Verdict
Summary
Just as nasty and mean-spirited as the previous three entries in the series, Ilsa the Wicked Warden (also known simply as Greta) has a deeply unsettling aura about it thanks to some truly gross and unrelenting rape and degradation scenes, and so this is pretty much for fans of the series only.
Plot:
A woman poses as a mentally unstable patient at a highly suspect psychiatric facility in South America to find out what happened to her sister.
Review:
Rosa (Angela Ritschard) seeks help to find her sister, who was last seen being committed to a mental institution for women in South America, which is where mentally unstable women seem to disappear into oblivion. Running the facility is Greta (or Ilsa, a red-haired vixen, played by Dyanne Thorne for the fourth and final time), a deviant warden who relishes in the degradation and suffering of women – and men – who quake at her mere presence. Rosa finds a doctor (played by Jess Franco, this film’s writer and director) who lives in the same area and who knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Greta’s hospital is actually a concentration camp, and they come up with a flawed plan: Rosa will have herself admitted to the hospital under an assumed name, and the doctor will have her released in four weeks so that they can properly investigate the facility and hopefully get to the bottom of her sister’s disappearance. But the doctor makes a grave error and is killed by Greta’s henchmen before Rosa is released, essentially making her a prisoner for life. What Rosa experiences and witnesses under Greta’s roof is heinous: Rape, degradation, murder, and evil experiments abound, and one of Greta’s pet projects is to tame a fierce and willful inmate (played by Lina Romay, Franco’s muse) who eventually turns the tables on Greta’s reign of horrors.
Just as nasty and mean-spirited as the previous three entries in the series, Ilsa the Wicked Warden (also known simply as Greta) has a deeply unsettling aura about it thanks to some truly gross and unrelenting rape and degradation scenes (in one instance, Greta has sexually deviant criminals – all men – congregate and rape and torture her most helpless and defenseless inmates just for fun in a twisted orgy), and so this is pretty much for fans of the series only. Thorne’s character that met various grisly ends in each film before this, finally meets her most awful and endless demise that serves as her most definitive death in the franchise. What I like about this series is that each one almost restarts the character afresh, as if she’s somehow escaped death each time to serve a whole new round of grueling punishments. In some ways she’s like Fu Manchu or Blofeld, ready to conquer the world once again.
Kino Lorber’s brand new two-disc 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray edition of Ilsa the Wicked Warden shines in a crystal clear transfer, and comes with a bunch of bonus features. Archival features include a commentary with Thorne, vintage shorts with Franco, and new features include a new commentary, a moderation by Tim Lucas, and more.
