SS Experiment Camp (1976) Full Review

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Transcript

00:00Hey everyone, welcome back to another cult movie review with me Bo here on the Film Scene

00:19Investigation channel. Thanks so much for checking out the review. In today's video

00:25I'm going to be reviewing the controversial 1976 movie SS Experiment Camp. Before we get into it

00:36guys if you haven't already please do consider subscribing to the channel all the support is

00:43greatly appreciated. So SS Experiment Camp from 1976 was this Nazi exploitation film directed

00:55by the Italian filmmaker Sergio Guerron. Over the years the movie became notorious for its brutal

01:04depiction of prison life and was subsequently banned here in the UK for some time. Now I first came

01:13across this film back in the early 2000s. I had read an article where it listed the 20 most

01:25controversial horror films of all time and SS Experiment Camp was one of them. At the time

01:33I wasn't too aware of the whole Nazi exploitation genre and the idea of a film depicting such events

01:44that seemed kind of messed up. Of course a film like this was never broadcast on TV nor did I ever see it

01:56in my local video store. There was one time I remember I was on a day trip and I went into this VHS store and I

02:06actually saw the film on the shelf. I remember there being this huge swastika on the front cover and I thought

02:15yeah there's no way I'm gonna buy that. So yes it was many years before I finally sat down to watch this

02:25bleak World War 2 drama. So when it comes to the film's narrative it began with a pretty depressing torture

02:36scene that saw a young woman strapped to a chair. She had some sort of electromagnetic energy

02:46being zapped into her while the doctors just stood around and monitored the results. Very quickly it became

02:55clear that this woman was a prisoner of war acting like a guinea pig for the SS army to conduct their

03:05experiments on. With all the screams and the panic it made for a very chilling introduction that gave the

03:13audience a clear indication of what the film entailed. And while SS Experiment Camp did feature several scenes of

03:23torture. Interestingly there was a fairly compelling story underlining it all. We were introduced to the

03:32character Dr. Steiner who was played by actor Artilio Dottesio. He was a very experienced surgeon

03:43tasked to carry out all the experiments on the prisoners. He was constantly at odds with his superior

03:53the man in charge. Colonel Clyburn who was played by actor Giorgio Cerrone. The Colonel kept pushing this

04:03insane idea of an ovary transplant even though Dr. Steiner kept telling him that it was practically impossible.

04:13many innocent women died in these failed attempts but the Colonel just didn't care. He just wanted results.

04:25Steiner thought the whole thing was completely mad. A worthless sacrifice yet the Colonel just continued on

04:36giving him orders. The doctor had a secret affiliation with the Jewish people and the Colonel knew this so

04:45he decided to blackmail the doctor into carrying out the experiments. A secret like that coming to light

04:54would of no doubt put Dr. Steiner's life in jeopardy. So he continued on following the orders.

05:02But Colonel Clyburn wasn't just interested in ovaries. He actually wanted Dr. Steiner to carry out a testicle

05:12transplant on himself. Now seeing the Colonel make this request did seem kind of ridiculous at the time

05:20but then we found out his backstory. We would discover that the Colonel had actually been castrated

05:28by a Russian girl he had taken hostage some years ago. After the attack the Colonel struggled to continue

05:37on with his day-to-day duties knowing that he had lost his manhood and he could no longer conceive children.

05:45The castration affected him deeply and in a way made him even more ruthless in his quest to find a solution.

05:57As time went on the Colonel found a soldier called Helmut who he wanted to use for the transplant.

06:05The soldier who was played by actor Mercher Carvin wasn't told the full story behind what was going on.

06:13The Colonel pretended that it was all part of this bigger military operation and that he didn't really need

06:21to know any further details. Even though Helmut was a SS army soldier I felt kind of bad for him since he didn't know

06:33what he was getting himself into. He's thinking that he's you know doing his duty for the country and in actual

06:43fact all this was down to the Colonel's own doing. I mean the resources at the camp were there for experimentation

06:53on the prisoners not for personal or private use. Surprisingly the transplant ended up being successful

07:02with Helmut later on finding out what had happened to him. There was a scene where we saw Helmut try to make love to one of the prisoners

07:14but simply couldn't go through with it then suddenly realizing he himself had been castrated.

07:21The soldier quite rightly was in complete shock at what happened to him and wanted answers so he decided to confront Dr. Steiner.

07:33The doctor who was already guilt ridden over his own actions was then forced to tell Helmut exactly what had happened

07:42and why. The soldier had been lied to and he found it extremely difficult to comprehend the fact that his own people,

07:54the side he was fighting for would betray him like that. After Helmut found out what had actually happened

08:03he went berserk and grabbed another officer's gun and started shooting which led to an all-out blood bath.

08:12We saw the soldier rush into these private quarters where he confronted the Colonel at gunpoint.

08:19While the Colonel stressed that the transplant could indeed be reversed, Helmut wasn't buying any of it.

08:29Helmut had had enough of the lies, he wanted payback, he wanted blood but interestingly instead of him

08:39killing the Colonel at point blank, he allowed the prisoners to take their revenge instead.

