SS GIRLS

I had a good time with SS GIRLS. It's not bogged down with grim, sordid torture scenes, instead offering a heaping platter of cheesy chuckles served up by a harem of naked Euro-sluts. Some of the badly dubbed dialog is absolutely hysterical. Of particular note is the astonishingly overwrought "performance" - if you can call it that - of Gabriele Carrara as the demented SS officer Schellenberg. Other than running about 10 minutes too long (director Bruno Mattei, who also co-scripted, tacks on a pointless soliloquy by a minor character near the end), SS GIRLS hits all the right Eurotrash notes. There's oodles of female nudity (with some lesbianism and S&M in the mix), a number of scenes in very bad taste (that thankfully don't get TOO revolting), and loads of unintentional humor. Mattei even tosses in a bit of action in the form of a Russian tank attack.

On the DVD the interview with Bruno Mattei I assume he was talking about American cinema and not Americans in general, but he says Americans are idiots with no imagination; coming from somebody else I might take offense, but not when it comes from Bruno Mattei who was a guy who made a career of ripping off other filmmakers including many American filmmakers. So if American filmmakers lack imagination what does that say about Bruno Mattei seeing as he knocked off American movies?

When a type of movie made it big Bruno Mattei was right there to try and cash in on the success. At one point movies like SS Girls were quite popular, while they weren't raking in the money these movies, which are known as Naziploitation had a cult following. Though I never quite got the appeal of these movies in general and I'm a fan of Exploitation cinema. When it comes to Exploitation cinema, which in many ways is a genre of it's own they are best known for horror, but there is much more to Exploitation than horror and they also have a reputation of being the so bad its good type movie. But there are actually many Exploitation films that are very well made. SS Girls isn't one of those that are well made.

SS Girls is as entertaining as it is dull; there are moments that you can't help, but laugh at the idiotic things going on, but there are many moments when you'll just be bored by the events of what is going on. Within the first 10-mintutes we get plenty of nudity and quite a few sex scenes and who could have ever guessed that would get tiresome? Even I was surprised that I got bored by the amount of nudity and sex. After a while it does actually get tiresome something I thought was impossible, but leave it to Mattei do make that boring.

To be honest I'm not quite sure of the plot; it has something to do with Nazis getting women and put them in sort of a prostitution boot camp and use the women to lure out traitors in the Nazi army. Sounds like one fun movie right? Well yes and no. SS Girls starts off well enough with plenty of sex and nudity, but like I said after about 20-minutes of that it gets old. The sex scenes have to rate as the least erotic I've ever seen. I'm convinced that Bruno Mattei probably wouldn't be able to direct a porn movie.

I get the appeal of Bruno Mattei he's one of those filmmakers that makes terrible movies, but that's the appeal, but honestly of all the movies I have seen by him I always get at least some entertaining moments, but I'm mostly just bored. Bruno has been dubbed the Italian Ed Wood, and again I get the appeal since one of m favorite filmmakers is J. Simon who's been dubbed the Spanish Ed Wood. But in general with the exception of a few fun scenes I'm mostly just bored with the films of Bruno Mattei. But I'll give Mattei credit for trying to keep movies like this alive. Around the mid-80s Italian cinema started to die as the American film market was taking over and by the 90s Italian cinema was all, but dead with the exception of Dario Argento. But even up until his death in 2007, Bruno Mattei was still making these cheap exploitation movies and doing his best to keep these movies alive.

The screenplay was written by Bruno Mattei and Giacinto Bonacquisti and obviously the screenplay is terrible, but do we really watch Bruno Mattei movies for good screenplays? Of course not; SS Girls is filled with terrible dialogue, but again that is what we except. There is very little in the way of plot and what plot we do get is quite forgettable.

As director Bruno Mattei does his usual job, poorly paced scenes, sloppy sex scenes and the couple of scenes of torture are laughable rather than disturbing. Bruno Mattei in typical fashion just knocks off other movies. Even Mattei knew he wasn't a good filmmaker and has admitted to not liking any of his own movies. As I said earlier in my review, Mattei was a guy who when saw something was popular would just do a knock off and have no shame in doing it.

SS Girls runs at about 90-mintues, but quite honestly could have been wrapped up in 65-70-minutes. The movie does begin to drag since the plot isn't very interesting and after a while the sex and nudity just get boring. There are some fun moments in SS Girls, but it mostly falls flat around the 30-minute mark. SS Girls is worth watching if you are a fan of Bruno Mattie or of Naziploitation flicks. There's plenty of sleaze, but once again after a while it just gets tiresome.

SS Girls (1977) features a group of prostitutes who in the closing days of World War II, are recruited by the SS, and trained to use their physical charms to gain intelligence in the service of the Reich. The result is a lot of nudity and sex, served up with some mean spirited and misogynistic attitude. Featuring a number of orgies, the story sinks into depravity, and finishes solidly on a down note.

Intended to find those within the Wehrmacht whose loyalty to Adolf Hitler may be suspect, the SS operation is administered by Hans Schellenberg (Gabriele Carrara), a twisted individual, fiercely loyal to the Fuhrer. Together with Professor Jürgen (Luciani Pigozzi) in his chief aide Frau Inge (Marina Daunia), the staff train the women in the arts of sex. After the trainees have been whipped into shape, they are commissioned for operation, entertaining a group of officers and uncovering some traitors. Led by Schellenberg, the women continue their service to the Fatherland, until the news of Hitler's death, brings a tragic end to the operation.

This Italian production was the second in the prolific directorial career of Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead, Rats: Night of Terror, and Strike Commando). SS Girls has been described as a cheap rip-off of Salon Kitty (1976), the film which is often cited as the originator of the Naziploitation genre. A rather sad, sleazy, and depressing little film, SS Girls features ample nudity, sadism, various sexual perversions, misogyny, and gore. Dubbed in English, and presented in widescreen, image quality is just average, and there are no subtitles. SS Girls is also part of the SS Hell Pack Triple Feature, and is perhaps the least disturbing of the movies in the set. Rating: 2.5 stars.

This Bruno Mattei exploitation flick goes along the lines of "Red nights of the Gestapo". However, Mattei's remains a more typical exploitation flick. The plot has simply to do with a spychpath SS officer commanded to recruit and "train" a squadron of whores to unmask traitors among high ranking German officers. The first 60 min of the movie has a good dosis of nudity, simulated (not bad) sex, and some less than ok violence. The last 30 min should be fast forward. Overall, a descent one for its kind.

Technically, another Exploitation Digital release that comes in widescreen image format. The audio comes in English (dubbed) with some brief Italian inserts. No subtitles are provided. Extras include an interview with Bruno Mattei and some trailers.