‘Helga: She Wolf of Stilberg’ DVD Review (Maison Rouge)
Stars: Patrizia Gori, Malisa Longo, Richard Allan, Dominique Aveline, Alban Ceray, Jacques Marbeuf, Jean Cherlian, Claude Janna, Olivier Mathot, Carmelo Petix | Written by H.L. Rostaine | Directed by Patrice Rohmm
Initially in charge of propaganda within an oppressive South African government, Helga (Malisa Longo) is demoted to being in charge of looking after a group of recently captured rebel female prisoners. She rules Chateau Stilberg with an iron fist whilst having an insatiable appetite for both prisoners and soldiers alike. Unfortunately for her, not all the prisoners want to play along and this naturally frustrates Helga on a regular basis. One of the prisoners under her watchful eye is the spunky and feisty Elisabeth Vogel (Patrizia Gori), daughter of a leftist lawyer who is seemingly the government’s biggest enemy and prime target. When Helga discovers this, she naturally intends to use young Elisabeth as bait, but eventually starts to fall for her. Can Elisabeth take advantage of this new found affection to not only escape, but to also put an end to the carnal tyranny of Helga and ultimately overthrow the government once and for all?
In all honesty, you won’t really care. In fact, you may have actually fallen asleep before the end of Helga: She Wolf of Stilberg because it is an extremely dull venture in to the Nazislpoitation / Women in Prison sub-genre. It’s clear to see that Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS is the main influence for this title and it does a poor job of cashing in on it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Longo’s portrayal of “not Ilsa”, in fact she’s much easier on the eye than Dyanne Thorn and has a real sense of sensuality about her. Unfortunately, much like the film as a whole, she really does miss that sadistic edge that made Ilsa such an influential and plagiarised character.
That’s the thing with Helga: She Wolf of Stilberg. There are plenty of moments including nudity, sex and violence, but it’s so tame! A majority of the female cast are so unattractive and one-dimensional, that you don’t care when they bare all. It’s not titillating or trashy and there’s really nothing outrageous or sleazy about this film which ultimately makes it blend in with the similar tosh that was produced throughout Europe at the time. Aside from that, it’s a solidly produced film. Fit for purpose I suppose you might say. I’m not the biggest fan of this sub-genre and it’s because of films like this. It’s a real shame, because I was looking forward to seeing an obscure French take on this type of film.
Overall, this is one I can’t really recommend too highly. If you have an interested in hard to come by cinema, give it a go. If you’re a fan of the genre, this may be of interest of you. However, if you’ve been enticed by amazing artwork and promotional material related to this film, be careful because you may be wasting your time.
Special features on the new Maison Rouge DVD include alternative clothed scenes; and trailers for other Screenbound Euro-horror release: Bare Breasted Countess and Elsa Fraulein SS.
Helga: She Wolf of Stilberg is out now on DVD by Screenbound Pictures , under their new Maison Rouge label.