08:46The final moments of the movie saw Helmut and a fellow prisoner, his love interest,

08:53try to escape the camp. With all the sirens and alarms going off and all the spotlights flashing,

09:01it was near impossible not to be seen. Both Helmut and the prisoner tried their best to escape but ultimately

09:11were killed by the other officers. Seeing Helmut and the prisoner shot and killed was a very depressing and

09:21bleak end to a very brutal film. SS experiment camp was a slow burn but the final 15 minutes with the

09:33reveal and the shootout really made the film. Initially I was led to believe that the movie was just

09:41a series of experimental torture scenes but in actuality once the Colonel's story came to light

09:52I became a lot more invested. Now I want to give some credit to the actor Artilio Datesio for his

10:00performance as Dr Steiner. I thought Datesio was excellent as the guilt-ridden doctor trapped in this

10:11world of misery. Even though the doctor was carrying out some brutal experiments he knew deep down it was

10:21wrong and he wanted out. The actor used his eyes to convey the despair the character felt. There was this

10:32really deep sadness that loomed over Steiner which actually led him to commit suicide at the

10:41end of the film. Indeed it was a sad way to go but knowing the doctor's anguish that he carried

10:49the suicide could be looked on as the doctor's only real solution. I mean let's face it he was trapped

10:58he was getting blackmailed by the Colonel and it was just a matter of time before people would find out

11:04his true affiliation to the Jewish people. The actor gave a very strong but reserved performance

11:14which sadly got overshadowed by the savage brutality we saw on screen. One scene I want to bring up is

11:23the sequence with the runaway prisoner. So after one of the orgies had taken place one of the sex slaves,

11:32this blonde head woman picked up a fork from the floor and started stabbing the sergeant multiple

11:38times in his chest. The sergeant who was played by actor Serafino Perfumo was completely caught off guard

11:48and couldn't defend himself. This woman, this prisoner was completely unhinged. I mean she'd just been

11:56sexually assaulted multiple times so yeah it kind of made sense that she was acting out like she did.

12:05But the girl made the mistake of not finishing off the job and instead after stabbing the sergeant a few

12:12times decided to run and make an escape. She ran outside completely naked screaming of course all eyes

12:22were on her and she was immediately spotted and shot by one of the officers. The sergeant then came

12:30stumbling by with blood still dripping from his wounds. He was rightly furious and embarrassed about

12:39what had happened to him and decided to send a brutal message to the rest of the prisoners making sure

12:47they never tried to do the same thing. The girl was then hung upside down and left to endure this

12:57slow and painful death while all the other prisoners looked on. Not only was this a cruel act of torture

13:06but it was also a mental blow for the other prisoners who still had hope that they would one day escape.

13:17I hated seeing it all but I will say credit to the filmmakers because you know they definitely got

13:24the point across that these soldiers were complete savages. Now I need to take a moment and give some

13:32credit to the movie's set designers for their impressive efforts. From the science labs to the elegant dining

13:42rooms the film had this very authentic feel that helped engross the audience further into the story.

13:51While many may disagree with the controversial narrative I don't think anyone can deny that this movie

14:01certainly looked the part. Nothing looked cheap and it was clear that the filmmakers went to great lengths to

14:11recreate this wartime aesthetic that I really appreciated. You know it should be noted that SS Experiment Camp

14:21was of course a fictional story but based on historical events.

14:28There were a number of creative liberties taken which resulted in a more sensationalized view of the

14:40prison camps. It could be argued that this movie and movies like SS Experiment Camp dabble in

14:50what could be described as historical sensationalism and what I mean by that is exaggerating the facts to

15:03manipulate the narrative. Whenever I see depictions like this I always tend to take everything with a

15:13pinch of salt and I would advise the viewers to also do the same. And saw dislikes for SS Experiment Camp from 1976.

15:25My biggest dislike for the film would have to be the romantic subplot involving Helmut and the blonde head prisoner.

15:36So in the film we saw Helmut take a shine to one of the prisoners which

15:44later blossomed into a romance. Given the risk involved the two kept quiet about the relationship

15:54not letting anyone know about their secret.

15:57Now having this love story subplot definitely added a layer of melodrama to an otherwise grim narrative.

16:11Having the subplot did give the audience a chance to catch their breath and get away from the various torture

16:19sequences. But overall I just found the relationship to be very one dimensional and insignificant in comparison to the rest of the film.

16:34I also found it hard to determine whether the prisoner actually loved Helmut or she was just using him as a

16:43possible escape route. That idea could have been an interesting twist but none of that was ever fleshed out.

16:54Ultimately I would have removed all of the romance from the film and maybe inserted more scenes with Dr. Steiner

17:04as he was a way more interesting character.

17:07And so ratings for SS Experiment Camp from 1976. I am going to be rating this movie a 4 out of 10.

17:20With all the blood and the guts I have to say that I found SS Experiment Camp to be a rather sombre experience.

17:30Yes the lingering violence and abuse was a lot to handle but past that there was a very intriguing story about a doctor losing his sanity bit by bit.

17:47And yeah it does seem a bit weird to say but I actually did enjoy SS Experiment Camp a lot more than I thought I would.

17:54And I think that was down to the fact that I went into this with pretty low expectations.

18:04From what I read in the past and from what I'd seen online I really kind of was led to believe that this was some sort of soft core exploitation flick.

18:16And while some people may still see it that way I kind of thought that SS Experiment Camp had a lot more to offer.

18:26The doctor's story in particular maintained my interest throughout up until the very end when the character made his poignant exit.

18:36While not to everyone's tastes SS Experiment Camp remains an intriguing piece of cinema that illustrated the extremes of the exploitation genre.

18:49Rather than give an accurate representation of World War 2 events.

18:55If any of you guys watching have seen this movie please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

19:01For all those who haven't yeah I would recommend it loosely but be prepared if you're quite easily offended then this is definitely not the film for you.

19:15Well that's all from me today guys I hope you've enjoyed the video I'll be back next week with another cult movie review.

19:22Don't forget to like and subscribe and of course take care.

19:31For more information on the video.

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