VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

Italy/1982
Directed By: Bruno Mattei
Written By: Ambrogio Malteni, Claudio Fragasso
Starring: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Maria Romano
Color/99 Minutes/Not Rated
Region Free
Release Date: May 8, 2018

The Film
I love women-in-prison films and I love the Emanuelle films. Laura Gemser is a goddess and a legend of exploitation film. Add in that Bruno Mattei signature flair for trash and we have a winner.

Larua Gemser stars yet again as Emanuelle, a character she would portray well over a dozen times either officially or unofficially in her career, a reporter who has taken it upon herself to get the inside scoop on a prison notorious for abuse, torture and corruption but quickly becomes subjected to the sexual and physical abuses. After a nasty encounter with a horde of rats while in solitary confinement Emanuelle and the prison's doctor (Gabriele Tinti) begin to fall for each other with each confiding in the other. We learn that the doctor has been forced to work at the prison as a result of being convicted for murdering his wife when he euthanized her to end her suffering from cancer. The duo make a pact  to escape and expose the prison for all of its wrongdoings but the head warden (Lorraine De Salle) has no plans to let that happen.

Bruno Mattei has made some of the sleaziest and cheesiest exploitation and horror films to ever come out of Italy but there's nothing cheesy about VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON. The film does feature some properly placed and timed comedy but it's very lightly sprinkled in on an otherwise cold and extremely unwelcoming stint in prison hell. From the sexual degradation to rape and big, biting rats this prison offers nothing in the way of fun, not even for a gay man in the men's section of the facility. This character offers up something a bit unexpected and definitely a character to sympathize with but his character's full circle is an interesting one as he is usually victimized by meaner and badder men but when the men turn their attention to a woman putting on a show for them from her cell's window he takes offense and is upset that he's no longer the center of their attention. This turns into a cruel beating before the guards break it up. This character shows the darkest side of prison but how it can be personally rationalized as a yearning for attention and companionship in even the most despicable conditions.

The cast of the film is quite good on the whole. Gemser and Tinti turn in their typically solid performance and their real life relationship translates into easy and organic chemistry on screen. They're a duo the audience will genuinely care about and cheer for against the nasty warden, who is brilliantly portrayed by Lorraine De Salle as a true bitch who uses her power for her own gain including drugs and pleasures of the flesh. It's not an easy road to complete with torture and death around every corner and seeing the lovely Laura Gemser covered in nasty rat bites is heart breaking and makes me want to stomp out every dirty sewer rat I ever come across just in case their uncle or cousin was one of the little fuckers that caused such pain and sickness on her but getting to the end proves to be not only entertaining but altogether satisfying.

VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON is packed with corruption, rape, lesbianism, violence and plain old sleaze. Bruno Mattei was at the top of his game with this one and created one of my favorite  women-in-prison films.

The Audio & Video
Severin Films has restored VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON with a new 2K scan from the original interpositive with great results. The Blu-ray has great overall clarity and definition despite some light scratches and speckling. The colors are true to life and vivid when they should be and skin tones are natural and fleshy with no signs of waxiness or excessive DNR. Black levels are properly deep and free of compression or blocking issues. This movie has definitely never looked better on home video.

The film's audio is presented in an English HD mono track that has a bit of background noise but never gets distracting or annoying and otherwise sounds crisp and mixed perfectly so that the dialogue and music compliment each other.

PLEASE NOTE: The screenshots included in this review DO NOT represent the Blu-ray quality and are included only for reference.

The Extras
-"Brawl In Women's Block" - Interview with Co-writers Claudio Fragasso and Rosella Drudi - This half hour interview with the duo covers everything from their rather hilarious meeting at a cinema club to their marriage and time spent working on this film and others including plenty of work with Bruno Mattie. It's a lively, funny and really informative interview giving good background insight into not only this film but their careers and time in the Italian film industry as a whole.

The Bottom Line
You want the bottom line? VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON is one of the nastiest and most entertaining women-in-prison films around and this release is fucking awesome. That's the bottom line.

VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON is available HERE

FUGITIVE GIRLS (Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Review)

USA/1974
Directed By: A.C Stephen
Written By: A.C. Stephen, Ed Wood
Starring: Rene Bond, Tallie Chochrane, Jabie Abercrombie
Color/96 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Blu-ray/DVD
Limited Edition of 2,500

The Film
After being wrongly convicted of a robbery and murder who boyfriend committed Dee is sent to prison and shares a room with four more hardened convicts who have concocted a plan to break out and retrieve a stash of money one hid before being incarcerated. Dee quickly learns that prison isn't just sitting around waiting to be released as the leader of the group forces sex upon her and then forces her into joining them in their jailbreak which leads the entire freedom starved group on a bloody sex fueled rampage across the state in search of the stash of cash before the police can track them down.

