Color, 1977, 78 mins. 49 secs.
Directed by Jess Franco
Starring Nanda van Bergen, Ada Tauler, Wal Davis, Monica Swinn, Brigitte Meyer, Esther Studer
Delirium Home Video (Blu-ray) (US RA HD), Ascot Elite (Blu-ray & DVD) (Germany R0 HD/PAL), Full Moon (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (1.85:1) (16:9)

By the end of his length Love Campassociation with Swiss producer and distributor Erwin C. Dietrich throughout the 1970s, Jess Love CampFranco had churned out numerous women-in-prison films clearly designed to outdo his early X-rated hit, 99 Women. Titles like Barbed Wire Dolls and Women in Cellblock 9 were tailor made for the exploitation circuit, and near the end of that partnership came Love Camp (Frauen im liebeslager), a less sadistic variant that upped the nudity quotient instead with almost every single shot jammed with bare flesh.

In a generic South American jungle, women including a recent bride, Angela (The Horrible Sexy Vampire's Tauler), are abducted and imprisoned in the titular camp by a hard-line revolutionary group led by Chino (The Horrible Sexy Vampire himself, Wal Davis a.k.a. Waldemar Wohlfahrt, who also appeared opposite Tauler in The Other Side of the Mirror) and a domineering lesbian warden (Wicked Women's van Bergen). Surrounding by mostly unclad inmates ranging from prostitutes to naive villagers, Angela grapples with her guilt over being separated from her revolutionary husband and ends up enjoying the hammock-heavy sexual company of Chino, who has all the raw carnal Love Campmagnetism of a dinner salad. Driven to the brink by the mostly implied torture and murder committed by their overlords, the prisoners decide to plan a breakout-- but at what cost?

Jammed with quotable dialogue and equal opportunity exposure from pretty much the entire cast, Love Camp hits all the Love Campbases for a sleazy prison film including multiple group shower scenes, inappropriate application of tobacco products, lesbian groping, and the usual final break for freedom through the jungle. Again it's nowhere near as nasty as the Franco prison films that did make their way to the U.S. (with no Lina Romay around to objectify), though the presence of Monica Swinn still reminds you who's behind the camera. You'll probably never see this one on anybody's list of top ten Franco favorites, but for those who appreciate the little variations he threw into his genre formulas, you'll have a good time with this one all the way to the outrageous twist ending.

Released theatrically on the sexploitation market in Europe and Canada but not in the U.S., Love Camp hit some censorship hassles in the U.K. and made its way to VHS in mediocre quality via a handful of VHS releases. In 2003 it was part of the invaluable line of Franco restorations issued on DVD by Dietrich's Ascot Elite Entertainment Group, a.k.a. VIP, which upgraded it to Blu-ray in 2014. The image quality for that latter release was outstanding and really brought out Franco's stylish use of color gel lighting, as well as some nice camera shots making good use of the Swiss sets and Portuguese exteriors. That Blu-ray features German, English and French audio (the first two DTS-HD MA 5.1, the last Dolby Digital 2.0 mono) with optional English or Japanese subtitles. Extras include the trailer, bonus trailers (Voodoo Passion, Doriana Gray, Women in Cellblock 9, Ilsa the Wicked Warden, Wicked Women, Jack the Ripper, White Skin on Black Thighs, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Downtown, Satanic Sisters, and Swedish Nympho Slaves), Love Campa 27-image photo gallery, and a 40m40s Franco audio interview in Love CampFrench with German subtitles.

In 2026, U.S. label Delirium made this the second of their Franco releases (following Doriana Gray) using the same excellent source with identical image quality (right down to the digitally-generated main titles, necessarily since the negative was textless). The film was dubbed regardless of the country, and here you get DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono and 5.1 English tracks plus both in Dolby Digital options; the mono sounds more true to the era with the 5.1 opening up atmospherically during the jungle scenes and moments of flute-heavy music score. Optional English subtitles are also provided. A new audio commentary by Troy Howarth does an entertaining and informative job of placing the film within the context of the Franco-Dietrich cycle, explaining the backgrounds of the cast, pointing out a few mystery participants who still haven't been identified, and fairly evaluating the film's pros and cons. Also included are an English trailer, a German trailer, the same gallery done as a 1m53s video, and a bonus trailer reel with Barbed Wire Dolls, Doriana Gray, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, and Satanic Sisters.

Reviewed on March 9, 2026