CJ: You are probably most well known for your Ilsa films. Could you tell us how you came to be involved in these films and what attracted you initially to the first film, Ilsa – She Wolf of the SS?

Don Edmonds: What drew me to the project ILSA the SHE WOLF was that I was just starting to be a director. I know you'd like me to tell you I had a lot of choices in what I was going to make, but that would be bullshit. The reason I was "drawn" to the film is that no one else was wanting me for ANYTHING!! Remember it was only my 3rd film and the other 2 were WILD HONEY and TENDER LOVING CARE, and they were both made for about a buck ninety five. I was just another out-of-work film director wannabe and John Dunning came along on a recommendation from Dave Friedman and interviewed me. I was just another totally broke guy in Hollywood and at the time I was offered the film I'd have taken it if he wanted to make a film about a dog pissin' on a flat rock with different camera angles. I know that over the years people have asked me what "drew" me to the film and the reality is it was the fucking MONEY!! And it was a chance to direct. I'm telling you the truth Chris. In 1972 I was so broke I couldn't make the rent and just barely had money for gas in my beat up whooptie that had bald tires and no oil. So when people want to know about my "selection" of films they always make the assumption that I had a CHOICE. I DIDN'T!! I know you're looking for something much more esoteric as an answer but that's the truth. Hollywood is a VERY tough town to just SURVIVE in and I wasn't exactly Spielberg in those days. As a matter of fact I'm STILL NOT (laughs). But I got to DIRECT and I was just trying to learn my trade. I only had 9 or 10 guys to make that film with. We made it in EXACTLY 9 days and we shot it on just over 25,000 feet of raw stock. In case you don't really know the ratio of film to print, that's almost one-for-one. We made the film with about 60 thousand dollars. They put some more into the post production but it's pretty hard to make a film of ANY quality for much cheaper than that. But I DID make it and I'm STILL proud of it for all the reasons that it's stood the test of time and not too many films can say THAT!!!

CJ: Were you ever uncomfortable with the subject material that you were filming and were there any elements in the script that you toned down?

DE: You know, as to whether or not I was ever uncomfortable doing any of those scenes I can sum that up in one word - NO. I'm a very crazy man Chris. I'm a guy that lives to push the envelope and in '72 the world was just coming out of Vietnam and free love and drugs were what I was TOTALLY into. I understood the impact the film could have in as much as no one had ever even MADE a film like that before. So the more we did the more I WANTED TO DO!!. The only thing I didn't know is that it would have the impact that it did. The shit it would stir up world wide. But my philosophy is FUCK EM' IF THEY CAN'T TAKE A JOKE. I actually DID know that the film had very serious content and I knew that many people were going to be very upset with it. But, as in ALL art, once you make a commitment to it you've got to dive in head first and see what you come up with. Staying in the "mainstream" of life has NEVER been the way for me. It wasn't then and it isn't now. I was born a rebel and the times or age haven't changed that one bit.

CJ: In hindsight, is there anything about She Wolf that you would have done differently, given the opportunity?

DE: In hindsight there are a LOT of things I'd have like to have done. But there's an old rule in movie making - and that is also the saying of one of our great painters - that is "With a film you NEVER get finished with it, you finally just ABANDON it." You can keep fucking with a film forever, I've got friends that can't seem to let a film they're doing go. They spend their lives just diddling with it and while they do they aren't making anything new. I've always thought that was a total waste of time. I'm telling you there isn't ANY what they call a "perfect" picture. Any filmmaker will tell you he'd like to go back and change this or that but once you cut the negative and make your answer prints it's too late. After that the director better just start lookin' for his next project. By its nature it's an imperfect art. You're dealing with too many things. Weather, egos, money, time, etc - and the miracle is that ANY film ever gets finished. Whether it's good or bad I always applaud a filmmaker that can at least put "the end" on his movie. It's a LOT harder than it looks my friend. Believe me it IS!!!

CJ: Over the years, rumours have circulated that She Wolf was filmed on the set of Hogan's Heroes and that David Friedman removed his name from the credits because the film offended him. Are these stories true – and if not, were you actively involved in debunking them?

