Is The Beast in Heat Treasure or Trash?
Blu-ray Distributed By Severin / June 25, 2019
More than four decades after the subgenre first shocked the world, the most depraved Nazisploitation sickie of them all must still be seen to be believed: Writer/director Luigi Batzella (THE DEVIL’S WEDDING NIGHT, NUDE FOR SATAN) combines footage from two earlier WWII action movies with a newly-shot plot featuring a sadistic female Nazi officer (Macha Magall of Bruno Mattei’s SS GIRLS), a perpetually aroused caged ogre (Salvatore Baccaro aka ‘Boris Lugosi’ of FRANKENSTEIN’S CASTLE OF FREAKS), and a cavalcade of sexual atrocities that Horror-Extreme.com calls “tasteless and glorious…it gathers all the ethos of the genre and smashes it into a wonderfully hellish mix.” Never released in America and banned as a ‘Video Nasty’ in the UK, this notorious feast of smut-schnitzel is now scanned from 35mm negative elements with a blitzkrieg of all-new Special Features.
Jamie’s Take 
(3.5 / 5)
Naziploitation is the one subgenre that splits fans of exploitation films. It seems like that there was a strange fascination with WWII and Nazi’s during the 1970’s as countless films were released, mostly in Italy and detailing the atrocities that the Nazi’s bestowed upon the world. These films were meant solely to shock and push the boundaries in good taste.
While Women-In-Prison films were making a buck, film makers decided to go one step beyond with their concentration camp flicks like Love Camp 7, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS, Gestapo’s Last Orgy, SS Experiment Camp, and SS Girls just to name a few. Filled with full frontal nudity and graphic violence, these controversial films were rarely seen and would show up in run-down second run theaters and eventually make their way onto VHS in the 1980’s.
It was on VHS where I had first seen The Beast in Heat but under the title SS Hell Camp (most of these films had so many alternate titles, it is hard to keep track). I actually saw this with fellow Trashmen writer Travis North and needless to say we were pretty taken back by what we saw. Our teenage minds were blown away by the images on display and being middle age (fuck me) I’m still shocked at some of the nasty images that is in this sick little movie.
The Third Reich is conducting strange experiments on prisoners and one of the leaders of one experiment camp is Dr. Ellen Kratsch (Macha Magall who was also in The Private House of the SS). It is here where she conducts odd experiments of torture, some of the sexual nature. Even some of her fellow doctors find what she is doing sick and depraved while some of the officers find it stimulating with one female officer licking her lips as she watches a woman being raped and ultimately killed.
The so called plot of the movie follows a band of former prisoners who set out to stop this experiment camp from happening. I must say that whenever the film jumps from the camp to this Dirty Dozen-esque plot to overthrow the camp, the movie moves at a snails pace and can get quite dull. The sequences at the camp are so campy and over the top that I had wished that tone had carried over throughout the whole film.
Now this is where I may lose some of you. The Beast in Heat and all the other Naziploitation films are very campy and cheaply made. The dubbing is hilariously bad. The gore is fake looking. Everyone gets naked. If you had told me an 11 year old boy wrote the story, I would not be surprised. So I find movies like The Beast in Heat very funny and enjoyable as I get the silliness, I embrace the absurd. Honestly, if these films were made by more talented film makers, I would not care for them as it would be too gruesome and sadistic to stomach, not to mention downright depressing.
I doubt The Beast in Heat was meant to be taken seriously (one scene has a German officer’s pants fall down when he gives the Hail Hitler salute) and while there are moments of gruesome torture, it is all done in a Grand Guignol way that is beyond over the top and ridiculous. When a woman is having her insides torn out by rats, the viewer is subjected to a woman with red paint on her stomach and black guinea pigs walking over her. And if you like bad dubbing, my favorite is a woman having her finger nails pulled off and she calmly says, “Ouch, you are hurting me.”
Oh and just wait until you see the beast. The funniest moments come from this extremely hairy actor making all sorts of odd faces and noises who is totally nude and bouncing around in his jail cell. Speaking of nude, there is so much goddamn flesh on display that everyone at some point shows their goodies. Butts, boobs, boners, bush – you get all of the four B’s. One prisoner has a speech while being tortured that had me laughing as his dingus flopped about like a loose pendulum as he spouts off some ridiculous bit of dialogue.
Severin’s blu ray transfer looks very nice and has very little print damage aside from the opening credits. Once again, they succeed in presenting a solid transfer for fans. Included on the disc is a feature length documentary on the history of Naziploitation films with interviews from historians, actors, actresses, directors, and writers as they all discuss the subgenre and its history. This documentary alone is worth the purchase of the blu ray.
If John Waters had made a Nazipolitation film back in the 70’s, I think the final result would be close to The Beast in Heat. It’s pretty nuts (and you see lots of men’s nuts too) and may be my favorite Naziploitation film next to the first Ilsa movie. The movie is made to shock and it’s ultimate goal is to get a reaction at any expense. So it does have a purpose and a point which is more than I can say about most modern Hollywood films that everyone holds to such high regard.
Hidden Treasure/Dumpster Fire?
Jamie says: Hidden Treasure!
| Jamie's Take: |  (3.5 / 5) |
| Blu-ray Extras: |  (4.0 / 5) |
| Average: |  (3.8 / 5) |
Special Features:
- Fascism On A Thread – The Strange Story of Nazisploitation Cinema: A new feature length documentary featuring interviews with Dyanne ‘Ilsa’ Thorne, Malissa ‘Elsa’ Longo, Filmmakers Sergio Garrone, Mariano Caiano, Rino Di Silvestro, Liliana Cavani, Bruno Mattei and many more.
- Nazi Nasty: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of MURDEROUS PASSIONS
- Trailer
