Tigress, or Ilsa, Tigress of Siberia as I'm positive it's more commonly know as, starts in 'Serbia 1953' where Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) runs a prison camp for Russian dictator Josef Stalin who sends various enemies of the state there for readjustment, if that's the right word. Ilsa runs Gulag 14 with an iron fist, anyone who tries to escape is killed, anyone who refuses to work is killed & anyone who steps out of line is killed. One fateful day the news reaches Ilsa that Stalin has been overthrown, Ilsa orders the destruction of the camp & the execution of all the prisoners but one inmate, political dissident Andre, manages to escape with his life along with Ilsa & a couple of her sadistic guards. Jump to 'Montreal 1977' & Andre is in town to accompany a Russian hockey team for some sort of Olympic tournament when a couple of the team want to go to a brothel & have sex with a couple of prostitutes. However this particular brothel is run by Ilsa who spots Andre & thinks his appearance is far from a coincidence, Ilsa has Andre kidnapped for reasons that aren't overly clear or logical but both parties have vengeance on their minds...
This Canadian production was directed by Jean LaFleur & Tigress was the fourth Ilsa film in a series that began with Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975). To be honest I think all of the Ilsa films are pretty rotten & Tigress isn't any different. The script by Marven McGara starts off impressively with Ilsa the Commander of an isolated prison camp, this is probably the best 40 odd minutes that the entire series has to offer as it has a nice exploitative feel with plenty of torture, executions, sex & some unintentionally funny dialogue. Unfortunately for the remainder of Tigress it shifts to Canada & a really boring soft core sex/gangster type film that is absolutely excruciating to sit through. The first & second halves of Tigress are as different as can be, it's almost as if two separate films had been spliced together (badly) & the only common threads are Andre & Ilsa. The first half of the film moves along at a nice pace & actually pretty good while the second half is as dull as dishwater & complete total & utter crap. I really don't know who this film would appeal to or who it would please, overall it's a pretty rubbish film taken as a whole.
Director LaFleur does a good job for the first half as he keeps things moving along but the second half ruins everything. Don't expect much style or visual flair but it has a nice sleazy atmosphere at times during the first half. I personally think Tigress is the most gory of the Ilsa films, the fights & shootouts feature lots of blood, there are impalings, stabbings, someone has their head smashed to pieces with a hammer, someone gets chopped up in one of those snow clearing machines, people are fed to Tigers & a really graphic scene of a guy having his hand chainsawed off while playing the ultimate game of arm wrestling. There is a fair amount of nudity & some really unsexy sex scenes which are about as much of a turn on as a slap in the face with a wet fish.
Technically Tigress is alright, it's competently made throughout although some it is rather bland. The music used is the same as various cues from Dawn of the Dead (1978). The acting is poor especially Thorne as Ilsa whom I think is ugly, old, a terrible actress & her large saggy breasts leave me cold & her shower scene had me reaching for the stop button but since I'm such a masochist I stuck with it.
Tigress is a poor exploitation film, the first half is as good as the Ilsa series gets but the second half is probably as worse as it gets which takes some doing, it's as simple & straight forward as that. Definitely not recommended as there are far better exploitation films out there.
This Canadian production was directed by Jean LaFleur & Tigress was the fourth Ilsa film in a series that began with Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975). To be honest I think all of the Ilsa films are pretty rotten & Tigress isn't any different. The script by Marven McGara starts off impressively with Ilsa the Commander of an isolated prison camp, this is probably the best 40 odd minutes that the entire series has to offer as it has a nice exploitative feel with plenty of torture, executions, sex & some unintentionally funny dialogue. Unfortunately for the remainder of Tigress it shifts to Canada & a really boring soft core sex/gangster type film that is absolutely excruciating to sit through. The first & second halves of Tigress are as different as can be, it's almost as if two separate films had been spliced together (badly) & the only common threads are Andre & Ilsa. The first half of the film moves along at a nice pace & actually pretty good while the second half is as dull as dishwater & complete total & utter crap. I really don't know who this film would appeal to or who it would please, overall it's a pretty rubbish film taken as a whole.
Director LaFleur does a good job for the first half as he keeps things moving along but the second half ruins everything. Don't expect much style or visual flair but it has a nice sleazy atmosphere at times during the first half. I personally think Tigress is the most gory of the Ilsa films, the fights & shootouts feature lots of blood, there are impalings, stabbings, someone has their head smashed to pieces with a hammer, someone gets chopped up in one of those snow clearing machines, people are fed to Tigers & a really graphic scene of a guy having his hand chainsawed off while playing the ultimate game of arm wrestling. There is a fair amount of nudity & some really unsexy sex scenes which are about as much of a turn on as a slap in the face with a wet fish.
Technically Tigress is alright, it's competently made throughout although some it is rather bland. The music used is the same as various cues from Dawn of the Dead (1978). The acting is poor especially Thorne as Ilsa whom I think is ugly, old, a terrible actress & her large saggy breasts leave me cold & her shower scene had me reaching for the stop button but since I'm such a masochist I stuck with it.
Tigress is a poor exploitation film, the first half is as good as the Ilsa series gets but the second half is probably as worse as it gets which takes some doing, it's as simple & straight forward as that. Definitely not recommended as there are far better exploitation films out there.