Women’s Prison Massacre (1983, Review)
aka Emanuelle fuga dall’inferno (Italy)
aka Emanuelle Escapes from Hell (literal Italian translation)
aka A Bunch of Bastards (Greece)
aka Blade Violent (Japan)
aka Emanuelle in Prison (UK)
aka Laura II – Revolte im Frauenzuchthaus (West Germany)
aka Révolte au pénitencier de filles (France)
Director: Bruno Mattei
Cast: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Ursula Flores, Franca Stoppi, Lorraine De Selle
Retro Shock-O-Rama / 2 Disk Set / NR / 16×9 Widesscreen and 4×3 Fullscreen Versions / Bonus Feature: Caged Women aka Violence in a Women’s Prison / Purchase from DiabolikDVD.com
Photojournalist/investigative reporter Emanuelle (Gemser) is sent to prison after uncovering a corrupt politician who is into drug smuggling. She is horribly out of place there among the riff-raff and she stands out to the evil warden. When she isn’t protecting herself against prison bullies, she is standing up to the sadistic guards. They routinely beat and torture the inmates for their own amusement and “punishment”. In those respects, this is a pretty typical WIP flick.
It isn’t until four male inmates arrive that the fun really gets started. Led by “Crazy Boy”, these prisoners are held at the women’s institution after a botched escape attempt during transportation. Soon after arriving, they take over the prison, the guards, the warden and especially the *BOW CHICKA BOW BOW* hot-in-the-ass female inmates. I’ll let you guess what happens when psycho criminal dudes run amuck in a building full of captive, horny chicks.
Violence, cheeseball dialogue (“I’d like to bite your nipples off!”) and good clean dirty fun is the backbone of this Bruno Mattei (The Other Hell, Hell of the Living Dead, Rats: Night of Terror) “women in prison” genre offering. I love WIP films. They are everything an exploitation fan could want. Of course some are more explicit than others. Some are more focused on sex. Some violence. Some are just plain fun. Women’s Prison Massacre has a little of everything.
The male inmates, especially “Blade”, are cartoonishly psychotic. Making all kinds of animated “crazy” faces and laughing like hyenas, it’s hysterical. Oddly enough, “Crazy Boy”, played by Gemser’s real-life husband Gabriele Tinti, sounds a lot like Adam West of Batman and Family Guy fame, or at least his dubbed voice-over guy does. There is plenty of violence and gore to satiate the horror fans as well. Scenes like “Blade” being torn apart at the hands of the female inmates, and a razor in one of the female’s vagina (I’ll let you think about that) are the most notorious.
Mattei is not the best director but for what the subject matter calls for, he is more than competent. While not in title, this is an entry into the Black Emanuelle series and fits nicely right along with classics like Emanuelle in America. One of the big things that makes the movie work is the actors and actresses. They all revel in their roles and bring out all of the nastiness of the characters. I loved every dirty minute.
