99 Women (1969) Der heiße Tod (original title)

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Jesus Franco (screenplay)
Jesus Franco (story)
(more)

Release Date:

23 April 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror

Tagline:

99 WOMEN... behind bars -- without men!

Plot:

New inmate Marie arrives at an island prison in the women's sector and receives the number 99. The inmates...

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | No Panties | Nudity | Escape | Women In Prison

Cast

Maria Schell	...	Leonie Caroll
Herbert Lom	...	Governor Santos
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Thelma Diaz
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Natalie Mendoza
Maria Rohm	...	Marie (as Maria Rohn)
Rosalba Neri	...	Zoie
Elisa Montés	...	Helga (as Eliza Montes)
Valentina Godoy	...	Rosalie
José María Blanco	...	Doctor
Mike Brendel
Elsa Zabala
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ana Lucarella
Olívia Pineschi
Juan Antonio Riquelme
María Vico
Jesus Franco	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jesus Franco		(as Jess Franco)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Anya Corvin		German dialogue
Milo G. Cuccia		screenplay
Milo G. Cuccia		story
Carlo Fadda		screenplay
Carlo Fadda		story
Jesus Franco		screenplay (as Jess Franco)
Jesus Franco		story (as Jess Franco)
Javier Péres Grober		screenplay
Harry Alan Towers		English dialogue (as Peter Welbeck)
Ornella Zanelli		Italian dialogue

Produced by
Luis Laso	....	producer (spanish version) (as Luis L. Moreno)
Harry Alan Towers	....	producer

Original Music by
Bruno Nicolai

Cinematography by
Manuel Merino

Film Editing by
Stanley Frazen
Bruno Mattei		(Italian version)
Gabrielle Reinecke		(German version)

Art Direction by
Santiago Ontañón

Makeup Department
Adolfo Ponte	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Robert S. Eisen	....	post-production supervisor
Luis Laso	....	general manager (as Luis Lazo)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Juan Estelrich	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Elio Pacella	....	sound engineer
James Nelson	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Riccardo Damiani	....	assistant camera
Antonio Modica	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
María Luisa Soriano	....	editor: Spanish version

Music Department
Luca di Silverio	....	soundtrack album producer

Other crew
Bruno Mattei	....	director: hardcore sequences (French version)
Loredana Pagliaro	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Cinematografica Associati (CI.AS.)
• Corona Filmproduktion
• Hesperia Films S.A.
• Towers of London

Distributors

• Commonwealth United Entertainment (1969) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Another World Entertainment (2009) (Denmark) (DVD)
• Astral Films (Canada) (as "99 Women")
• Blue Underground (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• K & C Video (Australia) (video)
• MCM Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video)
• Paramount Films de España (Spain)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack

Also Known As:

"Der heiße Tod" - Liechtenstein (original title)
"Island of Despair" - USA
"Women's Penitentiary XII" - USA (video title)

Runtime:

Argentina:99 min | Australia:81 min (25 fps) (video) (cut) | Italy:90 min | Sweden:86 min (banned version) | UK:70 min | USA:86 min | West Germany:94 min | Spain:83 min

Country:

Liechtenstein | Spain | Italy | West Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-16 | Australia:MA (2007 re-rating) | Singapore:R21 | Norway:18 (cut) (1970) | UK:18 (cut) | Argentina:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 (nf) | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company:

Cinematografica Associati (CI.AS.)

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 53649 delivered on 10-4-1969.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Marie:Where are they taking us?
Helga:To the island, over there.
Helga:[to redhead] What's eating you? Looking forward to your holidays? Three years the judge said, didn't he? I know the medicine you need, and they don't stock it over there. Home sweet home for all three of us. The Spaniards built it and christened it, Castillo de la Muerte.
Natalie Mendoza:"Castle of Death".

Movie Connections:

Referenced in From Manila with Love (2011) (V)

Serious Franco fare.

Given Jess Franco's penchant for uber-strange, dream-like, over-sexed affairs, this comes off as one of his tamest and most main stream movies...as main stream as WIP flicks can be that is.

The film follows follows a familiar pattern. A group of girls are brought to an inescapable fortress/prison were they are to serve out their sentence. The lead girl (played by the lovely Maria Schell) may or may not be innocent, regardless she decides she does not wish to remain in the inhospitable place any longer than she has to and an escape attempt forms.

As would be expected, the prison is host to assorted debauchery and sadism on the part of the prison staff. Prisoners are mistreated, dehumanized, etc. Compared to most any other WIP flick out there, this one is pretty clean content wise. Some clothed cat fights, limited nudity and one harsh (though thankfully brief) rape scene are the most the film offers in terms of exploitation.

Technically speaking, I would argue that this is Franco's most accomplished film. Light, color, sound are all good; even his use of camera angles exceeds what would normally be expected of him. The acting is all around what would be expected from this sort of affair, with the notable exception of Herbert Lom, who manages to be both a creep and oddly likable. A major down point is the script, which is so cut-n-dry that it never does a whole lot of anything.

An actually good Franco movie that may be too tame for his more fetish fans, but certainly worth a look.

(Note: This review is based on the regular edition of the film and not the badly re-edited hardcore version) 7/10