This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Sadly Over-hyped

A Brilliant Conflict

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

"Ilsa, The Wicked Warden" is one of the very best of the Women-in-Prison genre.**SPOILERS**After several mysterious events, Abbie Phillips, (Tania Busselier) decides to go undercover in the Los Palomas Medical Clinic to investigate the strange reports that have been coming out of the facility. Immediately upon entering, the boss Greta, (Dyanne Thorne) tells her the rules of surviving, and issuing her a number for the others, throws her in with the other there. Attempting to cure her of her sexual deviance that she was sent there for, she finds that other inmate Juana, (Lina Romay) is actually a stooge for her and her different sadistic tendencies. After spending several weeks in the facility, she finds that the whole place is merely a prison for her to keep around other women for her own sexual desires, then turning them into illegal stars in secret snuff films when they've outlived their usefulness. Realizing that had happened to her own sister, who was in the facility, she goes out to help them others still trapped overthrow the prison and get out alive.The News: Though there isn't much new ground to this, it's still one of the better entries possible. Just like with most Women-in-Prison films, the main focus here is on the sleaze and nudity, which this one carries out with abundance. The film starts off with a full-on shower scene, inter-cut by another showing the warden in a bathtub taking a bubble-bath and washing herself down, and this is done for several minutes to open up the film, which is about the best possible way to do so. There's a later shower scene that is by far one of the single sleaziest parts of the film, where the new girl is forced to soap down another, including all of the body parts, and upon refusing to do so further, degenerates into a nude cat-fight in the middle of the shower. The fact that the uniforms are merely just a shirt barely covering the privates is another fantastic device for allowing nudity, as it results in it being flung open all the time or riding up to allow more. The strip-down and hose-off upon arrival generates more nudity, though the nature of the scenes and what's accomplished lead more into the sleaze category, and is simply a part of the film as well. The torture and S&M content is ferocious and brutal, with prisoners strung up on large chains or other devices and then furiously whipped with a large whip, or injected with a red-hot brand to the nether-regions, among other particularly disturbing scenes. There's also the wonderful scene where Greta sticks needles into the breasts of her lesbian lover, then lays on top of her to drive them in, which is mostly done through the use of close-up but carries out for so long that it's just and incredibly suspenseful and uncomfortable scene that really sticks out, more so since the participants are both nude for the duration. Aside from that, the film also works due to the pretty passable job Franco did on this one. There is some plot and some character development, an actual beginning-middle-end structure, and, most surprising, some unexpectedly solid camera-work, with very little of his characteristic zoom lens obsession. It's surprisingly restrained for the most part, non-characteristically reliant upon lighting and production design to create the mood. The trademark style still comes through in the odd scene, the best being the red filtered, out-of-focus tryst between the two lovers in a darkened room, with a glass purposefully placed to obscure the fumbling and groping. This is fantastic and really makes a case for the best directed scene in his career. The only flaws in here are the really confusing ending. We get this weirdness where the warden gets eaten alive by the inmates, and as the bunch of naked lesbians chow down on the camp commandant, the whole scene inter-cut with stock-footage of lions, tigers and so forth eating dead animal flesh. The purpose of what's going in is implied, but it's merely so outrageous that beginning to understand it becomes a lost cause, thrown in merely for more gore. The last, and most obvious flaw, is that, despite all the nudity and sadism on display, this now appears restrained in it's depiction of sex and violence. The film is decidedly tame and avoids showing anything particularly nasty, as even the scene in which the warden pierces her breasts with needles is restrained, with the camera cutting away from the actual violence to show the reaction on the face, showing relatively little in that scene aside from the moment when they press their breasts together. This is a little confusing, as why it decided to hold back on the one area it really could've worked wonders in to make it a classic, but as it is, these few problems are what hold this one down at all.The Final Verdict: About as sleazy as any other entry in the genre with a lot more going for it, this is a really nice upper-tier Women-in-Prison entry that really works. Seek it out immediately if you're a fan of any of the main creative cast, an avid follower of the genre or exploitation in general, otherwise steer clear of this.Rated UR/NC-17: Full Nudity, several strong sex scenes, Graphic Violence and Graphic Language

