Olga's House of Shame (1964)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Simply Perfect

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The ruthless Olga (the striking Audrey Campbell in fine fearsome form) relocates her crime syndicate to an old abandoned mine. She's helped out by her depraved brother Nick (ably played to the slimy hilt by W.B. Parker) and eager protégé Elaine (a solid performance by the lovely Alice Davis). Once again, director/co-director Joseph P. Mawra and co-writer/producer George Weiss cover all the satisfyingly sleazy exploitation bases: We've got lots of brutal torture (everything from spanking to bondage), a pleasing amount of tasty distaff skin, nice use of the rundown mine main location, a robust classical music film library score (you'll never hear "Night on Bald Mountain" quite the same way again), and even some mild lesbianism. Slim fox Josel does a cool'n'sultry belly dance while slender minx Ella Daphni provides a delicious eyeful as the enticing Nadja. The tight 70 minute running time ensures that this flick never becomes dull or overstays its welcome. Joel Holt's gloriously overripe narration adds an amusing element of histrionic kitsch. William Rose's crisp hand-held black and white cinematography rates as another major asset. Good tawdry fun.

In the realm of "S-M"/"B & D" (i.e. women getting physically restrained and then usually abused in various ways) this can be viewed as a kind of "missing link" between the Irving Klaw/Bettie Page classics of the early to mid 1950's and the gems from House of Milan/TAO in the 1970's and 1980's (the latter still being regarded by yours truly as the exemplar of the genre). Apparently it's part three of a trilogy, but I've just seen the one (which probably won't change). As you probably already know, the alleged story concerns a crime boss named Olga who spends most of her time punishing various female subordinates for various off-screen infractions. It upholds the John Willie/Eneg tradition of the all-female universe, although we do briefly see a couple of quasi-gay male characters, one of whom wears a ship captain's hat and smokes a big cigar---overcompensation? Even by Z-grade budget standards, the faked nature of the abuse performed by Olga is pretty laughable; I especially enjoyed the pulled punches/slaps. (How hard would it have been for the director to have Olga put her hand next to the victim's face, yank it back suddenly, then show that particular footage in reverse?) The "electric chair" also stands out (or sits) in that regard. The reason I give it 2 stars instead of just 1 is due to a few aesthetically pleasing elements; the cinematography is gorgeous old-school black and white (not like today's occasional black and white efforts that look like crap); the outdoor shots of upstate New York are a nice relief from the largely bare-walled interior scenes (it's a nice touch having Olga's hide-out be an abandoned mine, although clearly the rooms seen aren't in a mine); there's a long (and blessedly dialog-free) sequence of one of the victims getting chased through the countryside that almost achieves a kind of pastoral quality, reminiscent of the silent era; most of the women are fairly easy on the eye, especially Olga (who by the way is clearly American despite her foreign-sounding name). Late in the going we see Olga let her hair down and start to undress as she gets ready for bed; unfortunately no auto-eroticism ensues (well it was still 1964 and all that). There's also a scene of some amateurish belly dancing tossed in, for fans of that particular activity. If you're a male who will be watching this for masturbatory purposes (I don't know who else would be watching it, or why else) I would suggest turning the volume all the way down and playing your own "stroke music" on your CD player or whatever you have, unless you're heavily into "Night on Bald Mountain" (and other old library tunes) and lots of self-satirizingly earnest narration a la Walter Winchell on "The Untouchables," e.g. "Olga was now about to achieve a new level of sadism," pronounced "sad-dism." (That line's probably not verbatim, but you get the idea.) Even on just a technical bondage level it's pretty lame (aside from the lady in the strait-jacket with the blindfold and ball gag); soap operas do a more convincing job of binding & gagging. Here's the "spoiler" part: eventually one of the victims becomes Olga's partner ---but do any nice lesbian antics ensue? No way, Jose--bottom line, it's a pretty bare-bones 70 minutes; even describing the "tortures" would make them sound more interesting than they actually play out, one reason I haven't done so...

White Slaves of Chinatown (1964) BOMB Olga's House of Shame (1964) BOMBOlga's Dance Hall (1966) BOMBThree of the five (one is lost) film from the "Olga" series are all equally awful. The main "storyline" is an evil pimp like woman named Olga who drugs innocent girls and then forces them into becoming hookers and drug pushers. Produced by George Weiss, best known for his work with Ed Wood in Glen or Glenda?, these films were certainly aimed at the sex market with their nudity but all are deadly dull and a real pain to sit through. The films are so low budget that sound wasn't possible so we get some of the worst narration in all three films.

This is the 3rd movie in the infamous Olga series starring Audrey Campbell and it's a classic sickie! The pseudo mondo narration and the Wagner-like music gives the film an unique edge. It's low budget but nicely shot (handheld camera, dogme-style!) in glorious b/w and Miss Campbell is captivating in a twisted sort of way. This torture/bondage fest must've been pretty shocking in 1964. John Waters went to filmschool in New York around that time and said it influenced him more than any Eisenstein movie! Waters was expelled within a year in a reefer scandal. Michael Medved was right: THESE FILMS ARE UNHEALTHY! Producer George Weiss also backed another trash classic, Ed Wood's "Glen Or Glenda"! "Olga", an anti-PC masterpiece, and "Love Camp 7" are the obvious inspiration for the wonderful "Ilsa" movies and countless others. Jess Franco and Joe D'amato fans should defintely check in at this House Of Shame!