Known for making sexploitation films, FUGITIVE GIRLS aka FIVE LOOSE WOMEN may be director A.C. Stephens' least sexually and nudity driven film but that's not to say we're left high and dry. The film opens with a scene of Dee and her boyfriend rolling around in the sheets before he decides he needs a bottle of booze which is the event that landed her in jail. Then on her first night in jail Dee is forced into a lesbian affair in a fairly length scene. FUGITIVE GIRLS may not be driven by skin but our group of women live up to their alternate title name being loose, willing and ready. As the group makes their escape they encounter various groups who they use and abuse starting off with a group of hippies partying and camping out that they are totally disgusted by because of their Earth loving ways and end up getting lice from the clothes they steal from them. I'm not sure if this scene was meant to be humorous but I got a few good laughs at the hippies' expense. The girls' cruelty and do-whatever-it-takes attitude begins to show here but becomes more apparent when they encounter men that they tempt with their bodies before hurting and killing them to get what they need from them.

Stephen and Ed Wood do a nice job giving each of the five girls a distinct personality and relationship to the rest of the gang so that it's not just the same character five times over. The group has a collective goal but each has their own motive and tactics to get there. There's racial tensions and sexual tensions that keep the movie grounded in a harsh reality. It's not Shakespeare but it is a pretty well written exploitation film. And then there are moments that remind you this is a B-movie such as when Kat (Tallie Cochrane) clearly instructs one of the girls to go do something to which she agrees and moments later it is another girl returning from the task. Whoops! A minor fault with no real implications in anything but this isn't perfect filmmaking. Much like the story it's showing it's down and dirty but totally competent and believable. I love these girls and I love this movie.

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome delivers this exploitation classic to Blu-ray with a brand new 2K restoration from the original 35mm negative giving way to a beautiful picture throughout. The image is clean with a natural grain structure and healthy and vivid colors. Detail level is high giving from facial close-ups to clothing, textures and various surfaces. Black levels are deep with no signs of compression issues. The DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix sounds crisp and clear and is pleasing to the ear. The soundtrack meshes well with dialogue as to not overpower it but remain present in the mix. There's no issues with distortion, crackling or popping. English SDH subtitles are included.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary with Ed Wood biographer Rudolph Grey and famed exploitation filmmaker Frank Henenlotter
-Archival audio interview with star Tallie Cochrane, moderated by Casey Scott
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Original Promo Trailer
-Reversible "Five Loose Women" Artwork

The Bottom Line
Exploitation fans and Ed Wood followers need FUGITIVE GIRLS in their collection. It's not only another film written by the infamous director but it's a highly entertaining and exciting slice of 1970s genre fare.

FUGITIVE GIRLS is available HERE

April Exploitation/B-Movie Challenge 2016 - Days 11, 12 and 13

Three days to cover so lets just get down to it - A revisit of the original MAD MAX left me feeling underwhelmed and confused. I apparently remember almost nothing of the original film. Granted, it has been a number of years since I made an effort to actually sit down and watch any of the original trilogy but apparently all of my memories have been formed by The Road Warrior and Beyond Thunderdome. MAD MAX isn't a bad movie but I was expecting to revisit something different, something more in line with its sequels and knockoffs that I have no shame in saying I enjoy quite a bit more on the whole.

BUNNI was next - a 2013 production recently released on DVD by Wild Eye Productions. This is a slasher film geared for the gore hounds as there are a number of bloody and messy kill sequences. MINOR SPOILER: Castration and feeding the severed cock to it's victim has officially become a theme this month SPOILER OVER. The film is short, and lightning paced once things get rolling. The abandoned building that the majority of the film takes place in is inherently creepy and the effects are pretty well done. The acting isn't offensively bad but the direction and photography is shall we say, uncomfortable. I don't mean that the direction is scary or unsettling, it's not that type of uncomfortable. I mean that there's something in how it was filmed that makes everyone look the slightest bit jittery at all times. Movement just looks off, almost if it was shot at an awkward frame rate that doesn't quite look natural. I can't say exactly what it is and it's difficult to describe without seeing it in motion but it's a major distraction throughout. BUNNI ends up being a passable indie horror flick.

Next up was the first of three Jess Franco directed women in prison films - 99 WOMEN. This is almost a paint by numbers WIP film and it would have been perfectly enjoyable had it been but Jess Franco throws his "Francoisms" as I like to call them, all over the place. "Francoisms" refers to his awkward, and downright shitty directorial techniques like panning the camera side to side until whatever action is off screen or random zooms that often go so far as to turn the picture into a total blur. Hey, I'm okay with zooms on bush and butts as much as the next guy but I don't need to feel like a fucking parasite crawling up in there.

Then we get WOMEN BEHIND BARS - this is pretty much the slightly more enjoyable version of 99 WOMEN in that we get less of Franco's nonsense and more Lina Romay. There's a better plot, though it's messy, about stolen diamonds and undercover agents in the prison. And there's Lina Romay. There's also some shoot outs and it's fun enough.

