Olga's Girls
One popular sick movie series remains the Olga films, incredibly sadistic little productions that were thankfully clumsily made (or it would have been unbearable to watch!) around 1964-1969. Cruel Olga was mainly played by the astonishingly beautiful Audrey Campbell, a perfect Siren if there ever was one. One big visual influence in all these productions was Irving Klaw’s photo work, shot sometimes with the collaboration of the inestimable Bettie Page. Here, though, the violent side is much more explored, as some punishments often turn bloody and deadly. Still, it’s clear that a remake of any of these entries is unlikely in this day and age, which makes these titles (White Slaves of Chinatown, Olga’s Girls, Olga’s House of Shame and Olga’s Dance Hall Girls) a very unique viewing. Mme. Olga’s Massage Parlor, another entry in the series, is now considered a lost film.
Besides the imposing Campbell, the acting is mainly atrocious but the low-budget still succeed in giving us the seedy feeling appropriate for its subject (and a glimpse of the fetish concerns of that era). Let’s mention that Olga is a drug trafficker/slave trader that schemes from her underground New York Chinatown headquarter. Being a sadistic lesbian, she of course passes most of her time punishing various unfortunates prostitutes under her steely command. As directed by Joseph P. Mawra, there’s a lot to please any fetish enthusiast: beautiful girls tied up and gagged, wearing high heels, lingerie and pantyhose, females kissing, etc. All this in icy black and white! Of course, this is not Hostel as far as graphic mayhem goes, but for the time it was grim stuff… and all box-office hits in grindhouse theaters. In the seventies, the more or less likewise Ilsa series would also not be easily forgotten.
Here are typical lurid posters that promised all kind of secret thrills:
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Ben Chenier