THE GESTAPO'S LAST ORGY

Briefly popular in the 70s, and typically embraced by Italian filmmakers, the Nazi 'death camp' films (or Naziploitation) are purposefully confrontational. Daring every breach of taste and decency, and committing just about any breakage of taboo, these films strive first and foremost to evoke strong reaction. Bastions of terror and tastelessness, this sub-genre, much like the W-I-P films and Nunsploitation, delight in the abuse/exploitation of the female, breaking minds and emotions just as easily as bones. Yet this nasty form of voyeurism goes still further than their even their nasty cinematic cousins, dwelling on the grief-stained memories of all too real historical atrocities that are still capable of rousing anger and fear. The Gestapo's Last Orgy meets all of these requisites, and without apology. Directed by Cesare Canevari, this late entry shocker disturbs not only by cataloguing the atrocities committed against prisoners in Nazi death camps, but also dares suggest that viewers enjoy their representations of sexual brutality. Following on the heels of Red Nights of the Gestapo, this surprisingly thoughtful entry in the genre is as intellectually bold and emotionally daring as it is shamelessly crass, dealing with such crucial themes as love, despair and culpability, weaving a poignant love/hate relationship of psychological illness.

When a Nazi criminal is acquitted of war crimes (receiving help from his lover, who was also a prisoner at the camp), they both return to the camp where their sick relationship was first began. There they have sex and embark upon a new depraved game of emotional blackmail and sexual brutalization -- each seeking to eliminate the other and win the darkly romantic 'game' that began during the second World War. The rest of the film slips in and out between present day and lingering flashbacks to tell the story: Heading a work/torture prison camp during the Nazi occupation, SS Commandment Starker abuses the female prisoners while his doctors perform horrific experiments on them. Along the way, Starker develops a fascination with Leza, a luscious tall blond, who arrives with a new batch of prisoners and shows disdain for her fate. For a majority of the film he struggles with his contradictory attraction to, and hatred for, Leza, attempting to throw her into despair. With the aid of a demented female Gestapo officer, Starker takes great pleasure in the atrocities he commands, which includes everything from feeding helpless women to the dogs to giving stripped down and brutalized prisoners acid baths, from rape to outright butchering. Both fascinated and angered by Leza's unbreakable will, Starker finds a sexual pleasure/tension in trying to break her. In a twist of logic and fate, but one which has enjoyed historical parallels in real life, Leza goes from wanting to die, and fearing nothing that the Nazis can produce, to falling in love with Starker -- a psychological twist of obsession. These perverted going ons lead to a gritty, tragic ending.

A story of humiliation, torture, and twisted love, the territories of compassion and romance are as befouled in this story with the same intensity as the female form. Morals of conservative standard are thrown to the wind, and as disturbing as the scenes of torture and deviancy may be, even more jarring is the extremes that love may take, stretched to their limits in the perverse battle of power between Leza and Starker. Neither of these characters are winners in the end, stained by their passions and hatred, and corrupted by this warped love-hate attraction. Power corrupts, yes, but so, we find, does love. Feeling itself is dangerous, and the juxtapositions between imagery/ideals of grotesque death (torture, debasement, murder) with love and female beauty are strengthened by the dual lust and hatred inherent in this captive/captor relationship.

Most Naziploitation films are more concerned with surface perversion than with social consciousness. Controversial themes of genocide, torture, death, and degradation are treated as subjects for the supposed condemnation of the Nazis or, more often, simply used as a manner for enjoying animalistic savagery. This working formula is highlighted in Gestapo's Last Orgy, encouraging the highest degree of sexual excess and violence possible (while striving to deliver half-felt condemnations of political and religious authority in subtext). Focusing not only on the terror and brutality of Nazi-ran prison camps, detailing the suffering of detainees and the perverse pleasure of the jailers, this film is remarkable, and deserving of more serious critical attention for its emotionally intense, intellectually challenging attempt to find the meaning of such chaos, and shreds of tenderness amidst brutality. While the romance is kept to a minimum, and the abusive sado-machistic relationship between man and woman, prisoner and jailer, is extremely sickening, it reveals some small amount of tender feelings. Grimly beautiful and cynically intelligent, Gestapo's Last Orgy is a poetically hypnotic denouncement of Nazism, authority, and love itself. Yet since its played as entertainment, for both horror and shock appeal, its message is doubly grim.

The Gestapo's Last Orgy is given a wonderfully rich transfer by Exploitation Digital. A production company of Media Blasters, this company has proved itself a friend to the fan of sleaze, particularly fans of Nazi-camp cinema. A sub-genre often ignored and reviled, these films have been given love and care by ED, receiving first rate transfers and luscious extras. As with others in the series, Gestapo appears to be uncut, featuring the maximum shock and outrage, sleaze and sex. Leaps above the lacklustre print of CALIGULA REINCARNATED AS HITLER (from EI Independent), this print features the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for anamorphic televisions. Colors are for the most part bright and believable, and aside from a few spots were inferior elements must have been incorporated into the cleaner footage, the print is impressive. Two versions of the film are featured on the disc. The English version in mono is acceptable if tarnished by background interference. The Italian track is superior, although, disappointingly, there are no English subtitles! Extras are limited to Trailers for four other Exploitation Digital DVDs and a brief Still Gallery.

Review by William P. Simmons