MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP (1976) 88 Films 4K Ultra HD Review + Blu-ray Screenshots

SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP (1976)

The Italian Collection 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Label: 88 Films

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 94 Minutes 55 Seconds

Audio: English or Italian 2.0 LPCM Dual-Mono with optional Newly Translated English subtitles

Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)

Director: Sergio Garrone

Cast: Mircha Carven, Paola Corazzi, Giorgio Cerioni, Almina De Sanzio, Matilde Dall'Aglio, Agnes Kalpagos, Giovanna Mainardi, Serafino Profumo, Attilio Dottesio, Patrizia Melega

SS Experiment Camp (1976), directed by Sergio Garrone, a director-for-hire on a number of lower tier Italian flicks like Django the Bastard, Lover of the Monster, The Hand That Feeds the Dead, is a notorious slice of a Naziploitation set toward the end of WWII. At a prison camp run by Colonel von Kleiben (Giorgio Cerioni, How To Kill A Judge) they are carrying out a series of unorthodox medical experiments overseen by the evil lesbian Dr. Renke (Patrizia Melega, SS Lager 5: L'inferno delle donne) and the secret-Jewish Dr. Steiner (Attilio Dottesio, Black Emanuelle 2), the experiments basically boil down to female prisoners being forced to copulate with German soldiers brought in from the Russian front, in an attempt to create the perfect Aryan race, you know, that old nugget. We also get a wicked wardress by way of (Giovanna Mainardi, No, the Case Is Happily Resolved) and the scarred prison guard (Serafino Profumo, Death Carries a Cane) who delight in the suffering of the women.

It's a cheap slice of exploitation that not's particularly well made, but the film's advertising campaign, which included the image of a naked woman being crucified upside down, is said to have kick-started the Video Nasty movement. There's no shortage of sleaze on display, we get plenty of female nudity, Nazi orgies, and diabolical surgeries, including a testicle-transplant, and other odd touches like high-pressure air being forced into the ears of women, and a water tank where the Nazis can either boil or freeze women to death. There's not a lot of redeeming value here, it's a Nazisploitation cheapie for sure, but it hits all the notes you'd expect from the sub-genre, so on that level it does not disappoint. We even get a somewhat sympathetic Nazi soldier soldier named Helmut Kruger (Mircha Carven, Death Will Have Your Eyes) who falls in love with Mirelle (Paola Corazzi, The Children of Violent Rome), the prisoner he's been boinking, with the Colonel von Kleiben using that as leverage to get the soldier to agree to a testicle transplant surgery! There's a lot of unintentional hilarity here, the sex-stuff is actually pretty toned down, and the surgeries while somewhat graphic aren't all that well done either, but I could see this being pretty shocking stuff to someone who hasn't seen a lot of these Nazisploitation flicks, but if you're jaded like me, well, it's pretty silly stuff.

Audio/Video: SS Experiment Love Camp (1976) makes its worldwide 4K Ultra HD debut from 88 Films, presented in 2160p UHD with Dolby Vision HDR10 color-grade, sourced from a 4K scan of the original negatives. The image looks terrific, nary a blemish to distract the eye, the restoration offers nice texturing, grain is nicely exposed, blacks levels are solid, and the colors are well-saturated, though the overall scheme is cheap and grungy looking, it's a cheap slice of exploitation and the restoration certainly cannot hide that fact, but it looks surprisingly excellent in 4K UHD, with some much improved depth and clarity tot he image. The accompanying Blu-ray features the film in 1080p HD in the alternate 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio without Dolby Vision HDR10, but looks solid as well with solid black levels and good color-saturation, but a step down from the UHD without the Dolby Vision HDR10.

Audio comes by way of English 2.0 Dual-Mono LPCM with Optional SDH Subtitles, or Italian 2.0 LPCM Dual-Mono with optional newly translated English subtitles. Both tracks are clean and well-balanced, free of hiss or distortion, dalogie is always intelligible, the droning synth score by Vasili Kojucharov and Roberto Pregadio (The Forgotten Pistolero) benefitting the most from the uncompressed audio upgrade.

Extras kick-off with an excellent Audio Commentary by Italian Cinema Experts Eugenio Ercolani and Nanni Cobretti that explores the Nazisploitation sub-genre, it's highs and lows, an appreciation of this film and the director, and plenty of detail about the cast and crew, the censorship and controversies around the film and plenty more. We also get a 30-min Sadistically Yours, Sergio G. - An Interview with Director Sergio Garrone, the director, who passed in 2023, talks about making film in Italy, and what he believes lead to the decline of the Italian film industry, noting that director's no longer were able to fund their passion projects, that they were recruited to by producers to churn out product that was deemed marketable.

The 28-min SSadist Sound - An Interview with Music Historian Pierpaolo De Sanctis, owner of Four Flies Records, who discussed the life and career of the film's composer Roberto Pregadio, noting that the soundtrack for this film has never been released, and offering a reason why that might be. Then onto the 25-min The Alibiso Dynasty - An Interview with Editor Eugenio Alabiso, who talks about his family's work in the Italian film industry, then into the 12-min Framing Exploitation - An Interview with Cinematographer Maurizio Centini, who talks about his time working in the Italan film industry, not specifically about this film in particular, which he does seem seem very proud of. The bonus material is buttoned-up with a 3-min Italian Opening and Closing Titles and a 3-min Original Trailer. These extras are featured on both the 4K UHD and the accompanying Blu-ray.

The 2-disc UHD/BD arrives in an oversized black keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring original illustrated movie poster artwork plus a new illustration by Joel Robison. Tucked away inside is a 12-Page Illustrated Booklet containing "Nazisploitation, Punks and the Nasties..." an essay by Tim Murray that explores the notoriety and censorship of Nazisploitation films, also making a connection between the sub-genre with the London punk scene of the era. This release also included a foil-embossed, double-walled Slipcover featuring both artwork,

Special Features;

- Brand New 4K remaster from the Original Negatives presented in Ultra High Definition (2160p) in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio

- Presented in Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range (HDR10 Compatible)

- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray in 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio also included

- English 2.0 LPCM Stereo with Optional SDH Subtitles

Italian 2.0 LPCM Mono with newly translated English subtitles

- Audio Commentary by Italian Cinema Experts Eugenio Ercolani and Nanni Cobretti

- Sadistically Yours, Sergio G. - An Interview with Director Sergio Garrone (30:24)

- SSadist Sound - An Interview with Music Historian Pierpaolo De Sanctis (28:26)

- The Alibiso Dynasty - An Interview with Editor Eugenio Alabiso (25:52)

- Framing Exploitation - An Interview with Cinematographer Maurizio Centini (11:43)

- Italian Opening and Closing titles (2:50)