Recently aired in widescreen on the Flix cable channel, Hotel Oklahoma is a flawed but intriguing entry in the women behind bars genre. An interesting if unbelievable plot device half way through the proceedings will keep your attention, and the cast is obviously trying hard. Unfortunately, the film can't decide whether its a caper film, a serious prison expose, or just another exploitation flick, leaving me ultimately unsatisfied. Lead Kristen Cloke provides most of the highlights as, erm, Kristen, a working class gal who takes the fall for her clueless but generally good hearted criminal boyfriend (David Keith). Karen Black is completely wasted in a small role as a loony prisoner who, er, relieves herself on Kristen before getting off the prison bus, and Ray Sharkey doesn't have much to do other than help set up the aforementioned plot device. This is an interesting but inessential effort from director Robert Houston, who kicked off his film career as one of the victims in Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes.
5 Reviews
COLLAPSES INTO FOOLISHNESS.
rsoonsa7 October 2004
David Keith plays Tommy, an ex-convict who violates terms of his parole when he crosses a state line to woo his former girl friend Kristen (Kristen Cloke), and so effectively that they decide to marry; however, when they visit a jewelry store to select her ring Tommy, shy of the required funds, robs the establishment and when, following the holdup, Kristin is arrested for failing to confirm Tommy's part in the affair, off she goes to prison. This first section of the film garners one's interest by dint of creative camera-work and some realistic dialogue, but following Kristin's incarceration it becomes simply another Women in Prison film, replete with that rightfully scorned genre's accessory clichés, with a generous addition of plot elements so silly that one can only presume that the excessive number of continuity flawed episodic scenes either lack for direction or anything resembling post-production supervision.
An OK Women in Prison movie
cykelsmurf18 December 2007
You've seen this basic idea before. A beautiful woman going to jail although she's innocent. In this case for being together with her boyfriend, as he robs a jewelery store. And of course when the police catches her, she's just so good-hearted (or something) that she takes the blame. Inside the prison you get most of what you expect EXCEPT for nudity. There's actually a quick shower scene that's pretty funny (you'll know what I mean when you see it) but NOTHING is revealed. If you don't consider bare shoulders being of interest. There are however a few interesting, unusual turns in the intrigue. Nothing great but at least someone tried. Don't pay too much money for this, but it's OK to watch the film if it airs on TV.
Strange and unsatisfying
Wizard-81 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Women in prison movies have never been a favorite of mine for some reason, so maybe I approached this one with some prejudice. But I have a feeling that fans of this particular genre will be quite bewildered by this effort. If you are looking for standard women in prison films, you'll likely be disappointed. Most of the "R" rated material in the movie comes from language. There is only ONE brief scene of nudity (performed by a male, not a female), and a rape scene takes place off-screen. Actually, there seems to be more missing from the movie than just sexual elements, such as a key car crash that takes place out of camera range. Several times it seems that linking footage was either edited out or simply not filmed at all, leaving some plot points simply not in the finished movie. I will admit that the acting actually isn't too bad by the (mostly) no name cast, and the movie actually got to shoot in a real prison, with both things actually managing to build some authentic prison atmosphere. But if you know how dire real life prison must be like, you'll probably correctly guess that this authentic atmosphere doesn't add to too much "fun". At best, this women in prison movie is just a mild curio, and I suspect that fans of the genre will label this as a decidedly weaker than average effort.
Far out Women in Prison feature
lor_15 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
My review was written in May 1991 after a Cannes Film Festival Market screening.
The women's prison genre is sent way over the to in "Hotel Oklahoma", a feature long on silliness and short on exploitation footage. Paycable seems the logical outlet as a time killer.
Pic was titled "Chained Heat II" during production last year ast Oklahoma State Penitentiary, but bears ittle resemblance to the 1983 Sybil Danning-Linda Blair hit.
Film begins in standard fashion with young innocent Kristen Cloke sent to prison as accomplice in lieu of her boyfriend David Keith, after latter steals a wedding ring from an uppity jeweler. Director Bobby Houston rushes thro9ugh the cliches: examination scene, shower scene, with no nudity in the entire pic.
Main subplot involves lesbianism in stir, with Cloke traumatized after being promoted to supervisor status when she unwittingly permits a murder involving a lesbian triangle. The head of prison security, Rick Dean, tries to rape Cloke early on, and succeeds in the final reel. As a camp bonus, Karen Black is on hand as a complete nut among the already fairly crazy prison population.
Parallel story is beyond farfetched: chatting up Ray Sharkey in a bar, Keith blows his cover but lucks outg when Sharkey has a fatal car crash while chasing him. He steals the corpse's identity, and believe it or not, Sharkey was the new warden headed to take over the correctional facility whee Cloke happens to be staying.
While retaining some of the violence of the pic's first half, latter section is played for laughs as Keith keeps dodging detection in his efforts to spring Cloke. Final reel is loaded with ludicrous twists that require most of the leaders to step out of character. A happy ending for cloke and Keith is thrown in out of left field.
Peppy cast almost makes this watchable, thoug plain-Jane Cloe doesn't fare well with her emitonal breakdown scenes. Keith is breezy, and Deborah May as the nasty deputy warden is credible. Feminie pulchtritude is provided by Charlie Spradling, vamping Keith as a trustee-prisoner who's allowed to violate the dres code.
On-location lensing and mainly unglamorous casting of inmates provide the film's only nod to reality.
The women's prison genre is sent way over the to in "Hotel Oklahoma", a feature long on silliness and short on exploitation footage. Paycable seems the logical outlet as a time killer.
Pic was titled "Chained Heat II" during production last year ast Oklahoma State Penitentiary, but bears ittle resemblance to the 1983 Sybil Danning-Linda Blair hit.
Film begins in standard fashion with young innocent Kristen Cloke sent to prison as accomplice in lieu of her boyfriend David Keith, after latter steals a wedding ring from an uppity jeweler. Director Bobby Houston rushes thro9ugh the cliches: examination scene, shower scene, with no nudity in the entire pic.
Main subplot involves lesbianism in stir, with Cloke traumatized after being promoted to supervisor status when she unwittingly permits a murder involving a lesbian triangle. The head of prison security, Rick Dean, tries to rape Cloke early on, and succeeds in the final reel. As a camp bonus, Karen Black is on hand as a complete nut among the already fairly crazy prison population.
Parallel story is beyond farfetched: chatting up Ray Sharkey in a bar, Keith blows his cover but lucks outg when Sharkey has a fatal car crash while chasing him. He steals the corpse's identity, and believe it or not, Sharkey was the new warden headed to take over the correctional facility whee Cloke happens to be staying.
While retaining some of the violence of the pic's first half, latter section is played for laughs as Keith keeps dodging detection in his efforts to spring Cloke. Final reel is loaded with ludicrous twists that require most of the leaders to step out of character. A happy ending for cloke and Keith is thrown in out of left field.
Peppy cast almost makes this watchable, thoug plain-Jane Cloe doesn't fare well with her emitonal breakdown scenes. Keith is breezy, and Deborah May as the nasty deputy warden is credible. Feminie pulchtritude is provided by Charlie Spradling, vamping Keith as a trustee-prisoner who's allowed to violate the dres code.
On-location lensing and mainly unglamorous casting of inmates provide the film's only nod to reality.
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