Horror Movie Review: SS Experiment Camp (1976)

Another in the a long list of video nasties that seem comparably tame by today’s standards, watching SS Experiment Camp it is hard to pinpoint just what it was that saw this film be banned in the UK and many countries.

At best you can say it is the fact that it is a Nazi exploitation film and has a lot of sexual content. However, compared to many other movies it is still pretty tame.

Regardless, it ended up on the list and has become infamous because of that. The question is though, is it actually any good?

The short answer is no. However, when compared to most of the other Nazi exploitation movies, it stands higher than most.

SS Experiment Camp (also known as SS Experiment Love Camp; original release title: Lager SSadis Kastrat Kommandantur) was released in 1976. Directed by Sergio Garrone, it stars Mircha Carven, Giorgio Cerioni, Paola Corazzi and Giovanna Mainardi.

Set in concentration camp, the plot surrounds experimentation on the female prisoner population of which there are just a handful. The experiments are sexual and sees a group of soldiers on leave from the front paired up with the women. For reasons that aren’t explained until near the end, the women are forced to sleep with the men all so a Nazi officer can see who is the most virile and potent.

For the men, it’s a dream come true but for one soldier, he is left uncomfortable about the whole experience. The Nazi officer takes him under his wing but he wants to go back to the war. That is until he begins to fall in love with one of the female prisoners.

Like West Side Story set in a concentration camp with the backdrop of Nazi’s, it seems like a joke movie but it’s not. SS Experiment Camp takes itself so very seriously yet has none of the deft touch required to make it anything but laughable.

From the gluttonous amount of female (mostly) nudity to the shocking acting and poor dubbing to the drawn out sex and torture scenes, it’s a movie that desperately wants to shock.

That we then get a fairly well told love story between a solider and a prisoner is in complete contrast to the majority of the film. Now, Romero and Juliet it is certainly not, but it’s a welcome plot point that helps keep the movie moving in the right direction.

The best moments come at the end as the Nazi officer reveals his grand plan and the prisoners decide to rise up and revolt. If it wasn’t such a slog most of the time, it would almost be one with a light recommendation.