love camp 7

Cult movie fans have become pretty adept at validating their cinematic tastes. After all, are there really any more moral values on display in the latest Fast and Furious installment than in a Lucio Fulci flick? I think not. But when it comes to the Nazi Exploitation sub-genre there are no excuses; you're either down for some rape, torture and kinky sex mixed with Third Reich iconography...or you're not. Unlike most retro-erotica, which gets a free-pass by virtue of its inherent campiness, Love Camp 7 (1969) is infused with a distasteful blend of sadism and cruelty that makes it awful hard to call "fun."

Sent undercover as Jewish prisoners in a Nazi "pleasure camp," Lt. Linda Harman (Maria Lease) and Grace Freeman (Kathy Williams) are charged with contacting a Nazi scientist, also forced into prostitution, who has vital information that could change the course of the war. But earning her trust - and proving their value to the officers and enlisted men - won't be easy. Screwing their way up the military ladder, Linda and Grace are manhandled by every German in the camp in an attempt to complete their mission and escape with their lives - if not their virtue - intact.

The brainchild of producer David Friedman, who first pitched the idea to gore-pioneer Herschell Gordon Lewis (he passed), Love Camp 7 paved the way for sadomasochistic drive-in hits like Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, Last Orgy of the Third Reich and even more artistic sleaze like Salon Kitty and The Night Porter. All of those films are better made, but there's something to be said about getting there first. Director Lee Frost doesn't bother with subtlety (or coverage shots), sticking the camera in the most convenient place to fit as much T & A into the frame as possible. The women themselves have the sort of authentically flawed and unpolished bodies one would expect from the early days of porn, allowing themselves to be pawed and groped in convincingly uncomfortable fashion.

There's nothing sexy about Love Camp 7. And one might argue, it's not supposed to be. It scratches an obscene itch for those who get turned on by sexual humiliation, cheap sets and bad accents. And, despite earning a laugh here and there from some awful dialogue or ill-timed edits, it remains resolutely masochistic throughout. As a roped-off piece of crude exploitation it certainly earns a spot in the cult movie hall of fame...probably best enjoyed at 1.5X speed.

In true "go big or go home" fashion, Blue Underground gives the title a stellar hi-def presentation, scrubbing the image clean with a new 4K restoration from its recently discovered camera negative. Extras include the theatrical trailer, poster and still gallery, collectible booklet and 90-minute Charles Band produced documentary Nazithon: Decadence and Destruction (which provides a priceless reel of trailers and clips...if one can get past the ridiculous leather clad hosts).