kevin c
AKA Ilsa Yhe Wicked Warden, this sees a woman getting herself committed to a facility where her sister mysteriously died to get to the truth. Dyanne Thorne runs the facility with a capable whip and sexual torture. Your basic women in prison formula with a little more Euro-sleaze at the masterful hands of director Jess Franco. What's not to like.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This Great movie has been ruined in the Cheesy Video release. The complete removal of some of the best scenes-using awful jump cuts and downright distructive editing, makes this and the other "Isla" movie "Cheezy" released, unwatchable.
Very disappointed, but you get what you pay for (CDN $6). I understand there is a much more faithful Blueray release by a different Company, which was done with Franco's own watchful eye. I would suggest spending more and getting a masterpiece (of sexpoilation) vs a jumbled assortment of badly editied "teasers". In this version, the best scenes are cut short ! You've been warned.
Note: apparently, the Isla (Diane Thorne) movies had various "country" releases. I'm not sure how they were originally edited for each nations film regulations, but I believe the German version is the least restricted. It is now available (with English /Spanish /French overdub) from a different production company. ( note: this Cheazy version seems to also be overdubbed in English )
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Not actually made for the Ilsa series, video distributors retitled Greta the Mad Butcher later to cash in because Dyanne Thorne plays an Ilsa-like sadistic warden at a sexual dysfunction clinic/prison in South America. Typical Jess Franco garbage.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Prolific Spanish sexploitation legend Jess Franco's entry into the Ilsa sweepstakes is actually a knock-off called Greta, the Mad Butcher. A red-tressed Dyanne Thorne is the (what else?) sadistic warden of a Latin American political prison posing as an institution for sexually disturbed
women, but despite the name change she's still the arch, statuesque Joan Crawfordesque dominatrix with big hair, a bigger bust, and a Nazi
growl. Franco muse Lina Romay is Greta's smoldering, often naked sex slave, a willing masochist who falls in love with a new prisoner (who just
happens to be an undercover agent searching for her missing sister) and finally turns on Greta in a ferocious cannibalistic revolt. In between are
the usual women-in-prison tropes (catfights, long showers, floggings, and electroshock interrogations) and a few new twists, including a
perverted game of pincushion sex and a violent gang rape organized in the spirit of "experimental therapy." It doesn't quite reach the threshold
of violent sadism established by Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, but it's no Girl Scout picnic either. Franco brings his unique sensibility to the Ilsa genre
and provides a modicum of craft to the film, making it by default the most accomplished of the otherwise bluntly directed series.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Ilsa: Absolute Power (or Ilsa: the Wicked Warden is the title of the copy I saw) is one very disturbing movie. Dyanne Thorne plays the title character and she is one sick woman. Not for the weak stomach, and certainly not for the faint of heart. I cannot recommend this movie. Its very disturbing.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/10/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Prolific Spanish sexploitation legend Jess Franco's entry into the Ilsa sweepstakes is actually a knock-off called Greta, the Mad Butcher. A red-tressed Dyanne Thorne is the (what else?) sadistic warden of a Latin American political prison posing as an institution for sexually disturbed
women, but despite the name change she's still the arch, statuesque Joan Crawfordesque dominatrix with big hair, a bigger bust, and a Nazi
growl. Franco muse Lina Romay is Greta's smoldering, often naked sex slave, a willing masochist who falls in love with a new prisoner (who just
happens to be an undercover agent searching for her missing sister) and finally turns on Greta in a ferocious cannibalistic revolt. In between are
the usual women-in-prison tropes (catfights, long showers, floggings, and electroshock interrogations) and a few new twists, including a
perverted game of pincushion sex and a violent gang rape organized in the spirit of "experimental therapy." It doesn't quite reach the threshold
of violent sadism established by Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, but it's no Girl Scout picnic either. Franco brings his unique sensibility to the Ilsa genre
and provides a modicum of craft to the film, making it by default the most accomplished of the otherwise bluntly directed series.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
