Women in Prison

Triple Feature

Shock-O-Rama

Region Free NTSC

“Women in Prisons” is a unique form of exploitation cinema, usually offering everything from desperate women to evil warders, lesbian sex to rape and torture. They vary in intensity and quality and cover the ground from extreme grindhouse to tits and bums comedy fare.

Shock-o-Rama have brought together three truly perverse gems: Escape from Hell (1980), Women in Cell Block 7 (1973) and the Hot Box (1972). All of these films are at the wild edge of exploitation and hence not often found available on DVD. It is good to have them in one place but do appreciate their rareness and hence be understanding of the imperfections in the film quality.

Escape from Hell (1980) is a wild jungle WIP film directed by Edward Müller and starring transsexual porn star and actress Ajita Wilson. It is filled with nudity, sex and random acts of violence. Throughout the film we see near naked women working (on a near starvation diet of snake meat and water), being raped, having sex (usually with each other) and being beaten. The sex is rough, sleazy and dirty and every possible voyeuristic pleasure is offered from prison showers and catfights to torture.

The guards are psychopaths, the doctor is a drunk and the camp commander is a stickler for law, order and very hard labour. The camp is set in the middle of the jungle and so the choices are limited; die from overwork and abuse or escape into the jungle and if you can outrun the guards, die from wild animal attack.

Escape from Hell is a prime example of nice and sleazy exploitation cinema, enjoy !

Women in Cell Block 7 (Diario segreto da un carcere femminile) is a 1973 Italian WIP classic from Rino Di Silvestro starring the sexy Anita Strindberg and the lovely Jenny Tamburi. Originally released in the US as a cut 80 minute release, this is the full 100 minute uncut edition.

This is a fascinating and somewhat convoluted WIP film. It focuses on what is essentially a mafia crime story, where “the Don” is continually beaten by mob figures trying to locate some missing drugs. The Don, however, is not who he seems and is actually an undercover Interpol agent. Since his life is on the line, his daughter, the sexy Anita Strindberg, goes undercover in a woman’s prison so she can get close to the girl who actually stole the drugs.

Of course, this rather complex plot is actually used as a method to get Strindberg into prison and from there get into heavy exploitation territory. As would be expected, the prison has lots of vicious guards, lesbian action, shower scenes, sex and violence.

The combination of a mafia crime film with a sleazy and nasty WIP tale is rather successful. It was a rave success in the Seventies so it is nice to see it on DVD.

The Hot Box (1972) is a true American classic WIP produced by Jonathan Demme (Caged Heat) and cult film maestro Roger Corman and starring the seductive Laurie Rose.

It is a bit different from the first two films in the collection. It is the story of four beautiful nurses taken captive by rebels who want these medical missionaries to ply their trade in service of the revolution. As the junta strikes back, the ladies are caught in a deadly crossfire. The nurses seem to spend most of their time topless while plotting their escape from the rebels. It is a more of a sexy nurse type exploitation film than the other films in this collection but it still packs lots of guns, explosions and car chases!

Shock-O-Rama presents three films on two discs, with Escape from Hell and Women in Cell Block 7 on one, and The Hot Box on the other with a trailer vault for other Shock-O-Rama releases. There is also a rather nice eight-page booklet featuring photos and posters, and some background on the films.

Reviews appear on the Synergy website with a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with multiple images. We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy Magazine.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the front page of Synergy Magazine Website or click the following link http://www.synergy-magazine.com