Despite such dubiously sleazy delights as uterus transplants, the use of prostitutes to thaw out a frozen priest, a wild-eyed mono-browed lunatic rapist (the 'pet' of a Nazi officer), experiments to reverse homosexuality, and countless female prisoners being flogged, getting in cat-fights, and having their clothes torn off at every opportunity, Bruno Mattei's Women's Camp 119 is still something of a chore to sit through.
The best Nazispolitation films manage to keep their audiences' attention with either a high level of camp and/or the ability to shock; somehow, for the majority of this film, Bruno manages neither. Most of the silly experiments perpetrated on the poor prisoners are rather tame, and the few 'nastier' ones lack the repulsively realistic make-up effects necessary to effectively turn the stomach.
Mattei's story has the usual roster of characters that are found in such filmsan evil sneering jack-booted sadist, a lesbian guard, a beautiful prisoner intent on escapehowever, his handling of the material is so mundane that what might have been prime exploitation ends up as rather boring.
The film picks up slightly towards the end when four prisoners make a break for freedom, and Mattei delivers an unexpectedly downbeat ending in which everyone dies, but this is not enough to make me recommend this one to fans of the genre.
Women's Camp 119 is, perhaps, a very slight improvement on SS Girls, Mattei's first attempt at the genre, but it still only earns itself a rather mediocre 5/10.
The best Nazispolitation films manage to keep their audiences' attention with either a high level of camp and/or the ability to shock; somehow, for the majority of this film, Bruno manages neither. Most of the silly experiments perpetrated on the poor prisoners are rather tame, and the few 'nastier' ones lack the repulsively realistic make-up effects necessary to effectively turn the stomach.
Mattei's story has the usual roster of characters that are found in such filmsan evil sneering jack-booted sadist, a lesbian guard, a beautiful prisoner intent on escapehowever, his handling of the material is so mundane that what might have been prime exploitation ends up as rather boring.
The film picks up slightly towards the end when four prisoners make a break for freedom, and Mattei delivers an unexpectedly downbeat ending in which everyone dies, but this is not enough to make me recommend this one to fans of the genre.
Women's Camp 119 is, perhaps, a very slight improvement on SS Girls, Mattei's first attempt at the genre, but it still only earns itself a rather mediocre 5/10.