I took a break from Franco for the next film and watched OVER THE EDGE, a 1979 teen rebellion movie dripping with a punk rock attitude. My main thoughts about this movie are how in the blue hell did this movie never get brought to my attention? How have I never heard of it? This is the story of a dream like community that ended up being a hell hole to grow up in with nothing to do but be left to your own devices. Partying, drugs and fights were normal. So was shooting out cops windows on the highway. Parents barely cared and the kids would have their say. I love this movie after a single viewing and know I will frequently revisit it. It's well made top to bottom and gets some great and natural performances out of a group of kids in junior high and high school. It also has a wild finale that isn't to be missed.

We close things out with Franco's best, or at least most interesting women in prison film that I've seen to date and without a doubt his sleaziest. SADOMANIA lives up to its name in a film where a pair of newlyweds drive into an off limits area of a women's prison and they take the wife prisoner while letting the husband go. The husband now fights for his wife's freedom and tries to break her out of this strict facility ran. That paper thin plot provides an excuse to show everything from topless women performing hard labor, lesbian sex, bestiality, homosexuality with Franco himself, murder, fights to the death, human hunting, and human trafficking of these women with the mention of selling girls as young as twelve. Yeah, this one goes the distance. It's not perfect but I had a blast seeing just how far SADOMANIA would go.

Today's Rundown
Mad Max - 6/10
Bunni - 4/10
99 Women - 5/10
Women Behind Bars - 6/10
Over The Edge - 8/10
Sadomania - 7/10

April Exploitation/B-movie Challenge 2016 - Day 10

I was given a Youtube link to DIVINE WATERS, a somewhat rare 1981 documentary on John Waters and the Dreamlanders. The film features interviews with John Waters' sister and parents and clips with Edith Massey, Divine, and others along with Waters himself. I hadn't seen any of this footage before so it was all interesting and entertaining despite clocking in at just over an hour. I think there have been better documentaries, and of course more complete now that DIVINE WATERS is 35 years old, on Waters and Divine but this one is definitely worth a look.

It's time! It's time! It's women in prison time! You can't have a month of exploitation and not dig into some WIP films? Well, maybe you can but I can't. So first up was BARE BEHIND BARS from 1982. This movie starts out as a wonderfully sleazy, skin filled, lesbian prison romp with a couple dozen prisoners getting off whenever they get a chance to visit the infirmary and have fun with the nurse and her dildo (the 7th Wonder of the World.) This movie goes fucking bonkers when a trio of girls plan an escape, but not before seeing the 8th Wonder of the World... a rather giant sized dildo made out of a pineapple. Yes, you read that correctly. A pineapple dildo. Yum. That's nothing compared to when the three girls break out, take a family hostage and murder them but not before castrating the father and tossing his weiner to the dog. Oh and the little boy, who can't be older than 10 (and I'm probably pushing it there), well let's strip him down while 3 grown women rub on him sexually before killing him too. The mother got it easy. That's not all, there's more dick chopping, and this time it isn't the dog that it's fed to and some hard XXX action out of nowhere. BARE BEHIND BARS went fucking nuts in the last 20-25 minutes and I loved every seedy, uncomfortable, mind baffling second of it even more than I loved the first hour.

And we close things out with AMAZON JAIL, from Oswaldo de Oliveira, the same director as BARE BEHIND BARS. This film that came two years later is obviously set in the Amazon and features a lot more action outside of the jail setting itself which kept things fresh. There's plenty of skin and sex along with jungle dangers like venomous snakes. The girls are stuck between white slavers and crazy native priests all looking to keep these girls for themselves but the girls fight back in a three way war of sex and survival. Entertaining, and filled with filth AMAZON JAIL was a lot of fun to watch but never reached the level of BARE BEHIND BARS.

Today's Rundown
Divine Waters - 6/10
Bare Behind Bars - 8/10
Amazon Jail - 7/10

THE MUTHERS (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

Philippines/1976
Directed By: Cirio H. Santiago
Written By: Cirio H. Santiago, Cyril St. James
Starring: Jeannie Bell, Rosanne Katon, Trina Parks
Color/83 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: March 10, 2015

The Film
Kelly and Anggie head up a band of pirates known as The Muthers where they live in seclusion with their gang and rob rich cruise liners for their goods and money while battling the rival pirate gang lead by Turko. Kelly and Anggie throw themselves into the clutches of a slave farmer when they find out Kelly's sixteen year old sister has been kidnapped by the group and fight to find their sister along with their own escape and survival.

The king of Philippino exploitation, Cirio Santiago, delivers another piece of greatness. Part pirate movie, part jungle action/adventure movie but mostly a women in prison film, THE MUTHERS does a great job of taking a group that commit unsavory acts as their means of existence but making them extremely likable and having the audience root for them, even if it is simply by pairing them up against foes that are less likable. The performances in exploitation fare such as this can be all over the place but the cast lead by Jeannie Bell (TNT Jackson herself!) and with veterans of exploitation classics such as Ms. 45, Ebony Ivory & Jade and Stryker, the acting definitely doesn't disappoint.

