Reform School Girls (1986)

User Rating:

3.9/10   

Director:

Tom DeSimone

Writers:

Jack Cummins (additional dialogue)
Tom DeSimone (writer)

Release Date:

22 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Crime

Tagline:

Some Get Tough. Some Go Insane. Some Will Die...

Plot:

Jenny is sent to a women's reform school. It is run by evil warden Sutter and her henchwoman Edna. Jenny...

Plot Keywords:

Evil | Bully | Warden | Escape | Death

Cast

Linda Carol	...	Jenny
Wendy O. Williams	...	Charlie Chambliss
Pat Ast	...	Edna
Sybil Danning	...	Warden Sutter
Charlotte McGinnis	...	Dr. Norton
Sherri Stoner	...	Lisa
Denise Gordy	...	Claudie
Laurie Schwartz	...	Nicky
Tiffany Helm	...	Andrea 'Fish' Eldridge
Darcy DeMoss	...	Karen 'Knox' Charmin
Andrea Darnell	...	Paula
Robin Watkins	...	Kelly
Winifred Freedman	...	Terri
James Staszkiel	...	Truck Driver
Fred D. Scott	...	Judge Carter

Also Known As:

Naked Birds (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R | Philippines:R-18

Company:

Balcor Film Investors

Trivia:

The role of Warden Sutter in the original script was a man. Producers wanted Sybil Danning to play the character Edna, but director 'Tom DeSimone' knew she wasn't good for that part so he changed the role of Warden Sutter to a women and had Sybil play that role instead.

Quotes:

Edna: Keep your fingers above the sheets. We only change 'em once a week!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cheerleader Autopsy (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Reform School Girls

I'd Stick With Eleanor!

"Reform School Girls" (1986) is a highly entertaining, completely over the top, necessarily derivative contribution to the Women In Prison (WIP) subgenre. Featuring flamboyant performances by butterface favorite Wendy O. Williams (despite the fact that Wendy was 37 when she essayed this teenage role, and looked exactly the same as when she fronted for the Plasmatics), as well as Warhol veteran Pat Ast, the story here nevertheless centers around Linda Carol's Jennifer, who is sent to the "graybar hotel" after abetting her boyfriend in an armed robbery attempt. She immediately runs afoul of Wendy's Charlie Chambliss, the toughest chick in the "school" (the place really seems more like a prison than a school, it must be said), as well as Pat's grotesque head matron, Edna Dawson. The film dishes out all the familiar WIP set pieces, such as shower scenes, catfights, a prison break, several riots, and a very uptight warden, here portrayed by cult actress Sybil Danning, underutilized in this particular role. Entertaining as this whole spoof is, and despite the often very funny lines, I couldn't help thinking that the film that "Reform School Girls" seems to be mainly patterned after, the 1950 Eleanor Parker vehicle "Caged," is infinitely preferable in every department. The monstrous matron played by Hope Emerson in that earlier film makes even Edna's rants of "complete control" seem tame in comparison, and good as Linda Carol is, she's no Eleanor Parker! I suppose it all comes down to whether you're in the mood for an entertaining spoof or a more realistic--and thus more harrowing--WIP experience.