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GESTAPO’S LAST ORGY (1977)
Director: Cesare Canevari
Exploitation Digital/Media Blasters

For fans of Italian Nazi flicks, one company has come to the forefront for quality swastika sleaze: Media Blasters’ Exploitation Digital. Those of us who rented crummy-looking VHS tapes of this sort back in the era of “ma and pa” rental shops have come a long way, and now can own Exploitation Digital’s superb looking DVDs of ELSA: FRAULEIN DEVIL, SS HELL CAMP, SS GIRLS, SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP, RED NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO and now Cesare Canevari’s GESTAPO’S LAST ORGY. Taking the perversity of “art” films like THE NIGHT PORTER and SALO as inspiration or imitation, this “Video Nasty” is not the most visually nauseating of its kind, but the unpleasantness of what’s implied will no doubt work as an appetite suppressant for even the most undisciplined dieter.

Some years after World War II, Lise Cohen (Daniela Poggi using the pseudonym “Daniela Levy”) visits the ruins of the Nazi camp where she was once held prisoner. Encountering an older man who seems to be her lover, we learn that he is actually Commandant Conrad von Starker (Adriano Micantoni under the ridiculous moniker “Marc Loud”), a sadistic ex Nazi who is free after being convicted of war crimes. In flashback we learn that Starker ran the camp more like a brothel, where defenseless Jewish women were brought in to satisfy the lust of German soldiers, and the ladies were also tortured, raped and humiliated in the worst ways possible. The beautiful blonde Lise in particular becomes Starker’s object of obsession: she is apparently not afraid to die and makes herself immune to all the pain and suffering put upon her, making Starker all the more infatuated to the point where they form an unlikely kinky sexual relationship.

GESTAPO’S LAST ORGY is a very strange entry in the Naziploitation genre, as it can’t decide if it wants to be dramatic, arty, silly or just plain gross and offensive. This is not the most exciting or titillating of its kind, but for anyone fascinated with sleazy cinema, there’s enough to sustain its 90+ minute running time. You already know the basic plot, but some of the filler is jaw dropping. First off, a row of naked male soldiers watch an S&M slideshow while one trooper musters a loud fart, and another gets a plaster-casted thumb in his butt crack -- they then proceed to attack a string of naked female prisoners in a gymnasium in what can be assumed to be the “last orgy”.

Other sadistic thrills include a woman being tossed into a pen of hungry German shepherds, naked girls sliding into a skin-devouring lime pit as if it was an amusement park ride and another unfortunate lass (naked of course) being strung upside down over a pack of rats who appear to be nothing more than some friendly gerbils! The film’s ultimate moments of notoriety come when the German officials, seated at a fancy banquet, indulge in cannibalism by noshing on the so-called inferior race in what looks like a plate of stringy chicken and La Choy Chow Mein. They end their feast by making a human Crepe Suzette out of yet another attractive naked girl. Speaking of nudity, there’s plenty of it and actress Daniela Poggi (who was only 20 at the time) does plenty of it, even getting to make wild love to the obligatory sympathetic Nazi doctor in the hospital ward. As the aggressive “she-wolf” type, sexy brunette Maristella Greco looks great in a low cut blue evening gown or handling a bullwhip in the bedroom.

This film was previously available on DVD under the misleading title of CALIGULA REINCARNATED AS HITLER with a terrible full frame transfer from EI Independent Cinema. Although Exploitation Digital’s DVD starts out with a quality disclaimer that the transfer was “completed using multiple sources,” most of the show looks fine with a properly framed 1.85:1 anamorphic presentation. Colors look decent if somewhat dull and detail is good for the most part, with only the final few minutes being sourced from a vastly inferior source. The mono English track has its share of surface noise, but on a whole gets the job done, and even though it doesn’t mention it anywhere on the packaging, an Italian track is also included (though no accompanying English subtitles). It’s interesting to note that Mel Welles does the voice of Starker in the English version! The only extras are trailers for four other Exploitation Digital titles, but an Easter Egg reveals the original Italian trailer for LAST ORGY as “L' Ultima Orgia del III Reich.” (George R. Reis)

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