WOMEN IN PRISON FILM COLLECTION:includes CHAINED HEAT(1983)*** out of **** Directed by Paul Nicholas Starring Linda Blair Sybil Danning,Tamara Dobson,John Vernon, Stella Stevens,Henry Silva,99 minutes R Rated; RED HEAT(1985)** out of **** Directed by Robert Collector, Starring Linda Blair, Sylvia Kristel,Elizabeth Volkman, R Rated 104 minutes and JUNGLE WARRIORS (1984) Directed by Ernst Von Theumer Starring Sybil Danning, Nina Van Pallandt,Paul Smith,John Vernon, Alex Cord, Woody Strode,Marjoe Gortner,R Rated 93 minutes Released by Panik House Home Video
Last month I reviewed the DVD collection of WOMEN IN CAGES films which included the Roger Corman produced "Women In Prison"films made in the Phillipines on the 1970's with Pam Grier in the lead. This month another DVD collection of 1980'a female prisoner movies are released most of them starring Linda Blair(THE EXORCIST) and Sybil Danning(BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS) The first one in this DVD collection,CHAINED HEAT has Linda Blair as an innocent girl sent to prison with a lecherous warden(John Vernon)with a hot tub in his office with video cameras to film his sexual escapades with bodacious female immates and a corrupt prison matron(Stella Stevens) making drug dealings with the prison doctor(Henry Silva) that uses the female prisoners as prostitutes/call girls.Blair once in prison finds herself in a brutal tug of war between the two opposing factions in the prison led by the respective leaders,Sybil Danning who leads the white female prisoners and Tamara Dobson(CLEOPATRA JONES) who leads the black female immates.This film is the best on my opinion of the trio of Women In Prison movies here in this DVD collection since it is well and briskly directed with the right amount of female nudity(both Blair & Danning appear nude) sleazy atmosphere and well staged action sequences with amusingly over the top performances, especially by Stevens, Vernon and Silva.
RED HEAT is the least effective film in this DVD collection although it both stars Linda Blair once again cast as an innocent girl sent to an East German Communist prison and Sylvia Kristel(EMMANUELLE)as the evil lecherous lesbian prison matron.The problem is that the film is much too long for a film of it's type(104 minutes),the direction and script is unremarkable and the photography is way too dark and murky. The film's only saving grace is the performances by Blair and Kristel especially in the sex scenes which both actresses appear nude and an interesting score by European rock group Tangerine Dream.But unlike the DVD version of CHAINED HEAT which is uncut and uncensored, RED HEAT is missing a rape scene between the film's stars Blair and Kristel which had appeared in the VHS unrated version of the film released in 1985.
The final film in this DVD collection is the strangest one since it's not even really a "Women In Prison" film like the other two films CHAINED HEAT & RED HEAT. JUNGLE WARRIORS is really a "Jungle action film" since it's plot is a group of fashion models with their agents and photographers led by Marjoe Gortner (STAR CRASH) and Nina Van Pallandt(THE LONG GOODBYE) who crash land their plane in the remote jungles of South America and are captured by an evil drug lord played by Paul Smith(MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, PIECES)and his half sister played by Sybil Danning(HERCULES, HOWLING II) who puts the girls in their dungeon to be sold into white slavery. When rival drug lords played by John Vernon(ANIMAL HOUSE) and Alex Cord(TV's AIRWOLF) arrive to do dealings with Smith & Danning, the girls then escape and battle against their captors to obtain their freedom. With an unique kind of cast for this type of film including Woody Strode(ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST), Ava Cadell(DO OR DIE), Dana Elcar(TV's MACGYVER) and a real amusing gonzo style in both plot, action and direction, JUNGLE WARRIORS is more entertaining and fun than a film like this should be with copious amount of gore action and nudity to appease fans of this genre.
All three films are in appropiate anamorphic widescreen with extras such as trailers for all three films, with interviews with both Stella Stevens and Sybil Danning about the making of the films.But Linda Blair who is the star of two of the films on this DVD collection does not appear at all in interviews, nor does she does an audio commentary for any of the two films that appear in this collection,although she did do such audio commentaries for the Canadian DVD release of these films.But even with this apparent ommision,this Women In Prison DVD collection is a must for fans of this particular exploitation movie genre.
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