[Dr. Humpp]

ILSA instruktøren døde åbenbart samtidigt med at Kenni Cocksucker viste diller til mit fatale amok punkshow i Dæmonens Port. How fitting. Jeg har opgivet at finde mit gamle Lowcut interview med ham, så her er et jeg lavede for amerikanske WormwoodChronicles for ca. 10 år siden:

No film has quite made an impact on me like "Ilsa The Shewolf Of SS" did the very first time I saw it. I remember reading about it as a young teenager in several naughty men's magazines in the 70s, both fearing and hoping that one day I'd have the chance of seeing this notorious shockfest. And I must say it more than delivered goods the hype had promised. I've now seen it more than 10 times, and its still the ultimate exploitation movie of them all, as well as a classic of bad girl cinema. The blond busty nazi sex kitten, superbly portrayed by Dyanne Thorne, is today a pop culture icon that most know of but very few wish to talk about. I wonder why, haha. Director Don Edmonds, who made the two first movies in the series, has always been high on my list of filmmakers I wanted to talk to, so now that dream has finally come true. As you are about to read, Don has worked over 40 years in the movie business as a director, actor, producer, writer etc., and right now he preparing the glorious comeback of Ilsa with "Ilana, The Shewolf Returns"! The interview is dedicated to the late Buck Flower.


WC: Producer David F. Friedman had a hit with "Love Camp 7" (1969), a pre-Ilsa Nazi exploitation movie. How did the idea of "Ilsa Shewolf Of The SS" come about? And did Friedman pick Dyanne Thorne for the lead?

Don Edmonds: "Love Camp 7" was a film by Bob Cresse. Cinepix of Canada wanted a prison camp film and they wrote the original ILSA film. Dave Friedman was hired to produce it and I was hired to direct. We did the film in 9 days on the old "Hogan's Hero's" exterior sets and the sound stages at the old Laird Studios in Culver City. It was a very fast shoot and we had hardly any money to do it with, so it was necessary to keep inventing ways to make it interesting. I knew the film would cause great controversy but,in truth I didn't really know how much it would create the firestorm that it did. We were just a bunch of young filmmakers trying to do the best we could with the material we were given. I did know that it was going to shock people and indeed it did. 1973 was a much different time. Much more conservative than it is now. The audiences were truly stunned when they saw the film. Not only in the USA but all over the world. But that has always been what I've tried to do in films. I like shocking people, giving them things they've never seen before, and "Ilsa The Shewolf Of SS" truly did that. The film's leading lady was actually a real person. Her name was Ilsa Koch, and she was a true sadist that worked with Dr Mengeles in the death camps of world war 11. She wasn't pretty, and didn't have blond hair and big tits but she was a killer that actually existed. There is information on her in history books if you'd ever care to look her up. (She was the bitch who had the bright idea to use human skin for lampshades!--Mortified Mality)

WC: How was it working with Dyanne? She and her husband, Howard Maurer (also in "Ilsa") speak highly of your directing in "The Ilsa Chronicles" book, but it was rough shoot due to the modest budget. It was shot on the "Hogan's Heroes" set?

Don: Working with Dyanne was great. She's a thorough professional and she knew that in a small way we were making history. She's actually a very spiritual woman. Very different from the perception that the Ilsa character has made her out to be. We worked together twice and both times were very enjoyable to me. I like Dyanne very much and we've stayed in touch over the years. Ilsa radically changed her life. It gave her an image that she's had for over 30 years and still has to this day. I've always wished her only the best and we've visited over the years. She lives in Las Vegas and does shows there with her husband. A side note is that she's also a minister. She can actually perform marriage ceremonies. That might be very interesting. Getting united in marriage by ILSA!!

WC: In my opinion, Dyanna's ample and tongue-in cheek acting played a big part of the movie's success. And of course her unique looks and persona.

Don: I agree that her personna contributed greatly to the ILSA films. She brought a unique personallity to the character. A side note is that she actually wasn't the first choice to play Ilsa. That part had actually been cast but at the last minute the actress decided she couldn't do it and dropped out. We had an open casting and Dyanne came in and read for us just before we were going into production. It's one of those great pieces of luck that she just happened to come in when she did and the rest is history.