There are tens of thousands of DVDs out there for the customer to purchase or rent, but viewers will have to look long and hard before finding a sleazier one than Jess Franco's contribution to the Ilsa saga, "Ilsa the Wicked Warden" (1977). Here, Dyanne Thorne, who thrice before portrayed everyone's favorite buxom blond sadist, plays a buxom redheaded (her natural color...who knew?) sadist who's in charge of a women's mental hospital in some unnamed tropical country. (Though filmed in Portugal, the picture seems to be set somewhere in Central or South America.) Franco, an incredibly prolific, oftentimes slapdash director in many film genres, with over 140 (!) titles to his credit, throws quite a bit into this Ilsa story to guarantee a good time (well, better make that "memorable experience"). Thus, we get to see electroshockings, a human pin cushion, cannibalism, feces eating, shower fights, vaginal cauterization (yikes!), transgendered lesbianism, gang rape, bloody whippings and so on. While the tortures on display are not as hard to take as the ones in Ilsa's first foray, "She Wolf of the SS" (1973), this picture somehow feels...well, "sleazier" is the only word that keeps coming to mind. Ilsa herself, monster that she is, looks absolutely outstanding here, and her just deserts at film's end will long linger sickeningly in the viewer's memory. The DVD that I just watched looks terrific--a first-rate transfer job from the fine folks at Anchor Bay--although the execrable dubbing throughout the film is a significant drawback. I suppose this picture is best recommended for Jess Franco or Ilsa completists only; needless to say, it is NOT the movie to watch with Aunt Petunia! It is as sick and, well, sleazy as can be, but for lots of folks out there...hey, that's entertainment!

Retitled Ilsa the Wicked Warden and released as the third in the infamous Ilsa exploitation series featuring busty Dyanne Thorne, this movie from prolific director Jess Franco bores despite the excessive sleaze and gratuitous nudity on offer.In an unspecified South American country, political prisoners are being committed to a maximum security asylum where they are tortured for information by the sadistic warden (guess who?). Whilst being subjected to torture (and, in one scene, rape by violent murderers), the prisoners are filmed by one of the guards who has a profitable sideline selling his specialist movies.Enter Abbie Phillips, a beautiful young woman (and owner of the wildest 'bush' on the planet) who has had herself committed on purpose in order to search for her sister, an inmate who has mysteriously disappeared. Abbie must endure suffering and degradation at the hands of the inmates and staff before she can eventually discover the truth.Less violent than previous Ilsa movies, but easily just as sleazy, this film is heavy on the sadism, perversion and nudity—all Franco specialities— and yet somehow it still manages to drag. Franco's awful direction and the overall low standard of acting certainly doesn't help matters; however, if you can endure the dreary parts, there are some priceless moments that make the effort worthwhile.Lina Romay's performance as Juana, Ilsa's masochistic lesbian bitch, is particularly unforgettable. I guarantee that your jaw will hit the floor during the 'lick my culo' scene (you'll have to watch the film to see what I mean). Also worthy of mention is the scene in which Ilsa kills Abbie's sister with the old 'plastic bag over the head' routine. Nasty.The shocking finale sees the warden set upon by the inmates, led by Juana who can no longer put up with Ilsa's wicked ways. The long suffering inmates literally tear her to pieces, biting and ripping her with hands and teeth—all the while being filmed by the movie-making guard who gets to deliver his potentially most profitable work so far: a snuff film!

WICKED WARDEN is my least favorite of the "infamous" ILSA series. Granted there are some pretty sleazy moments (after all, Jess Franco DID direct the film...) but I just couldn't get into this one. This one finds the torpedo-tittied Ilsa as a warden at a prison for disturbed young ladies...Plenty of soft core tits-and-ass, and a few "torture" scenes, but nothing really to write home about. A few classic scenes (the post-doody-forced-ass-licking comes to mind...) but all-in-all, more of an Italian softcore sleazy sex film. If you really dig Franco's other stuff, or that genre of films in general, you'll probably really feel this one. Personally, I prefer more "extreme" sex and violence in my exploit films, and this one didn't really deliver. Check out SHE WOLF or TIGRESS for a better experience in the Ilsa series, HAREM KEEPER isn't too bad either. 5/10 for WICKED WARDEN