Beast in Heat / SS Hell Camp (Luigi Batzella, 1976) (Merged)

[claire]

Anyone know if Shriek Show's upcoming release is the fully uncut version, free from optical censoring?

[MarcMorris]

It was only optically censored for Japan.

SS Hell Camp (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00064AE9C/mondoerotico)

[SicCoyote]

:)

I wonder if any of those people who paid £300+ for the old vhs tape will now be annoyed?

[mbellishment]

I would be annoyed, but not because its coming out on DVD... but because I'd just payed £300+ for one of the crappest films ever made.

[JAMIOUSE]

So how bad is The Beast In Heat? I know it's suposed to be trashy and dull, but I found The Gestapo's Last Orgy rather boring and that's supposed to be wondefull! It is more like Mattei's 'Rats' than Lenzi's 'Nightmare City'? I picking those two as examples because there possibly the worst films I've ever sat through!

[irons]

Gestapos Last Orgy is a better film than Beast In Heat. The director threw in footage of an earlier war film of his and Beast in Heat comes across as half a war film and half exploitation. I'm glad I own it, if only because it was one of the most notorious 'video nasties', it's infamy in those times makes it worth tracking down. Just don't expect a masterpiece.

[mrarmageddon]

Most of the nasties do kinda suck. But that doesn't stop me from buying them.:D
You do find the odd gem though but Beast in heat isn't one of them. I was thinking more like ISOYG and The Burning (my fav slasher movie ever).
I know it wasn't a nasty but one awful movie I've watched a lot recently is The Mutilator (I love it's cheesy charms):D

[apydiagirls]

It always struck me as odd that "The Mutilator" never had a UK pre-cert release(or certainly not one that I'm aware of,please correct me if I'm wrong).If you think of the countless slashers that were released back then,there is no real reason that this one never showed up along side the dreck that did make it out.That is until the company we know and love(ahem)released it in a cut version a few years back.Maybe a UK distributor was offered it but saw sense at the last minute hehe.

[Vaughan]

I will be getting this - no doubt. I am expecting a film that is a 1 out of 10. It'll be bad, poorly acted, poorly shot. I'll probably love every minute.

[mbellishment]

There is a scene that will always stick in my mind, where the camera pans around the front of a house, but the sun is behind the camera crew. When the camera passes by a statue, the shadows of the camera crew are emblazened across the statue... :rolleyes:

[arthurdent]

Originally posted by mbellishment
There is a scene that will always stick in my mind, where the camera pans around the front of a house, but the sun is behind the camera crew. When the camera passes by a statue, the shadows of the camera crew are emblazened across the statue... :rolleyes:

:)

[claire]

No-one seems to have an answer - will SS be using an uncut print?

[JAMIOUSE]

I'd be very surprised if it's NOT uncut, all Media Blasters DVD's are the full uncut versions.

[Linda]

Has there indeed ever BEEN a cut version of this film?

Anyone know when it's due to be released?

[MarcMorris]

The original US release of SS HELL CAMP was incomplete on video. This new DVD will be complete.

[se7en45]

The latest issue of DVD WORLD magazine contains an article on these Nazi exploitation flicks with loads of retro artwork.

Recommended reading.

[se7en45]

Has THE BEAST IN HEAT been released anywhere in the world on DVD? I know the Japanese released an uncut Laser-Disc but they fogged out all the nether-region nudity. Someone said that's there's a completely uncut print on an Italian DVD. Is this true?

And what about the rumour of an American disc coming out in the near future? Will that be uncut?

Lastly, is there an uncut disc of LOVE CAMP 7 out yet? And, because I've never seen it, is it just a piece of cheap trash or does it have some artistic merit? :confused:

[drterror666]

Shriekshow are releasing this on the 28th December, but under the name SS Hell Camp! This will be completely uncut and pixellation free!

As for Love Camp 7, there is only a bootleg disc from DVD Classics available. I believe it's Dutch R2. As the Nazisploitation films are becoming popular again, I'm sure we'll see an official release of this one before long.

[MarcMorris]

I believe it's Dutch R2.