The screenplay is action packed with plenty of shootouts, fist fights, explosions and torture scenes. THE MUTHERS is a blast, pun absolutely intended. No, THE MUTHERS might not be for everyone, and it really isn't the best at any of the areas it explores but for fans of women in prison or blaxploitation films you'll hardly find yourself scoffing at THE MUTHERS. As for the rest of you -Get lost!

The Audio & Video
Vinegar Syndrome gives THE MUTHERS a DVD release that maintains the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a quality anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are vibrant and lively while skin tones are healthy and natural. The film has been restored from the original negative and shows just a bit of speckling and scratching from age related damage, otherwise it is a great looking disc. The English audio track is clear and free of annoying background noise or damage. The mix in levels between dialogue and score is well done and nothing more can be asked of this A/V presentation!

The Extras
The lone extra is a theatrical trailer

The Bottom Line
Give me all your women in prison and blaxploitation films and I'll eat them up, especially when they're as fun as THE MUTHERS! Highly recommended!

THE MUTHERS is available HERE

Grindhouse Trailer Classics (DVD Review) - Intervision

Color/129 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: August 12, 2014

The Film
For the exploitation, horror and various other genre films of the 60s and 70s the trailer was the only thing to draw in an audience aside from having an appealing title. This would be 30 seconds to a minute and a half of footage from the film promising the most exciting, nerve shattering, blood curdling and adrenaline pumping action you've ever seen. Often times the trailer was better than the movie itself and sometimes the trailer showed every single exciting part of the full film.

Creating an exciting trailer that will captivate audiences and get them to shell out their bucks to buy a ticket to see the full film is an art form in itself and the trailers for the films that would play in seedy theaters in cities such as Chicago, San Francisco and along the Deuce in New York City featured an energy that has never been recreated. GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS features 55 trailers from films stretching the gamut of exploitation genres. A few included trailers are the horror films House Of Whipcord, and Don't Open The Window to the exploitation classics They Call Her One Eye and the Ilsa films. There's even a giallo or two included.

The Audio & Video
Intervision releases this DVD with an anamorphic widescreen transfer and original mono audio. The picture and audio quality fluctuates from trailer to trailer as you'd expect. The best trailers look and sound fantastic with little background noise and minor dirt or damage to the print. The trailers in lesser condition still maintain pretty good quality. There aren't any trailers that are excessively beaten or battered.

The Extras
-"Bump 'N Grind" - a 15 minute featurette with Emily Booth and she discusses the history of the grindhouse theater and the films they showed.
-Gallery of poster art

The Bottom Line
These trailer compilations are a lot of fun to watch in their entirety or to throw on before movies during a movie night with friends. Pick a few random trailers to watch before your main feature and you'll have even more fun. GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS has some of the best trailers from the era and you won't be disappointed with this disc.

GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS is available HERE

Love Camp (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Erwin C. Dietrich
Starring: Nanda Van Bergen, Monika Kalin, Monica Swinn
Color/79 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date:

The Film
A group of beautiful girls is kidnapped by revolutionaries and taken to a jungle camp to serve as sex slaves for the revolution. The girls are forced to comply or they are tortured or killed by the sadistic warden. When one of the leaders of the revolution falls in love with one of the girls they try to escape for a life together.

LOVE CAMP is a classic example of Jess Franco tackling just about any genre that is hot at the moment and the Women In Prison genre was hot in the late 70s. Franco makes a pretty satisfying piece of exploitation either way, with plenty of flesh on screen. There's shower scenes, love scenes and a bit of violence. Had Franco went further with the violence and shown it explicitly I think LOVE CAMP could have rose above the pack and became a classic example of the genre. As it is, LOVE CAMP is pretty middle of the road WIP.

The Audio & Video
Yet another outstanding Blu-ray from Ascot Elite. The anamorphic widescreen transfer is gorgeous, with great sharpness and vivid colors. There's no edge enhancement and DNR is not excessive while skin tones are natural and healthy. The English DTS-HD 5.1 track sounds very good. The mix is strong and levels are complimentary to each other. There's no background noise. German and French tracks are also available with optional English and Japanese subs.

The Extras
-Jess Franco audio interview
-Trailers
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
A missed opportunity to be a classic ends up as something that will entertain the viewer but doesn't reach its full potential. LOVE CAMP is absolutely worth checking out for what it is instead of skipping for what it isn't.

Barbed Wire Dolls (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1976
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Jess Franco
Starring: Lina Romay, Monica Swinn, Eric Falk
Color/81 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 25, 2014

The Film
Lina Romay stars as Maria, a woman thrown in to the nasty women's prison after murdering her father who tried to rape her. Maria is exposed to the despicable warden and her guards, the lesbian inmates and the various forms of torture lying within the walls. Eventually Maria plans an escape with her cellmates leading to a chase through the jungle exteriors.

