Ilsa, the Wicked Warden (originally released as Greta: Haus Ohne Männer, and also known as Greta, the Mad Butcher, Ilsa: Absolute Power, and Wanda, the Wicked Warden) is a 1977 Canadian sexploitation film directed by Jess Franco, written by Ric Meyers, and starring Dyanne Thorne.[1] The plot follows Greta, a warden at a psychiatric hospital for young women, and a girl who feigns illness in order to investigate the disappearance of her sister, a former patient.
Often considered the third installment in the Ilsa film series, The Wicked Warden was not initially produced with the intent of being as such, despite Thorne's starring role.[2] The film contains scenes of graphic violence, which Meyers commented was "sicker" than its predecessor in its depictions.[3] Meyers further opined that it had been shot at the same time as Franco's Barbed Wire Dolls due to the shared cast and film setting.[3]
Greta (Dyanne Thorne) works as the warden in a psychiatric hospital for young women. Unbeknownst to her, her patient Abby is actually the sister of Rosa, one of the hospital's other patients. Abby has lied in order to get herself admitted so that she can find out what has become of her sister, and, hopefully, to rescue her. However, she is unaware that Greta uses the hospital's inmates to create pornography, often against their will. Abby finds herself at the mercy of Juanna, Greta's lover and leader of several of the hospital's inmates. Juanna tries hard to make Abby respond to her advances but, after she refuses, begins to exploit her.[4]
Ilsa, the Wicked Warden was originally filmed and released in German, under the title Greta: Haus Ohne Männer. The title was changed and the script was reworked, with new dialog being dubbed for the English-speaking market. Given the inclusion of Dyanne Thorne in the title role, and the similar content and subject matter between the film and the Ilsa series, the small change of character name and other edits made to support it allowed the film to commercially benefit from the popularity of the Ilsa series, despite it not being originally intended as part of the canon.[5][6]
The film's graphic nature made it—along with the entire Ilsa series—associated with the so-called "video nasties" of the 1980s, and caused the film to be edited for release in some territories.[6][7][8][9]
HorrorNews.net remarked that the film was "Certainly not a waste of time, just don't expect anything near what Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS originally provided."[5]