LOVE CAMP 7 is actually a UK disc, from the old UK pre-cert master. The same label also issued DEEP RIVER SAVAGES, again from the old (fullscreen) UK master.

[42ndStreetFreak]

he Beast in Heat (1977)

Dir: Luigi Batzella

The rarest of all the infamous UK 'Video Nasties', "The Beast in Heat" is also one of the few that actually lives up to it's reputation. At least in parts.

The opening title sequence warns us that we are about to enter the 'Realm of Trash' as an effective, if weird, concoction of sinister sound-scapes and noises plays over nothing but a red swastika on a black screen with only the title and the Director credits actually appearing.

From that we are instantly thrown into the main meat of the story, set in occupied Europe during WWII, as we meet Dr Krast (Macha Magall), a sadistic, Female Nazi who has been conducting experiments to create a 'Master Race'. Experiments which actually result in a wild 'Brute Man' (played by the huge Sal Boris, who because of his looks was cast as deformed brutes in most of his films, including Tinto Brass's excellent take on Nazi decadence "Salon Kitty") who is kept in the World's most unstable and wobbly cage.

It turns out the good Doctor is using female prisoners to test out 'The Beast's' virility. And sure enough her experiments have created a rampant psycho-sexual desire within her creation. An unfortunate woman is stripped (with open full frontal nudity) and tossed into his cage where she is brutally raped.
"What a you screaming for you little fool? After all, my creature is only showing you a little tenderness" states Krast to the screaming woman as a long assault sequence, full of guttural moans, ear piercing screams and numerous sex positions as the victim is flipped this way and that, takes place.
And only the fact that it's obvious 'The Beast' is not rightly placed on her to be actually penetrating saves this assault from being utterly nauseating.
When one of the guards is asked by Krast if he is excited at the spectacle he gets a couple of well paced slaps across the face for saying yes, as she screams at him "Spineless fool, a soldier of the Third Reich is not supposed to get excited at any spectacle"
It all ends on a final scream as the scratched and bloodied woman dies. Not that it makes any difference to 'The Beast' who carries on regardless.

It's one of the most exploitative openings this reviewer has passed his jaded eyes over, but it is only a starter for the main course of truly nasty exploitation to come.

We are then introduced to various Partisans who are fighting back against the occupying Germans.
The main hero of the piece is 'Drago' (Kim Gatti) who we meet blowing up a bridge (with obvious library gun sound effects and an explosion that is simply a rapid edit of still photos!). But we also learn that the Partisans are split up into various factions who seem to spend the entire film arguing with each other, not trusting each other and even betraying each other, in a series of exceedingly dull subplots.

Boring us some more, the film then introduces top billed Brad Harris (veteran of many a Euro crime/horror and fantasy movie) as the Priest Don Lorenzo, who supports the Partisans but hates all the killing. Though he gives us a great example of how bad the dialogue is in the film as he gives one of the Partisans his blessing, "The Lord will protect you…he's the best"!

The German Commander of the region is reprimanded by the General in charge of the experiment camp because of the destroyed bridge and so proceeds to brutally round up the area's old men, women and children to get information out of them concerning the Partisans, The Germans even toss a baby up in the air and shoot it just to show how nasty they are!

But when no one spills the beans Dr Krast steps in and offers her own brand of sadism to get the civilians to talk. Meanwhile the Partisans are making plans to fight back……..

Lets get the faults out of the way first. The first big fault with the film (and it's worse here than most Euro Trash) is the truly appalling dubbing and dialogue. Lot's of outrageously cheesy German accents fly around and the quality of the dubbing just makes it worse.
A classic example is the phone call by the General to the regional Commander which ends with a shouted "You are completely useless" despite the actor obviously not shouting and his lips not moving before 'useless' is heard!
The Partisans are just as badly dubbed and spout dialogue like "we seem to be at the mercy of Priests and prostitutes"!
Eventually it really starts to wear the viewer down.

On top of that the Partisan scenes are very taxing on the viewers patience. They're a useless bunch who spend almost all their scenes bitching at each other wasting valuable exploitation time.
And when they all start to be bumped off (I tell you this to give you, dear reader, some kind of hope of rescue from them) you are actually pleased as it means you won't have to spend so much time with the idiots.
The authentic location shooting helps these scenes out though, with some nice shots of crumbling old village housing and rocky mountain slopes.

