★★½ LOVE CAMP

In yet another unnamed South American country, women are being kidnapped by the 'Independent Revolutionary Front' and forced to sexually service the guerilla fighters. Angela (Ada Tauler) is abducted on her wedding night and becomes the object of desire for both rebel leader Gino da Guerra (Wal Davis) and the sadistic lesbian camp commander (Muriel Montossé billed as Nanda Van Bergen). Thus begins a softcore drama concerning Angela's torn emotions between Gino and her husband; Gino's longing for Angela's full devotion and the distraction she is causing his command of the revolution; the wardress' power grab over the confused Gino and her lust for Angela.

On back up sleaze, we have a captive virgin seduced by a lesbian inmate and two nymphomaniac prostitutes who find the abduction more of a promotion. Yep, the jungle is steaming with full frontal. Producer Erwin C. Dietrich, who wrote the film, must of kept some tight reigns on the production because director Jess Franco’s signature barrage of blurry zooms are gone and so is his normal quota of humiliation and violence. There are some poorly staged rape scenes, but the requisite torture has been downgraded to light whipping, off screen decapitationsand boot licking. Hell, people don't even bleed when shot numerous times at close range! Also absent from this W.I.P. stew is Franco's fondness for a wrist slitting of an ending. Dietrich tries to give it a little upbeat spin by offering some misguided ideas on what women desire, but this insincerity is exposed by a talking parrot who reveals the films subconscious by squawking "All sluts!" and "Filthy Whores". C’mon guys, we all know your films are misogynistic but do you have to corrupt the indigenous wildlife?

When Gino, resembling an Aussie croc hunter, pontificates about Ada’s divine and inspirational beauty, I wondered what kind of booze the cast was drinking in the green inferno. It must be fermented swamp fever with a touch of malaria; Ada Tauler may be the best actress amongst the lusty bunch but she is also the oldest and completly out of shape. Even through beer goggles, one would notice Ada has the butchiest haircut and worst skin in camp. I hate to be a cad but this G.I.L.F. is seriously miscast for soft focus eroticism. She's in the majority of sex scenes which anyone gripping for gravy will find a boner kill given the high numbers of nude attractive women on display.

There are some unintentional laughs to be had with the corny dialogue, dated score and the camp announcements by a voice actor nailing an impersonation of Corporal "Radar" O'Reilly from M*A*S*H. but in the end LOVE CAMP is nothing more than a moronic attempt by a pair exploitation hacks to infuse the popularity of Just Jaeckin's EMMANUELLE (1974) into the genre. They should of just paid the bucks for Sylvia Kristel or given Lina Romay the lead.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumb would immediately start rolling on their next women in prison film,WOMEN IN CELL BLOCK 9. Available on DVD PAL Region 0 from the Swiss company VIP's Official Jess Franco Collection box set. The disc contains a beautiful anamorphic widescreen print; option of English or German (with English subtitles); scene selection; bios and filmographies; production stills; gallery of original posters for 15 of Dietrichs soft porn productions; trailers for BLUE RITA, ILSA THE WICKED WARDEN, JACK THE RIPPER, BARBED WIRE DOLLS, LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGESE NUN; and a documentary on the digital transfer and restoration of the films in The Official Jess Franco Collection.