WC: Joe Blasco's make up FX are very impressive and still very shocking.

Don: Joe Blasco is great. A VERY talented man and he's gone onto great things since those films were made. He's now the owner of a complete line of make up products that sell all over the world, and he also operates some of the best make up schools in the world. Joe was doing basic pretty girl make up for ABC television when we first met. Prosthetics were just coming into being in films and he was working with different compounds and resins in those days. He's a very talented man and he's always been one of my favorite people

WC: "Ilsa, Harem Keeper Of The Oil Sheiks" (1975) was a change of scenery and topic. What location stood in for Saudi Arabia? How was the shoot compared to the first movie?

Don: "Ilsa, Harem Keeper Of The Oil Sheiks" was actually shot on the same sound stages that we used for the original ILSA. All interiors were made in Culver City Calif and the exterior locations were just outside Palm Springs Calif. We did do a couple of days exterior in Glendale Calif but the rest was done on the sound stage. Side note: The young man that was the production designer was doing his first film as a production designer and his name is J Michael Riva and he's gone on to an extrordinary career. Everything from Spielbergs "The Color Purple" which he got nominated for an Oscar for to the production design on the last Academy Awards. His resume is HUGE and he's proven to be one of the most talented production designers in the business.

WC: Actors like Richard Kennedy, Buck Flower and Uschi Digart are also featured in the 2nd "Ilsa" movie?

Don: Yes. Buck Flower, (who just passed away this last year), Richard Kennedy, and Ushi Digard are all friends of mine and I've always enjoyed using them in any film I was doing. They're total professionals and we always had a great time working together. They're very daring actors and they were always ready for anything. Casting people that I didn't have to worry about is always a pleasure, so many things can go wrong on any film that working with old pro's are just a way to assure myself that certain areas of the film are in good hand and that I can spend my time worrying about the other things that come up. Besides they make me laugh. And laughter is the mothers milk of the movies. If it wasn't fun to do, why do it?? Right?

WC: What do you think of the post-"Harem Keeper" Ilsa films; "Ilsa, The Tigress Of Siberia" and Jess Franco "Greta The Mad Butcher", both with Dyanne?

Don: I think that a lot of films after I made the Ilsa films were just rip offs. People trying to catch the lightning that these films created. That's not to say that they weren't any good because in truth I've actually never seen any of them. I have absolutely NO interest in looking at other filmmakers knock offs of my stuff. Guys like Jess Franco had made other films that they just ripped off the Ilsa name and tagged it onto their films. I have absolutely NO respect for that and I have no interest in looking at their films. We did something unique and I'd like to think I had something to do with making them that way. It seems that others have tried to emulate me but they don't seem to bring the same panache to their film so I have no interest in them or their films.

WC: Many 70s exploitation flicks seem dated now, but somehow "Ilsa" still manages to mess with people's minds? I read somewhere that Quentin Tarantino kissed your feet when he met you at a recent "Ilsa" festival.

Don: I thank you for saying that the original Ilsa films don't seem dated. That's the biggest compliment you can pay a filmmaker. The mark of a filmmaker is whether or not his films have stood the test of time. I hope mine have. I tried very hard to make that true. But NO. Quentin Tarantino never kissed my feet, haha. I have met Quentin and he's been very complimentary to me but I haven't seen him in some years. I first met him when I was the original producer of his script,"True Romance". He'd never made a film at that time but he was in pre-production on "Resevoir Dogs" He was actually just beginning what has become a spectacular career. I'm a HUGE Quentin Tarantino fan and I've seen all his films. He's a master film maker and I follow his career with great interest. But again, NO he's never kissed my feet, haha. It would be a great story if it was true, but it isn't. We DO have respect for each other and we'll leave it at that!!

WC: You started in the movie business as an actor in less outrageous films like "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961) and "Beach Ball" (1965) and later you appeared in TV series like "The Munsters" and "Hunter".