BARBED WIRE DOLLS is a mean spirited film. All of the prisoners are badly mistreated physically, sexually and mentally. Monica Swinn does a great job at playing a warden that would give Ilsa a run for her money. BARBED WIRE DOLLS is pretty much an exploitation fan's wet dream.

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite's transfer of BARBED WIRE DOLLS is top notch. The picture is sharp, colors are vibrant and there's a healthy grain structure while skin tones are natural. The English 5.1 DTS-HD track sounds great. It is nicely mixed, and free of any audible disturbances. There is also English subtitles for the German language track.

The Extras
-Interview with Jess Franco, Lina Romay and Erwin C. Dietrich
-Jess Franco audio interview
-"Falk's Frauen" featurette with Eric Falk and Erwin C. Dietrich
-Trailer
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
Jess Franco fans will find a lot to love here, especially with the performance from Lina Romay. In broader terms, any sleazy film fan will be doing a disfavor to themselves if they don't at least give BARBED WIRE DOLLS a chance and this Blu-ray is the best way to do so.

BARBED WIRE DOLLS is available HERE

Women In Cellblock 9 (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Jess Franco
Starring: Karine Gambier, Howard Vernon, Susan Hemingway
Color/78 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: October 22, 2013 

The Film
Set in the jungles of South America during a time of revolution a truck carrying suspected revolutionaries is stopped and searched by members of the prison. The women on board are arrested and thrown into the infamous Cellblock 9. They're stripped and chained by the neck, no better than dogs, where they undergo interrogation tortures and humiliations by the warden and doctor. They are asked repeatedly who they work for and what they know and their silence causes more punishment. As the days pass the women formulate a plan to try an escape and disappear into the jungle.

WOMEN OF CELLBLOCK 9 is pure exploitation gold. Jess Franco's sleazy side was firing on all cylinders here with nudtiy, violence, torture and even some horror moments on display. From the forced nudity, to quasi rape of an inmate just so she could get a drink, to stock footage of crocodiles (who apparently can't go on land), to running naked through the jungles while being gunned down... WOMEN IN CELLBLOCK 9 has it all! This movie is trashy in the best way. It is 78 minutes of pure mind melting sleaze entertainment. I loved every second of it.

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite has done another very nice job on this HD presentation. The anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) transfer is rather stunning from the lush greens of the jungle, to the blood reds that pop just enough and the natural, fleshy skin tones that show amazing detail I can't say enough good things about how nice the transfer is on this release. The audio tracks are nice as well, with German and English DTS-HD 5 channel surround or a 2.0 French track, the English track that I listened to, despite a bit of hokey dubbing, sounded excellent. The mix was full, and robust with no background noise to complain of. It is doubtful that WOMEN IN CELLBLOCK 9 will ever look or sound better than it does here.

The Extras
Extras include the original trailer, a still gallery and additional trailers. 

The Bottom Line
Women-In-Prison film fans rejoice! This is one of the sleaziest entries I've had the joys of watching and in glorious HD no less! There's a reason I love Euro-trash and this film is a great example of why. 

WOMEN IN CELLBLOCK 9 is available HERE

Lust For Freedom (DVD Review) - Vinegar Syndrome

USA/1987
Directed By: Eric Louzil
Written By: Craig Kusaba, Duke Howard, Eric Louzil
Starring: Melanie Coll, William J. Kulzer, Judy Trevor
Color/91 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: April 8, 2014

The Film
Gillian Kaites is a special agent who is engaged to her partner but with just days before their wedding her fiancee is gunned down during an undercover operation gone bad. Gillian takes some time away to clear her head and ends up in Georgia County California, a town ran by a corrupt judge and police force. Gillian is framed for a drug crime she didn't commit and denied any rights. Gillian is beaten, stripped naked, and just like the rest of the girls miserable. The judge of the town participates in sex trafficking, drug dealing and general debauchery until Gillian rallies the girls to take back their rights and their lives!

LUST FOR FREEDOM is a Troma production, directed by Eric Louzil who would go on to direct Class Of Nuke 'Em High 2 and 3. This women in prison movie has all of the classic tropes of the genre from the torture and beatings to the lesbian sex scenes but also features a hefty dose of humor. It is a lighter take on the genre (if that is possible with as much T&A and violence as this movie features) than many other WIP films. The soundtrack plays a big role in the film, as it helps keep the mood light with it's purely 80s hair metal sound. The theme song is catchy as hell and will make you want to drive a tank as fast as you can into the walls of this prison and give the girls their freedom! LUST FOR FREEDOM isn't going to blow you away with it's high production values or originality but it will give you a good time along with a bit of exploitation fun. 

