Greta, the Mad Butcher (1979)

Very Cool!!!

Undescribable Perfection

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I've never understood the Ilsa films. They are set across different parts of the world, different time periods and the ending of certain films suggest that a sequel simply should not have been possible.This one goes by about three or four different names which confuses matters even more. Whats even more confusing is just how little entertainment value there is. I know this is an exploitation flick but the previous two had their moments, this is just bafflingly poor.This is the worst third part of a franchise since Terminator, I mean seriously who thought it'd be a good idea to make that R rated franchise so tame and do cut away deaths? That person needs to be punished with having to watch this Ilsa movie on a loop for 6 continual weeks. That right there is cruel and unusual punishment, but so is this film

"Greta - Haus ohne Männer" is a co-production between Canada, Switzerland and West Germany that resulted in a German-language movie from 1977, so it has its 40th anniversary this year. The title already gives away that this is one of famous filmmaker Jesús Franco's collaborations with the infamous Erwin C. Dietrich and the outcome is a mix of violence, thriller, porn and horror I guess. The film runs for over 90 minutes and stars Franco's regular Dianne Thorne once again as an insanely sadistic warden of a woman's penitentiary, insane asylum actually, even if many of the inmates are only insane because of the way they are treated in there. Franco once again plays a supporting character, in the first third of the movie he actually has a lot of screen time as a doctor. Lina Romay is on board again as well, even if she is not half as stunning and memorable with her very short hair in here. And Tania Busselier has also worked with Franco on several occasions, she plays the good girl here.This is the story of a young woman who tries to infiltrate the penitentiary to find out what they did to her sister. And she finds out a lot more than she bargained for. This is basically it in terms of the plot. There are major developments and character transformations and in terms of the story I would say this is better than the usual Franco movie, and certainly also better than the average Dietrich movie, but there are still moments when it feels really absurd the entire thing. And apart from some pretty hot sexual moments, there is also massive violence in here. The suffocation scene is kinda hard to stomach and I am really one who can take a lot usually, maybe because of the state the sister was in previously already. Anyway, this is not a film to watch when you are looking for great acting or a great story, but there is a whole lot of guilty pleasure material to it, also the final scene with the tearing-apart references, even depicting tigers adds some solid significance to the overall thing. I would not recommend the watch, but if you plan on getting deeper into Franco's filmography, then this one here may not be the worst pick to start with.

I am an admirer of Jess Franco, and one of the people to be of the opinion that this highly prolific Spanish cult director's repertoire includes quite a bunch of great films (such as "The Awful Dr. Orloff" of 1962, "The Diabolical Dr. Z" of 1966, "Venus In Furs" of 1969, "Count Dracula" of 1970 or "The Bloody Judge", also 1970, just to name a few). It is undeniable, however, that Franco has also directed a bunch of stinkers in his long and impressive career. This "Greta - Haus Ohne Männer" aka. "Ilsa, The Wicked Warden" of 1977 is one of the rather crappy films Franco has directed, although not quite the most dreadful one. This unofficial sequel to the infamous "Ilsa" series is admittedly better than the, overall quite similar, but more dreadful "Sadomania" of 1981. The weaknesses of the two movies are pretty much the same - they are both watchable for the sleaze at first, but they both get really really boring after some time (in spite of the constant sleaze). "Ilsa, The Wicked Warden" is not quite as pointless, however, and at least it makes some little efforts to remain interesting. As in "Sadomania", it is the sleaze that keeps you watching, but "Ilsa..." has a few other qualities, such as Lina Romay as one of the prisoners, and, of course, Dyanne Thorne, who enjoys quite a cult status among exploitation fans. Director Franco also has a small role himself, which is a bit bigger than his cameo in "Sadomania".As mentioned above, this is meant to be a sequel to the infamous "Ilsa" series. Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) is called "Greta" in this one, and Greta is the sadistic warden of a jungle prison camp for women. Not too surprisingly, things begin to get pretty damn sleazy from the first minute... and unfortunately also pretty boring. Nevertheless, this is not a complete failure. The plot is thin, but it is also quite wicked, and it contains some gruesome scenes, as well as some quite original ones. The constant sleaze and nudity might keep you watching, but over all, "Greta - Haus Ohne Männer" becomes pretty boring soon. It's not a movie that has to be avoided at all costs, but in case you are not a hardcore enthusiast of the 'Women In Prison' sub-genre, I would recommend to skip this one.

Anyone who has ever seen a 'women in prison film' will know exactly what to expect from this one. The production values for Ilsa - The Wicked Warden are really rather good, but don't let that fool you - as this is pure and utter filth and a welcome addition to Jess Franco's already sordid filmography. The film is apparently a sequel to Don Edmonds's Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, and this time sees the uncompromising woman running a mental hospital for (naturally) women. However, this place doesn't treat the sick - it's run by them! Ilsa and her cohorts are forcing the female population to have sex with men and selling tapes of it! There's also a plot about a woman checking in to find out what happened to her sister... I have to be honest, I'm not a massive fan of this odd little sub genre, but Jess Franco has a real flair for this sort of thing and Ilsa - The Wicked Warden is a cut above a lot of genre entries. Dyanne Thorne is imposing as the title character and does well at commanding every scene she's in…although that isn't difficult given the talent of her co-stars. Overall, Ilsa - The Wicked Warden is bound to appeal to sleaze fans and comes highly recommended to the right people!