La Bestia in Calore - Genre

Genre

The film duplicates the formula of the surprise hit Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974) and its sequels, which popularized the Nazi exploitation subgenre (particularly in Italian cinema). Macha Magall's sexy yet cruel SS dominatrix is clearly patterned after the titular Ilsa character (played by Dyanne Thorne in all three Ilsa movies), though Magall is less statuesque.

The film is considered a B-movie due to the poor sound quality, formulaic plot, and low-grade special effects (amongst other things). The only set is a laboratory with a cage in the middle, with some cheap costumes, poor lighting, and inept editing. The film contains reused war footage (much of it obviously shot on different film stock) and scenes from Quando suona la campana, another film by the same director, with the lab scenes occupying around 40 minutes of the final film. Several actors from Quando suona la campana were rehired to provide a link with the new footage.

Like many films of the Nazi exploitation subgenre, the movie features torture, gore and nudity.

The film continues to be re-issued in various formats (VHS, DVD). Due to the film's graphic nature, It has been banned from several countries and remains banned in some countries to this day. In 1992, the Australian Classification Board banned the film for "excessive sexual violence" and the film remains banned in Australia to this day. The film is banned elsewhere too, such as the United Kingdom where it was originally prosecuted as a Video Nasty.