The tiny budget is most notable in the 'war film' aspects of the movie. When any kind of large military set up is needed, or a battle needs more than single figure participants, the film slips into appallingly obvious stock footage from other war movies. This footage is awfully washed out and damaged resulting in such a low picture quality that none of it, in anyway at all, matches the rest of the film.
And things get even worse when a very silly model plane is used during a bombing scene. What this would have looked like on a cinema screen is a very scary thought indeed.

But the main reason why this film exists though the Nazi atrocity footage. And it's here that the film delivers what it promises.
True the sex is badly staged, with the aforementioned rapes being just too damn chaotic to imply any actual penetration and one scene has a woman climb on top of the regional Commander and start to thrust and moan wildly despite it being very obvious that the guys penis is still tucked firmly into his trousers, but the nudity is eye opening in it's sheer quantity.

All the Women are stripped at one time or another in the film and the camera takes great delight in zooming into as many hairy crotches as possible.
But, in a rare case of equal opportunities exploitation, the film spends plenty of time ogling flopping cocks as well as male prisoners are humiliated and tortured.
One unexpected sequence has three completely naked men chained up by the wrists and whipped by Krast before she strips off in front of one and proceeds to fondled him and rub her breasts over his bloodied chest. Resulting in an obvious observation by the man, "you're a bitch in heat"!
This delightfully equal rights sequence ends with an off screen castration just to lighten thing up.

And this kind of scene is a perfect example of just how far this film goes out of its way to be exploitative.
Not just in the sudden stripping of the women, to supply as much pubic hair as possible, but in scenes like the one where, for no other reason than its nasty, a women is executed by being shot between the legs by having a pistol stuck into her bush (in close up).

The big exploitation set-piece though is hellish tour around Krast's torture chamber.
The film really goes all out to offend during this outrageously bad taste sequence.
While 'The Beast' rapes another screaming victim in his cage, various other men and women are being tortured. Never once shying away the camera dwells on these assorted atrocities. We have a close up of electrodes clipped to the vagina of a screaming woman as the volts are applied, a naked man is hung upside down and dunked into a trough of water in between bouts of flogging, a woman has her nails pulled out with pliers, and various naked and bleeding men and women hung up against walls.
This whole, genuinely disgusting, episode ends with the infamous scene where 'The Beast' rips a chunk from his victims' pubic hair (in close up) and proceeds to eat it!
And just as your mind is truly wondering what in hell it's doing subjecting itself to such things we have an extreme close-up of the woman's bloodied crotch shoved in our faces as he rips another chunk of hair out leaving us with the female guards licking their lips as 'The Beast' chows down on his furry delicacy with blood dripping down his chin!

This whole section of the movie is probably the most explicit sequence of totally gratuitous exploitation in any of the 'Nasties'. Sure it's trashy, but it overcomes this simply due to how much it is openly willing to show.

It's hard to judge performances because of the dubbing, but I can say that Marcha Magall is suitably evil as Dr Krast (and looks decidedly sexy in her black 'SS' uniform) and relishes her characters over the top nastiness as Krast delivers lines like "later I'll get to know you better my spirited little fawn" to a defiant (and yeah, you guessed it, naked) female prisoner.

As for Sal Boris he never utters a word (only lots of grunts and sexual growls) and in his few scenes does nothing but rape. Nothing else at all.

To sum up then. If the sheer level of exploitation seen in the torture/rape scenes had been kept up the film would be a truly intense, if rather stomach churning, experience. Full of extreme sexual degradation, the odd splash of gore, amazingly frequent and explicit nudity, and nasty violence "The Beast in Heat" is a sleaze hounds treat.
But as it is though the badly staged battles, stock war footage, truly painful dubbing and the irritating Partisan sequences really water down the film's overall impact.

Definitely worth tracking down though if you're an exploitation freak.

[Vaughan]

Nice effort 42ndStreetFreak. For me, you give away a few too many scene-by-scene specifics, but a nice effort.