Don: Yes. I've always been an actor first. I started out as a child actor and I worked in many films and TV shows over the decades. I came to Hollywood in the mid to late 50's and I was working in the last of live television. I was in some fantastic shows in those years. "Playhouse 90", "Studio One", " The Loretta Young Show"," "Combat", "Father Knows Best", "The Munsters", "Highway Patrol", and on and on. I worked all the time and I had a great time in the 50's, 60's and 70's. In the eighties I went into the production side of films and was involved as an executive on films like "9 1/2 Weeks", "Clan Of The Cave Bear", "Short Circuit", "Eight Million Ways To Die", "True Romance", "Skeeter","Flight Of The Navigator", and on and on.

WC: Does it help you as a director when you have been on the other side of the camera?

Don: Yes, I very much believe it helps when you've been in front of the camera. I AM an actor and I DO know how to talk to actors. I know the lingo and I know how to get performance because actors talking to actors seem to speak in a shorthand that can't occur if you haven't been there.

WC: I've a Rockford friend, Michael Whyte of The Blind Robins, who wants to know what your memories are of "Terror On Tour" (which was shot in Rockford in 1980) and the band The Names?

Don: "Terror on Tour" was a strange little film I directed in just 7 days. It was all done in an old movie theatre in Beverly Hills.The film was so under budgeted and the shooting schedule was so short that it was an absolute track meet.. We didn't have time to really slow down and do some of the things I really wanted to do. But over the years the film has gathered some fans. As I said its a strange little picture and in truth its a film I almost completely forgot I'd made. Its only lately that people have told me they were fans of it and I'm flattered but I don't think it was anywhere close to my best work.

WC: Any thoughts on "Bare Knuckles" (1978) and "Tomcat Angels" (1991)?

Don: I loved doing "Bare Knuckles". I was its writer producer director and it was a total work of love. It was a very low budget film. I don't think I ever had more than about 25 thousand dollars to make it but we had a great cast and crew and I look back on that film with great fondness. J Michael Riva was again my production designer. Dean Cundey was my director of photography, Debra Hill was a production assistant, and again I had Buck Flower, and Richard Kennedy in it. We were new filmmakers and we were truly learning our trade doing films in those years. It was a fantastic time and I look back on it very fondly. "Tom Cat Angels" is another of those weird little quickies I make and again it came down so fast I hardly had time to sleep, let alone come up with a bunch of funny stories on that one.

WC: Dyanne Thorne is a favorite at many cultfilm conventions, have you ever been a guest at those?

Don: Yes. I have been a guest at "Cinema Wasteland". I was there last October and they treated me beautifully. I totally enjoyed the experience and I also was at "Chiller" the year before and it was very enjoyable too. But I'd never gone to any of the conventions before. No real reason, I just didn't go. But I will go now. Since I've been to a couple of them and had such a great time I do want to go to more of them in the future.

WC: The Anchor Bay "Ilsa" dvd dvds seemed to have introduced the films to a new generation. The audio commentaries sounded like you had a good time with the 'old gang'?

Don: Yes, it seems that Anchor Bay has started a whole new generation of people on the Ilsa films. I'm very flattered at the attention they seem to have created. I did have a lot of fun doing the commentary with Dave and Dyanne on the DVD's. It was a blast getting together with them again after so many years. We all seemed to have a great time and I think it comes across on the commentary.

WC: What is the biggest difference of making low budget movies in the 70s compared to the 90s/00s?

Don: I think the difference in indy films now and in the 60's and 70's is the freedom that we used to have. We were breaking new ground then and we were much more of a maverick movement. Today's 'independent' films are much more controlled because the money is greater and the bean counters are much more controlling and they also aren't visionaries like they were back then. It just seems to have been more fun in those days.

WC: I've heard rumors of a new "Ilsa" movie with daughter of the character leading a pack of skinheads?

Don: Yes. I'm developing a new "Ilsa" type film. Its called "Ilana, The Shewolf Returns". Its a really good script and we're looking for the financing right now. Its a film that will incorporate a lot of the new technologies that weren't even invented in the late 60's and early 70's. Computer FX and the like weren't even possible back then but I'm going to employ a lot of them in this new film. Joe Blasco is going to come back to do the make up FX for me. He's even going to personally oversee it but he's going to get me his top students to do the work. It's going to be very sadistic, sexual, and violent. But I'm hoping that the "Ilsa" fans will enjoy it. Its a film for them and I don't want to cheat them.


....surt hans ILSA sequel ikke blev til noget.