DE: We DID make the film on the old Hogan's Heroes set and as far as Dave taking his name off it he had his own reasons and I've never really gotten into the why and wherefore of his thinking about it. You'd have to ask him for that answer. I do know he did take his name off but he's his own man and he's the one that would have to tell you why.

CJ: Were you actively involved in the casting of She Wolf? If so – what made you decide upon Dyanne Thorne for the central role of Ilsa?

DE: I was involved with the casting of the film but you have to remember that our entire cast budget would hardly pay your rent today. We had a scathing film and no money, so the casting call wasn't very large. The actors either didn't want to work in the film or they didn't like the few bucks we were paying. We actually had a girl named Phylliss Davis cast as ILSA to begin with. Less than a week before we started she came in and told us she couldn't do the film. So here we were with about 3 days to cast the Ilsa character and start shooting. Dyanne Thorne came in on an interview and we cast her and sent her to wardrobe. We started shooting about 3 days later - and the rest is history. The girls in the film were mostly nudie girls that we cast because they'd take their clothes off and they could walk and chew gum at the same time. Some of the guys were friends of mine; Tony Mumolo was a guy I knew from acting school and Buck Flower was my lucky penny. I don't think I ever made one of those early days quickies I didn't have him in. Richard Kennedy was also a friend of mine. I used them both in BOTH the ILSA films I directed. I knew Sharon Kelly and Ushi Digard from some of the early tittie films I'd made.They became big stars in the nudie film world. Other than that we just cast who was there and went to work.

CJ: Do you think it would be possible, in today's social and political climate, to make something as incendiary and exploitative as Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS?

DE: The question about whether or not you can make a film like ILSA today - I guess you'd have to ask the public. But if you're asking ME if you could, the answer would be FUCK YES. I mean Why not? The 70's were pretty wild times, but if you'll remember the politics became Nixonian. The right wing started to inject itself into the film business and the fear of offending that part of the populace was pretty strong. That's why guys like Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, were heroes to us filmmakers. They had the studio backing and they had BALLS! Look, film, in my opinion, should NEVER be about trying to sing the "correct" song. I know that's the thinking of the major studios but that's why I'm the totally outside fucker that wants to kick the public in the ass. I've done a TON of "conservative", "right thinking", "mass appeal" films - and at this time in my life I don't even want to GO to them. Let alone MAKE them. The only kind of film I want to make is the kind that kicks ass and takes names so YES, I'd make that film today.

CJ: How much, if any, of the Ilsa character in She Wolf is meant to mirror the notorious real life Ilsa Koch?

DE: ILSA was a fictional Ilsa Koch. She's the compilation of other women of the death camps that did the experiments on the prisoners. In fact, the scenes in the film weren't just made up by the writers - they were actually done as experiments to REAL people. Dr Mengeles and the deadly doctors of that time had a mandate to test the edges of human strength. How high can a man fly without oxygen? Can they survive injuries that are full of maggots if they're injected with the experimental drugs that the doctors were developing? As in all things, I believe if you get so far down into the human psyche that these people finally did, I'm sure that they wound up feeling that life had NO value and felt it ok to do anything they wanted to their captives. These are my feelings about that. But history has some proof that sort of backs up my thinking. Once you've killed, the second one is easier. Then the 3rd and 4th - and finally the MILLIONTH. After a while it must be like they were just saying to themselves "Who's counting"? I wasn't there, so I can't know for sure. But it's what I feel must have happened. After a while a killer just gets inured to death.

CJ: She Wolf also proved to be an inspiration to Italian exploitation filmmakers, who followed hot on your heels with a series of Naziploitation movies (as they have come to be affectionately known). Have you seen any of these and what are your thoughts on them?

DE: Have I seen any of the other Nazi flicks? Yes I have. I thought the NIGHT PORTER was a very interesting film. Some of the filmmakers that chose to chase ILSA just wound up doing shit. Jess Franco even did a film that wasn't even NAMED Ilsa, but after he made it he changed the title to his film. I think that was VERY TACKY!!!! And his picture, "The Wicked Warden", was a piece of shit.
But when interesting filmmakers took on the genre, some of them came up with very telling work.

CJ: When you saw the finished film (She Wolf) – did it ever cross your mind that perhaps you had gone too far?