The Audio & Video
The anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 transfer from Vinegar Syndrome is decent considering the low budget nature of the film. The image quality is a bit soft but it seems to be more of the film itself and not anything having to do with the transfer. The source material seems clean for the most part with very few scratches or instances of debris. The audio side of things is a mono track, free of any background noise. It isn't special, but it handles the dialogue and soundtrack as well as it probably ever has. Overall a more than serviceable job from Vinegar Syndrome.

The Extras
-Newly recorded audio commentary with director Eric Louzil
-Video interview with Lloyd Kaufman
-Original theatrical trailer

The Bottom Line
I recommend fans of Troma and women in prison films to check this one out and add it to their collections.

LUST FOR FREEDOM is available HERE

Ilsa, The Mad Butcher (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

USA, Switzerland, Germany/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Manfred Gregor, Jess Franco
Starring: Dyanne Thorne, Lina Romay, Eric Falk
Color/95 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: October 22, 2013

The Film
ILSA, THE MAD BUTCHER aka ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN was the third film featuring Dyanne Thorne in the lead role as some sort of domineering, sexually charged matriarch. This time Ilsa is in charge of a medical institute for women dealing with sexual issues ranging from Nymphomania to prostitution. This place is designed to set them straight but instead it is more of a playground for Ilsa.

Roughly a year after her sister mysteriously died following an attempt to escape the walls of the institute, Abby infiltrates the hospital posing as a patient in order to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of her sister. Abby quickly finds that patients are abused physically and sexually. If they forget their uniform number it is branded on their chest like cattle. Many of the girls are also forced into sex with the staff, or with each other to make pornography videos. Juana (Lina Romay) is Ilsa's lover and the most powerful patient in the hospital and has her lustful eyes set on Abby. Abby's hell begins when she won't give in to Juana's advances and Ilsa punishes her. Abby is able to learn the details she needs from other inmates facing similar torture and Abby and the inmates band together for an uprising against Ilsa that results in one of the most unexpectedly gruesome endings I've seen in any film.

ILSA' THE MAD BUTCHER has a little bit of everything as far as exploitation films go. It's violent, it's sexy and it is altogether pleasing. It is full of beautiful women, despicable acts and excess. Ilsa's status as a legendary character in alternative cinema was cemented by this point and if you aren't familiar with her don't you think it's time to introduce yourself?

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite has done a fantastic job on the video transfer of this disc. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks stunning in HD. Skintones are fleshy and natural, never waxy. There are strong textures from clothing to hair and set pieces. Colors are vibrant and lifelike without looking artificial. The jungle outside the walls of the prison are lush and green. A beautiful thing to look at. The 5.1 DTS-HD English audio track sounds very good. The mix is strong and balanced with attetion paid both to dialogue and score. German and Italian tracks are also available in 5.1 DTS-HD while a French track is presented with 2.0 Dolby Digital. English and Japanese subtitles are optional for the tracks.

The Extras
A pretty substantial interview with Jess Franco and producer Erwin C. Dietrich is the main feature here and yes, it is English friendly. Also included is an original trailer for ILSA, THE MAD BUTCHER and several trailers for other titles from the Golden Goya line from Ascot Elite.

The Bottom Line
ILSA, THE MAD BUTCHER is exploitation at its finest and Ascot Elite's Blu-ray release is home video at it's finest. An absolutely fantastic job from the German company that you should absolutely import for your collection!

ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN is available HERE

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 Days 20 & 21

There were 3 movies across days 20 and 21, starting out with ALIENATOR. This movie rounds out the Action 4 Pack DVD set from Shout! Factory that also had Exterminator 2, Cyclone and Eye Of The Tiger, all which I enjoyed this month. ALIENATOR was the disappointment of the group. A fugitive alien being comes to Earth and shacks up with a local group living in the woods when he is hunted by the title character, a platinum blond killing machine that looks like something out of American Gladiators on weird Sci-Fi steroids. There is some cheesy action and a few entertaining scenes but overall it falls flat and isn't anything special.

RATTLERS was next, a mid 70s Eco-terror type flick about killer rattle snakes terrorizing a small desert town. This movie plays out exactly how you'd expect if you've seen any similar animal terror type flicks. The movie has a single moment at the beginning that is very nasty where a pair of young kids, no older than 10, fall into a den of dozens of rattle snakes and pay the ultimate price for their misstep. After that the movie goes downhill.

The final movie was an Italian produced Women In Prison flick, CAGED WOMEN, from 1991. This is part of the Full Moon Grindhouse DVD Collection and looks a lot better than I thought it would based on Charles Band having anything to do with an old film transfer. The movie is actually rather entertaining and sleazy as hell. A bunch of naked women fighting for their escape from a secluded island/jungle prison. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but it does what it does pretty well.

