Women in Prison

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(2.5 out of 5)

Reform School Girls followed a revival of the women in prison genre in the early 1980s. Well, at least a revival in the American market - the genre basically was going strong in Italy and elsewhere throughout the 1970s. But in the Uni....

5-31-2004

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(2 out of 5)

It is a paradox that low-budget films are also often the most wasteful films. Think about it, a lot of badly made, low-budget movies end up being real dogs not because of a lack of money constraining location shooting, producing special effects, or hir....

5-15-2004

Out of print.

(3.5 out of 5)

There are two kinds of musicals: those that essay a modicum of plot development and those that eschew it altogether. Chicago is largely in the latter category. On sure, there is a creaky plot about seeking stardom and murders and trials....

3-14-2004

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(2 out of 5)

When I was younger, I totally had a thing for Catherine Oxenberg. I was teen when she was on "Dynasty" and Oxenberg along with Lydia Cornell from "Too Close for Comfort" and were my TV crushes. I now sort of regret my feelings for Lydia, who really wa....

2-5-2004

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(1.5 out of 5)

This is straight paint-by-numbers project. There is not even a single moment of originality here; you've seen it all before. This seems a little odd to me. I mean, what is the point of landing a star in the lead if the project i....

2-17-2003

Out of print.

(2 out of 5)

I am actually a pretty big fan of Roger Corman's, especially his 1970s oeuvre which delivers on the bad movies trinity of violence, nudity, and tongue-in-cheek humor. This movie is part of the "Roger Corman Classics" series, alt....

4-28-2002

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(1.5 out of 5)

Judging by this movie, Ted V. Mikels is a no talent hack. There, I said it. This movie is by turns boring and incoherent. The budget was apparently big enough to make a decent product, but there is fundamental gap between Mikels’ s....

1-21-2002

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(3 out of 5)

Much maligned as Midnight Express-lite, Brokedown Palace really isn’t half bad. It features decent acting, and it avoids taking the easy way out with a feel-good ending. Indeed, althoug....

12-15-2001

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(4 out of 5)

Black Mama, White Mama (1972), the WiP remake of The Defiant Ones (1958), is in its own way as much of a classic as its inspiration. They just don’t make movies like this anymore: deliberately low-brow,....

7-24-2001

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(2.5 out of 5)

I actually watched this one a couple of months ago and have been wrestling with how to write a review about it ever since. Somehow my usual practice of summarizing the movie while making snide asides doesn’t seem appropriate her....

6-22-2001

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(1.5 out of 5)

Boring. Incoherent. Weird. Ridiculous. These are the sorts of words that came to mind as I watched Amazon Jail. It does have a lot (a lot) of nudity, and it is goofy rather than depressing, so it gets a manacle.

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6-2-2001

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(3 out of 5)

Chickens!  Claymation chickens!  Speaking with British accents!  In prison (aka an egg farm)!  Are you laughing yet?  If not, this may not be the right movie for you.  But as far as I am concerned, the....

1-15-2001

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(4 out of 5)

After you've seen a few dozen women in prison (WIP) movies, it becomes hard to remember which is which. Oh sure, Chained Heat (1983) is the Linda Blair classic, and I'll remember Women in Cages (1971) for ....

12-19-2000

Out of print.

(3 out of 5)

Bamboo House of Dolls is a wild entry in the genre. It is pretty much a standard WIP plot, although intercut with pretty intense fight/action sequences, and more disturbing than usual torture scenes. In short, take a ba....

11-24-2000

Out of print.

(2 out of 5)

This is the 1984 Cirio Santiago version of Caged Fury, not to be confused with the 1948 version which is apparently about a "Psycho lion tamer [who] uses the big cats to commit ....

10-9-2000

Out of print.

(3 out of 5)

The concept behind this one is pretty simple. A bunch of porn stars decide to cross over into "legit" b-movie fare with an Airplane! (1980)-style spoof of women-in-prison movies. I'll discuss this concept at some length....

10-1-2000

Out of print.

(0.5 out of 5)

Star Slammer: The Escape is, according to the video box, 86 minutes long. Yet despite this comparatively short running time, it took me three sittings spread out over a couple of weeks to watch it. This movie is painful....

8-27-2000

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(3.5 out of 5)

Like many great movies, Terminal Island (1974) is bound to spur many grand philosophical debates. Terminal Island, of course, deals with such issues as the nature of crime and punishment, the death penalty, and relation....

7-24-2000

Out of print.

(3 out of 5)

A cut above most women in prison movies plotwise, Women in Cages only falls a bit short in the fun quotient, preventing it from breaking into the top ranks of the genre. This is yet another of the Roger Corman-produced w....

7-14-2000

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(2 out of 5)

You know, as I watched this movie, I kept thinking one thing: "Where are Tom Servo and Crow when you really need them?" Actually, I was also thinking: "Warden, are you sure this whole Prison Flicks thing is a good idea?" Then ....

5-31-2000

Out of print.

(2.5 out of 5)

One reason why Hollywood makes so many bad movies is that the movie industry too often focuses on concept at the expense of execution. Comparing The Big Doll House (1971) (BDH) and The Big Bird Ca....

5-8-2000

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(0 out of 5)

Following Caged Heat 3000, Aaron Osborne directed Kraa! The Sea Monster (1998) and Zarkorr! The Invader (1996). Can you imagine directing not one, but two movies with an exclamation point in the title?! ....

4-11-2000

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(4.5 out of 5)

Ah, where to begin...  This is in many ways your typical women in prison movie filmed in the Philippines.  Standard Roger Corman, drive-in movie schlock.  That said, it really does operate on a number of different le....

4-11-2000

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(4 out of 5)

Ah yes, a tale of two directors. While Jonathan Demme used Caged Heat to move into mainstream pictures, Cirio H. Santiago has spent his whole life making exploitation movies. Santiago is, in fact, one of the great men of explo....

4-11-2000

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(3.5 out of 5)

Man, I would love to meet Jonathan Demme. What a career this guy has had. He directed the brilliant Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense (1984). Won a Best Director Oscar for the then-overrated, now-....

4-10-2000

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