor were you intended to. This one, like the others is another combination of gory violence, sleazy erotica and deranged silliness. For my money this one is neither as good as the original, nor Ilsa the Tigress of Siberia. But it's still an entertaining trash-fest.

Rated highly by fans of the grubby 'Ilsa' series but for me it's way the weakest of the four movies. Also as Ilsa (herself), has been transported into different countries, even continents, the character or persona seems to be out of sorts with the subject matter. Still Dyanne Thorne (cult actress No 1), is always larger than life and this Italian style exploiter (extremely nasty in parts), is actually a Canadian, US co production. See it if you must.

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!

I would definitely recommend this movie to any fans of 70's 'B' movie sleaze. Director Don Edmonds manages to pack copious amounts depravity, sex & violence into this flick, with Dyanne Thorne camping it up as the evil Ilsa. Actually, she isn't as evil as she was in the other Ilsa films. but she still manages to hand out several doses of deranged torture on her unfortunate prisoners. The film also features perhaps one of the most brutal film fights ever, when a disobedient male guard is forced to fight Ilsa's thong wearing female personal bodyguards !. I really enjoyed watching this trash - YES it is TRASH, but it KNOWS it's trash & didn't cost millions like Charlies Angels!. Now everyone has come across DVD commentary tracks which are along the lines of 'Yeah I remember that, yeah that was fun etc', but this one actually makes the film even more enjoyable. Thorne & Edmonds give a highly entertaining account of the movie, explaining why many of the performances were so wooden and how low the budget for the movie was. It makes one realise that many of our 'respected' actors would look just as bad as the cast of this movie if they were only allowed one take because the film makers only had a limited amount of film stock!. Not for the squeamish or lovers of 'quality' cinema, but great fun for sleaze addicts!.