Today's Rundown
Alienator - 5/10
Rattlers - 4.5/10
Caged Women - 6/10

Exploitation/B-Movie-Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Days 18 & 19

Probably going to be doing 2 days per post for the rest of the challenge, so here are days 18 and 19...

After watching Chained Heat I was in the mood for some more Women In Prison fare and decided to watch the other two movies in the triple feature DVD set with CH. RED HEAT was next, once again featuring Linda Blair in the lead role. When she is visiting her boyfriend in Germany she is kidnapped and sent to an East German prison where she has to deal with all the crap that comes along with it. It isn't until months later that her boyfriend finally discovers the truth of how she disappeared and sets to break her out. RED HEAT is a let down. The framework of a good WIP flick are there but the meat of it all is bland and boring. It never exploits the situation or East German setting enough and the ending is a set up for nothing. Not terrible but like I said, a let down.

Rounding out that DVD set was JUNGLE WARRIORS, which brings the prison aspect in to the jungles of South America when a group of models on a photo shoot get captured by a drug lord. This is good old fashioned fun with cocaine... and barrels of it. A lot of shootouts, Woody Strode taking out people with a bow and arrow in the middle of a machine gun war, decapitations, naked women. It sounds like a lot of fun, and it is but the WIP aspect is lost amongst the shuffle of other things and that hurts it.

Day 18 was rounded out with THE BABYSITTER. This film from 1969 is the story of a DA in a loveless marriage who falls for the new babysitter. A fun loving, carefree spirit who just wants to have fun and listen to music. The fact that she's a young, leggy blond with a penchant for getting naked doesn't really hurt either. While the man and the babysitter have their fling they're being followed and photographed by a woman who is part of a biker gang that is going to use the pictures to blackmail the DA into letting her boyfriend and leader of the gang out of his murder charges. This movie was better than I expected it to be. There is some violence in the murder scene, some lesbianism and talks of blackmailing the DA by exposing his lesbian daughter (this is the '60s), potential pedophilia as I'm pretty sure the babysitter's age was never clarified and she could easily be a high school girl and tacos. Nothing to rush out of your way for as you pretty much get what you expect when you read the synopsis but it isn't as hammy as it all sounds so it is a worthwhile watch.

Day 19 sucked and booze wasn't going to save it.

Early in the day I watched R.O.T.O.R., a killer robot cop flick from the late 80s. It could have been as cool as Chopping Mall but instead it was about as cool as getting prodded in the ass by robots. So bad it's good? So bad it's fucking awful. It wasn't the worst movie I've seen all month but it is among the worst.

Then later that night I decided to give PUPPET MASTER: AXIS OF EVIL another viewing, hoping it was better than the first time I saw it when I was more than a few beers too deep. Well, I was relaxing with a couple beers, what I feel is the best recipe for a successful Puppet Master viewing, and I don't know if I could have been more bored. It is a shame too because I don't think the puppets move and look as bad as most people do, and there is actually some above average acting and direction for a Full Moon (especially modern day Full Moon) picture but pacing killed this thing, as there is none. Nothing happens until over an hour into the movie and even then it is so little that it just pisses you off. It wasn't as bad as ROTOR though.

Today's Rundown
Red Heat - 5/10
Jungle Warriors - 6.5/10
The Babysitter - 6/10
R.O.T.O.R - 3/10
PM: Axis Of Evil - 4/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 17

Remember Hack Job, and how I said there were 2 more movies from that director? Well I SPILL YOUR GUTS is one of them. After we get by the two minutes of elementary school vocabulary lesson, five separate screens listing the over 30 bands that provided music to the movie and not one but two title screens (I have no idea why there are two), we get to the movie, or what little of a movie there is. Dennis is a soldier who heroically took a bullet for his friend in the war and is on his deathbed when his friend basically shits all over him and tells him that he's going to change the story and take credit for being a hero. I don't really know how letting your friend get shot and die in war is being a hero but hey, I've never served so who am I to say. Dennis gets pissed and comes home, either dead or alive, I'm not sure which, and goes on a killing spree. The movie is basically moving from one kill set up to another without any real story stringing them together. There is a lot of amateur effects, some boobies and butts and an extended metal concert sequence for no real reason. So, yeah, there it is. Is it good? Nope, not even close, but at least it is better than Hack Job.

Next up was SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP, which rounds out the triple feature DVD set that included the previous two nazisploitation flicks that I actually enjoyed earlier in the month. Could SSELC make it a hat trick? Could I actually find 3 Nazi exploit movies that I find good without knowing anything about them prior to viewing!?... No. This one is the story about the Nazis gathering some nice looking women and subjecting them and soldiers to weird sexual experiments together and trying to create the perfect race, even more perfect than the Aryan in their eyes. Well, there are a lot of naked women, and some weird stuff going on, as is the case with most of these movies that I don't find to be worth a second viewing. The last 20 minutes of the movie pick up and become entertaining and really save the movie from being a total bore and turn it into something simply mediocre.