If I recall (and I'm going to have to trawl through my reference materials, since I don't remember where I got this idea from), this film is actually a mesh of TWO titles. The entire war plot lines were grafted on afterwards to make a full length film. In other words, this is two films in one.

I expect Marc would know if I'm right or full of it, that seems to be what I recall.

[mark meakin]

I heard this too Black, that some footage of an obscure war movie has been added to the film to pad it out.

[MarcMorris]

Newly filmed exploitation scenes were added to the very average war film WHEN THE BELL TOLLS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198947/combined) (Quando suona la campana, 1970)

[Vaughan]

Ha ha! Mr. Morris to the rescue, saving me from having to do some research :D

I knew it was something like that. Man, those exploitation distributors were the best. Snuff, of course, was the same. I wonder if there were others?

I don't know why I find this entire idea humorous, but I do. Marc - does your new book have info on the distributors? Maybe not, that's a whole other kettle of fish.........

[MarcMorris]

The new book goes where no other book ever went - naming the people who ran the companies, and where they were based etc. There's a lot of background info to get your teeth into.

[42ndStreetFreak]

Nice effort 42ndStreetFreak. For me, you give away a few too many scene-by-scene specifics, but a nice effort.


Yeah, maybe. But for me this is the very reason to discuss these films, Plot i don't like to give away...but visual events are the very meat of such work.
I guess I tend to aim stuff like thisat those who have seen the film.

[Vaughan]

Oh, there's room for different approaches, I reckon. Since a lot of these films have been seen time and again, often scene stuff is redundant (if I hd seen the film, why would I want to read about the scenes I've already seen?) If not, then it's a spoiler. Maybe a little note at the top "This review contains Spoilers" would help old gits like me :D

Still, I must admit, I tend to appreciate these films beyond scenes and "visual events" these days. That's why I am so looking forward to Marc's book, so I can learn a lot more about how these films, and the people around them at all levels, worked.

As I said, good effort, but maybe a spoiler tag next time? ;)

[SimonT]

The Beast in Heat (1977)

We are then introduced to various Partisans who are fighting back against the occupying Germans.




Just for a minute there I thought that sentence said "...introduced to various Pakistani's"

:confused:

[Vaughan]

Hey! I bought this DVD today :)

[se7en45]

Hey! I bought this DVD today :)

And...

What's the lowdown? :confused:

[Vaughan]

There were three threads to choose from.... I posted comments here:

http://www.anchorbay.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=5863&page=2

[viva la gore]

Just wanted to say the Beast in Heat pre cert is on eBay again. It's on £360 and the reserve price is still not met! I knew it was valuable to collectors but not that valuable!

[SimonT]

Just wanted to say the Beast in Heat pre cert is on eBay again. It's on £360 and the reserve price is still not met! I knew it was valuable to collectors but not that valuable!

That's ridiculous, you can pick it up brand new and remastered on US DVD for about a tenner.

Hell I used to regularly sell the old Dutch VHS version on Ebay back in my tape dealing days and never got more than £20 for it!

:confused:

[MarcMorris]

I've seen it go for £500 on numerous occasions. I still have mine here ;)


That's ridiculous, you can pick it up brand new and remastered on US DVD for about a tenner.

The DVD is inferior to the old UK pre-cert.

[SimonT]

The DVD is inferior to the old UK pre-cert.

How so? :confused:

[MarcMorris]

The British JVI pre-cert 'video nasty' video runs 86m 11s at 25 fps.
Exploitation Digital's US DVD runs 87m 10s at 24 fps.

Both transfers are framed at 1.85:1, though the UK video includes several shots that appear full-frame 1.33 (and are masked to 1.85 on the US disc).

Both versions are dubbed into English.

The UK version has much longer opening credits, running 2m 16s. They begin with a Spanish 'S' certificate card (on which the title is given as LA BESTIA EN CALOR), followed by the sound of a woman screaming. The title is given as HORRIFING (sic) EXPERIMENTS OF S.S. LAST DAYS (very BORAT!), though the tape is packaged as THE BEAST IN HEAT. The credits are superimposed over the image of a swastika, and include 1m 30s (between the end of the cast list and the director credit) in which no credits are visible, only the swastika.