DE: When I saw the final cut of ILSA the only thing I thought was that we did a TON of work for the little bit of money we had to work with. Did I think we went too far? Who the fuck knows what "TOO FAR" IS??? I don't think filmmakers have ever been "too far" yet. I know that I haven't.

Film, by its very nature, is a medium that cries out to just keep going. What are we supposed to do? Just keep making the same films over and over? The whole object of movies is to keep topping yourself. Sometimes we do and sometimes we fall on our ass, but so what? Sometimes we hit a home run and sometimes we get a bunt single. The object is to KEEP TRUCKIN'! It's the nature of ALL art. Do you stop trying to paint if you've just painted a terrible picture? Do you stop writing if you just wrote a TURD?? Pick the art and the question is the same and so is the answer. The answer is "JUST DUST IT OFF AND DO IT AGAIN"!!!! And FUCK THE CRITICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CJ: For the follow-up, Ilsa: Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks, was it a deliberate and conscious decision to move away from the Nazi focus that dominated the first movie?

DE: I think it's pretty obvious that they tried to move away from the Nazi element in Harem Keeper. They had a hit with the She Wolf and they wanted to capitalize on its popularity. We did go for more humor in the Harem Keeper. The Third one about Siberia I didn't direct so what their reasoning was for that film I have no idea. I guess it was to just keep the franchise going till it ran out of steam. Funny though, I don't think it ever has run out of steam. At least not from the email I get and how people react to me when I go to some of the conventions. The fans are FANTASTIC. They really do know the films and I really do enjoy talking to them.

CJ: Harem Keeper is scripted by someone going by the name of Langston Stafford. He doesn't appear to have done anything else – so can we assume that this is a pseudonym used by someone more well-known?

DE: As to the writer credits - NONE of the guys that wrote any of those films took screen credit. Why? Who knows? That's a question that you'd have to ask them...if you could FIND THEM! (laughs)

CJ: Are you surprised at the enduring popularity of the Ilsa movies?

DE: I actually am amazed at the continuing popularity of the film. When I made it, it never occurred to me that it would be even MORE popular now than ever. You have to remember that when we made the film there wasn't even video tape, let alone DVD. It's been the new technologies that have given it life. It just seems to keep finding the new generations of cult fans. Pretty amazing and very gratifying to me, I must say. I'm waiting for it to be released on your TELEPHONE cam now - LOL. Who knows? Could happen…

CJ: There has been talk of a further follow-up to the Ilsa series under the title of Ilana. Could you tell us more about this and how things are progressing in regards to this project?

DE: I've just written a film called ILANA the SHE WOLF RETURNS. It's a really good script and it's modern day. It's NOT Ilsa but it IS in the same vein. Finding the money for it has been very hard because I've told the potential money guys I won't cut it. They read it and find that it's a little beyond their sensibilities. I understand that. They'd like me to trim some of the sex and violence out of it, but I won't do it. If I did I could probably get it funded, but if I do I'll wind up totally cheating my audience. THEY know what they want and I fully intend to give it to them. THEY'RE the ones that have been faithful to it, so I'm not going to take the "right" thinking and make it more palatable to a wider audience. I already know that I won't make the film for the masses. They didn't support the first ones - so I know who my fans are and THEY are the ones I'm going to make it for. They wouldn't forgive me if I gave them anything less. And I WON'T. ILSA is, was, and always will be a SPECIALTY film. It was made for a core audience. The only amazing thing is that they're still there. So it's my obligation not to cheat on them. Raising the money to make it has been a bitch, but I'd rather not make it at all rather than make it soft. But I've got 2 or 3 outlets for it already and I know that the funder that finally puts up the money for it is going to make a TON of money. I keep looking and I know that funder is out there somewhere. It's a terrific script and I have the advantage of all the new technologies like the computer and effects that weren't available to me in 1973. So that's the immediate story on my latest attempt to get the bitch back on the screen. If you run into any far sighted funder, have em' give me a buzz!

CJ: And finally, all that remains is for me to thank you for participating in this interview and I wish you every success with future endeavours. Let's hope Ilana gets made – the world needs a new Ilsa.

Thanks to Calum Waddell for making this interview possible.