The night rounded out with another first time viewing, and one I'd been wanting to see for a while. CHAINED HEAT is a women in prison movie starring a not so innocent Linda Blair, the never innocent Sybill Danning and John Vernon from Animal House. Blair stars as a first time inmate in a rather nasty and corrupt prison after she accidentally killed a man with her car. Her innocence is slowly stripped away by the drugs, race wars and prostitution run by the guards and the warden himself. Art truly imitates life as this is not the cute little girl that is being possessed by a demon in The Exorcist. Blair is on full display here in her first nude scene and is surrounded by lesbianism, murder and rape. I can easily see why this is considered one of the best Women In Prison flicks around.

Today's Rundown
I Spill Your Guts - 3/10
SS Experiment Love Camp - 5/10
Chained Heat - 8.5/10

Exploitation/B-Movie/Drive-In Challenge 2013 - Day 14

I was unbelievably exhausted all day and I don't really know why. Keeping my eyes open was a struggle so I figured I'd throw on something that is either going to surprise me or be so bad I just fall asleep. And I was surprised. SS CAMP 5 WOMEN'S HELL is a nasty little piece of nazisploitation from Sergio Garrone filled with naked women, conspiracies, whip and branding torture, shoot outs and metal spiked knuckles to the gut, in an especially brutal sequence. Who knew that it was possible to watch 2 nazisploitation flicks back to back and like them both (back to back being earlier this month...). I didn't think it could happen, but it did. Now, that isn't to say this movie is without its drawbacks, because it isn't. It is repetitive and the attempt at bringing real world atrocities into the fictional film just comes off as cheap to me. Maybe that was me being tired and it could change into a positive impact for the film on another viewing. From start to finish this is an above average piece of nazi exploitation.

I followed that up with CYCLONE, a cheesy 80s action flick featuring Jeffrey Combs and Martin Landau. Combs plays a scientist developing a new military motorcycle filled with as much fire power as a F-16 and featuring some laser blasters for good measure. After he is murdered over the device he leaves it in the hands of his girlfriend to take care of and get it into safe hands. CYCLONE is very 80s, in a good way, and pretty entertaining. It is also frustrating that it doesn't go further in the action, sexiness, and overall concept of the movie. If this movie had taken a cycle of steroids before being made it would be a cult classic. As it stands it isn't bad, and is a decent piece of 80s action but it could have been so much more.

Today's Rundown
SS Camp 5 Women's Hell - 6/10
Cyclone - 6/10

TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN IN JAIL: CONTINUES (DVD Review)

Japan/1975
Directed By: Koyu Ohara
Written By: Koyu Ohara, Akira Momoi
Starring: Kozue Hitomi, Arikawa Mihoko, Yoshii Akiko
Color/70 Minutes/Not Rated

The Film
In this follow up to the previously reviewed True Story Of A Woman In Jail: Sex Hell, Mayumi (our resident badass from the first) is released from solitary confinement and housed in a cell where the other inmates have decided to bully a new, shy girl. Mayumi doesn't tolerate it and stands up against the girls which sets up a series of fights, lesbian sex scenes and torture throughout the movie. At various points some of the guards get in on the nastiness and the Yakuza come in to play with their plots and schemes. All of which also piss off Mayumi and send her in to a violent streak. It all leads to the boiling point of the entire prison losing it's collective cool in the finale. 

There isn't much depth to the plot, just enough to advance the story so that it makes at least a little bit of sense. That isn't to say this is a bad film, director Koyu Ohara, who directed all 3 parts of this series, uses a lot of style and flare. There are more than a few times it seems obvious he was influenced by the Female Convict Scorpion films of 1972 and '73. While Ohara doesn't achieve the level of artistry present in those cult classics, he is able to make good use of the dingy, dark interiors of the prison with some lively direction. The perversity on display in TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN IN JAIL: CONTINUES is astounding, with a bit of a... surprise... for you at one point. If you are a fan of the Women-In-Prison genre this is something you will want to check out. 

 


The Video
The DVD from Impulse Pictures boasts an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer that looks very nice. Flesh tones look natural and warm while reds really pop. The brighter scenes along city streets are quite striking. 

 

The Audio
The Japanese Mono 2.0 track sounds fine and is free of any outside disturbances like hissing and crackling. The optional English subtitles (newly translated) are spot in in their delivery.

The Extras
You know what this part will say by now, don't you? Only liner notes from Jasper Sharp are included as an extra but at this point you could get a question about the Nikkatsu studio on Final Jeopardy and you'd probably get it right. They're that good.

The Bottom Line
Spine #6 in the Nikkatsu Erotic Thriller line from Impulse Pictures is another winner. What it lacks in depth of plot it makes up for in cruel, cruel, entertainment. This is deserving of a spot on your shelf right along with spines 1-5.

TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN IN JAIL: CONTINUES IS AVAILABLE HERE