During WWII, German scientists perform “Lebensborn” experiments to ensure the production of “genetically superior” offspring. They find a bunch of ready and willing Nazi babes who are all too eager to help the cause, examine them thoroughly, and then get them ready for breeding. Naturally, the women’s enthusiasm for the project diminishes when they learn “science” will choose their partners. Klaus (Joachim Hansen) is a Nazi soldier who is sick of the Reich’s barbarism who escapes, assumes the identity of a dead official, and winds up in the breeding clinic. His cover is blown when the head Fraulein (Maria Perschy from The Castle of Fu Manchu) learns he’s a phony. Fortunately for Klaus, she has the hots for him, and together, they plan to escape.
Ordered to Love is a forerunner of the Naziploitation genre. While the set-up is ripe with enough possibilities that it would make Ilsa herself raise an eyebrow, it was made much too early in the cycle to deliver on any of its promises. The film almost skates by on the strength of its lurid premise alone. Alas, it just isn’t dramatically sound enough to make for a compelling war picture. The hero’s plight is fairly standard stuff, and the scenes of the giggling girls slowly realizing the camp isn’t going to be a love fest lacks punch. The slapdash use of stock footage is sometimes jarring too. It also doesn’t help that the romantic sequences are set at a soap opera level. A Nazi soap opera, but still.
Despite these many drawbacks, Ordered to Love remains watchable throughout. That’s mostly because you’re hoping for some nasty Nazi action, which unfortunately never comes. Ultimately, the quack science sequences feature a lot of babbling about genetic gobbledygook and the examination scenes only result in the sight of one Fraulein’s bare back. On the plus side, it moves at a reasonable clip and the performances are at the very least, earnest (especially Perschy).
AKA: Lebensborn. AKA: Fountain of Life. AKA: Women Ordered to Love.
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