Pros: Great performances from Dyanne Thorne and Victor Alexander, loads of sex, nudity, and violence, and some surprisingly decent cinematography make this my favorite of the Ilsa flicks
Cons: Michael Thayer is as wooden as your average log cabin, and Don Edmond's still can't film a fight scene
Mike_Bracken's Full Review: Ilsa - Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks
Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks: Cambist Films Rating: USA: Unrated/ USA: R (edited)
The voluptuous Dyanne Thorne is back as Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks in this 1976 follow-up to the Nazi-sexploitation classic Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS.
Ilsa, who perished at the hands of her own Nazi high command at that end of She Wolf has somehow managed to both come back to life and find herself roughly thirty years in the future for this installment of the popular series—a fact that proves the notion that you just can’t keep a good woman down.
Ilsa is now the harem keeper for Arabian oil baron El Sharif (Victor Alexander). She spends her days importing sexy young foreign girls for the oil sheik’s white slavery ring, making men eunuchs, teaching the girls the proper tongue technique necessary to please a man, and hanging out with her two ‘black widows’, Velvet and Satin (think Cleopatra Jones and Coffy and you’ll be on the right track). Yes, life is truly good for the evil Ilsa.
But things are about to change. It seems that studly secret agent Adam (Michael Thayer) is about to infiltrate the Sheik’s little desert hideaway in hopes of overthrowing the evil dictator so that Americans can fill up on cheap gasoline (the Sheik is hoarding a large amount of oil). Of course, El Sharif and Ilsa are hip to his plan—but, as usual, Ilsa falls prey to her own lust. Will Adam be able to stop Ilsa and unseat the power-mad despot? Do you really have to ask?
Personally, this is my favorite of the Ilsa films. While She Wolf of the SS is widely regarded as the fan favorite (and also helped spawn an entire Nazi-sexploitation film subgenre), Harem Keeper just seems to be more campy fun. The usual Ilsa style of depravity is here (be sure and keep an eye out for the exploding diaphragm—a device primed to go off at the moment of male climax, with some splatterific results) as well as a ton of full frontal nudity and softcore sex (although, Thorne herself keeps her clothes on for much of the film), but the sets and acting seem to make it more effective than it’s Nazi counterpart.
Thorne has Ilsa down pat by the time this film comes around—she growls and purrs her dialogue, making her once again strangely seductive and incredibly terrifying, often in the same scene. However, what really sets this film apart is the acting of the rest of the cast. Victor Alexander is entertaining as El Sharif, turning in a performance that outshines any of the supporting actor roles in the other Ilsa films. Also working in the film’s favor are the performances of Marilyn Joi and Tanya Boyd (Velvet and Satin, respectively). These two black lesbian superhero chicks are great—they kick butt and are extremely cool (they take on hordes of the Sheik’s men at the climax, armed with some tribal blades, and topless no less). Clearly, these are the best of Ilsa’s film henchwomen—by far. Still, the film does feature some bad performances—notably the incredibly wooden Thayer (you could use this guy to make a log cabin) and Wolfgang Roehm (who was the Nazi commander in She Wolf). Both of these guys are pretty awful, reminding you that you’re watching a low budget exploitation film. Astute viewers will also catch B-movie legend George ‘Buck’ Flower in the film as well.
Even though I’ve heaped a lot of praise on the film, it’s not without a few flaws—the most notable of which involves Herr Ilsa herself. Ilsa has always been a terrifying creation—a woman who appeals to the masochist. And while she always eventually falls prey to her own sexual weaknesses, none of the other films have ever attempted to make her a sympathetic character in the process. Here, we see Ilsa switch from the iron-willed harem keeper to giddy schoolgirl in love in the span of about 10 minutes. I’m not sure about anyone else, but the last thing I want to see is Ilsa making puppy dog eyes at some American superspy—unless it’s all part of some clever ruse to get him into a compromising position…which isn’t the case here.
Still, even in spite of this flaw, the film delivers in almost every other way possible. Fans of the female form should be pleased by the fact that almost every woman in this film (with the exception of Thorne) spends almost all of her screentime naked. When’s the last time you saw a movie with chastity belts? They’re all over the place here. Gorehounds should be pleased by several scenes, including a guy lit on fire, a hand amputation, and a couple of other gruesome sequences. So, everything the discerning Ilsa fan looks for in an Ilsa film is present and accounted for…except for a gruesome demise for our heroine. Unlike the She Wolf and Wicked Warden Ilsa gets off pretty easily here.
Director Don Edmonds does an admirable job with the film’s direction, improving on She Wolf in various ways. The sets in this film look much more impressive, the soundtrack is more effective (or maybe I just like the stereotypical Arabian music more than stereotypical Nazi music) and the overall visual look of the film and scene compositions seem much more professional (which brings me to a bit of trivia—famous cinematographer and frequent John Carpenter collaborator Dean Cundey was the camera operator/cinematographer on this film—which might explain why some of the shots look as good as they do. I wonder if he still lists this film on his resume?). However, Edmonds still can’t film a decent action sequence to save his life—the fistfights and the final shoot out here look hopelessly staged and hokey with some poor foley work only exacerbating the problem.
Yet, despite its flaws, Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks is still one heck of an entertaining exploitation film. Dyanne Thorne’s evilly enticing Ilsa, a truckload of nudity, and some decent gore all combine to make this a cult classic that any exploitation fan should seek out and rent. And thanks to Anchor Bay (who’s just released special edition DVDs of She Wolf, Harem Keeper, and Wicked Warden—versions that I didn’t get to use for this review, unfortunately) the films have become much easier to find. They just don’t make films like this anymore, which is a shame, in a way, because Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks is good sleazy fun.
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