The US DVD credits also appear over the swastika, and despite only running 44s, include information not on the UK credits. The title is given as LA BESTIA EN CALOR (though the disc is packaged as S S HELL CAMP). The sound of the woman screaming does not appear during the US credits.

Surprisingly, the UK tape is of much better visual quality than the US DVD, being considerably brighter and clearer. Certain sequences in the US disc (such as the one that begins at 7m 38s, and the final sequence) are so dark as to be completely unwatchable.

The US disc is cut in the following places:

1- 15m 14s in. The following dialogue is missing:

"You are an idiot"
"But General...that's impossible".

This can be found between 16m 14s and 16m 18s in the UK video.

2- 37m 42s in. The following dialogue has been cut:

"Perhaps you're right. Perhaps we've no other alternative"

This can be found between 37m 57s and 38m 7s in the UK video.

3- 43m 24s in. A zoom back from a man sitting in a window has been shortened. This footage can be found between 43m 36s and 43m 40s in the UK video.

4- 57m 34s in. A shot of a woman running down the road has been shortened. The missing footage can be found between 57m 17s and 57m 21s in the UK video.

5- 72m 57s in. A shot of a man washing his face has been shortened. The missing footage can be found between 72m 6s and 72m 25s in the UK video.

6- 77m 3s in. Two shots containing the following dialogue have been cut:

"Well, where are the other guys?"
"They should already be at their posts"
"What are we waiting for? Let's join 'em. Come on"

This footage can be found between 76m 11s and 76m25s in the UK video.

[comparison at my request by Brad Stevens]
© Brad Stevens 2007

[viva la gore]

Well you learn something new everyday don't you :D
After reading that info the U.S dvd sounds pants.
I nearly bought it the other day as well. I might still because I aint seen it yet or alternatively Marc could lend me his precert. hah hah. Just kidding.

[tall dude]

I cant honestly say that i noticed any cuts,apart from the opening credits being shorter.
Cant exactly compare pq,as the only vhs i had of this was a double tape bootleg,double billed with ss experiment camp,so we aint talking original pre-cert. Still, its bloody annoying to find its been trimmed at certain scenes.:(

[Vaughan]

--After reading that info the U.S dvd sounds pants.--

It's not pants at all, and if you have a passing interest in the film, it's a great buy. It might not be reference quality, but I put this film on every now and again, and have not been disapointed. I say grab it.

[SicCoyote]

I have to say those cuts wow they sound so interesting. hahaha

It;s not exactly stuff cut for rating etc.

I think I might pick up the dvd now after hearing that list of inconsequential cuts (too bad about the picture quality though)

[cloud]

To go and spend hundreds of quid because of tiny little details like the ones mentioned above really does take the nerd status to the extreme. I have a bootleg of the pre-cert and the Exploitation Digital disc, I'm happy.

[tobiaswragg]

I've got a tape of it under the title HORRIFYING EXPERIMENTS OF SS LAST DAYS (like a Fall song title or something). There are no credits apart from the director so all you get is a swastika for what seems like an eternity. Anyone else notice the shadows of the camera crew in one shot?

[viva la gore]

To go and spend hundreds of quid because of tiny little details like the ones mentioned above really does take the nerd status to the extreme. I have a bootleg of the pre-cert and the Exploitation Digital disc, I'm happy.

Maybe, but if you are a pre-cert collector it's a must! I'm almost positive that they would'nt just buy it for the purposes you have stated alone.

[Someone Weird]

I've got a tape of it under the title HORRIFYING EXPERIMENTS OF SS LAST DAYS (like a Fall song title or something). There are no credits apart from the director so all you get is a swastika for what seems like an eternity. Anyone else notice the shadows of the camera crew in one shot?

I used to have a bootleg of the pre-vra version and quite liked that long drawn out beginning and kind of missed it when I got the dvd. Memories.

The shot of the camera man being pushed along by some burly bloke caught in shadow on a wall is just one of many chucklesome moments in this classic comedy....er, I mean nasty.

[tobiaswragg]

Ha ha always cracks me up!

[Vaughan]

I don't know, it fits the vibe of the movie perfectly. :D