Fascism on a Thread- The Strange Story of Nazisploitation Cinema

About the movie

The filmmakers and stars of the so-called "Nazisploitation cinema", as well as some leading academics and critics, look back on one of the motion picture world's most unexpectedly successful trends. Starting with art house cinema from Italy such as "The Night Porter", the "Nazisploitation" trope soon merged into horror narratives that, whilst usually avoiding any mention of the "Final Solution" and the worst crimes of Hitler's regime, instead provided lowbrow action, adventure and splatter set pieces - think of "The Great Escape" but far less family-friendly! In the UK, the films became controversial as "video nasties" even though, per the documentary, many of them were made with the clear intention of attacking the National Socialist regime and making fun of their politics. The documentary concludes by questioning just why Italy, a country that was itself victimized by fascism, became the biggest producer of films that offers 'fascism on a thread'. Also featured is the late Dyanne Thorne, discussing the popularity of the Canadian "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS", in the last filmed interview before her death in 2020. Her husband Howard Maurer also appears. Both went on to run a ministry where Thorne would even find fans eager to wed them in the character of Ilsa. To date, "Fascism on a Thread" is the only feature length documentary on this topic and it was produced for Severin Films, who released it with their acquisition of "The Beast in Heat" - one of the most notoriously funny Italian productions from the heyday of the movement.