SS Experiment Love Camp – 88 Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1976
Director: Sergio Garrone
Writers: Sergio Chiusi, Vinicio Marinucci, Sergio Garrone
Cast: Mircha Carven, Paola Corazzi, Giorgio Cerioni, Giovanna Mainardi, Serafino Profumo, Attilio Dottesio, Patrizia Melega

Release Date: October 27th, 2025 (UK), November 4th, 2025 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 55 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £25.00 (UK), $49.95 (USA)

"Set during the tail-end of World War II we follow the deranged experiments performed on innocent prisoners of war by the utterly sadistic and evil Colonel von Kleiben in his attempt to create the perfect Aryan race." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Brand New 4K remaster from the Original Negatives."

SS Experiment Love Camp comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 82.9 GB

Feature: 65.4 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image retains an organic look.

SS Experiment Love Camp comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46 GB

Feature: 28.7 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5 (Both Audio Tracks)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Italian, a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and range-wise, they represent ambient sounds and the score well. The English-language track sounds slightly more robust than the Italian-language track. Included are removable English for the Italian-language track and removable English SDH for the English-language track.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), Italian opening and closing titles (2 minutes 50 seconds, DTS-HD mono), an in interview with cinematographer Maurizio Centini titled Framing Exploitation (11 minutes 42 seconds, DTS-HD mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso titled The Alibiso Dynasty (25 minutes 52 seconds, DTS-HD mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with music historian Pierpaolo De Sanctis titled SSadist SSound (28 minutes 26 seconds, DTS-HD mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Sergio Garrone titled Sadistically Yours, Sergio G. (30 minutes 24 seconds, DTS-HD mono Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Italian cinema experts Eugenio Ercolani and Nanni Cobretti.

The extras are the same on both discs.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a double-walled slipcase (limited to the first pressing), and a 12-page booklet (limited to the first pressing) with an essay titled Nazisploitation, Punks and the Nasties… written by Tim Murray.

Summary:

Sergio Garrone directed SS Experiment Love Camp. His notable films include Django the Bastard, The Hand That Feeds the Dead and Lover of the Monster.

Near the end of World War II, a sadistic Nazi colonel oversees a research purity program to perfect a master race by experimenting on female prisoners.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, Italian cinema was driven by genre cycles, and although most of these were a reaction to cinema made abroad, Nazisploitation is a homegrown product whose origins can be traced back to Luchino Visconti’s The Damned. Nazisploitation focused on the Nazis’ abhorrent crimes against humanity and their decadent behavior. That said, the result is films that are not for the faint of heart and some of the most vile Italian genre cinema ever made.

There is a brutal pre-credits torture sequence where the Nazis torture women and then dispose of those who resisted their brainwashing by burning them. This sequence does an exemplary job setting the stage for the events that follow. Although the narrative retreads things explored in countless other Nazisploitation films, it does have a few surprises that set it apart from its contemporaries.

What makes SS Experiment Love Camp different from other Nazisploitation films is a plot device that revolves around an impotent colonel. SS Experiment Love Camp personalizes the madness unfolding onscreen, instead of being another retread about the Nazis and their diabolical experiments. That said, when the experiment finally reveals its nature, it undeniably becomes one of the most disturbing moments you will ever experience.

Another element that sets SS Experiment Love Camp apart from other Nazisploitation films is a love story subplot between a German soldier and a prisoner. While most Nazis take by force what they want, this character's tenderness feels out of place for a Nazisploitation film. On the other side of the spectrum, there is an ample amount of torture in SS Experiment Love Camp and moments involving organ transplants that are not for the faint of heart. The most striking moment is a scene where one of the girls who just tried to kill a soldier is then hung naked and bleeding to death upside down in the courtyard.

From a production standpoint, the dialogue is delirious, the acting often goes overboard, and Sergio Garrone’s solid direction elevates SS Experiment Love Camp well beyond its resources. Although the narrative is not without its flaws—notably, there are times when it drags—it is a film whose main goal is to shock, and in this regard, it succeeds. Another striking element is its score, which perfectly contrasts the harsh reality the film depicts. Ultimately, SS Experiment Love Camp is one of the best examples of Nazisploitation cinema.

SS Experiment Love Camp gets a definitive release from 88 Films. Recommend.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer