Women in Cages (1971)

American women prisoners in a foreign country. Sex and action.

Director:

Gerardo de Leon (as Gerry de Leon)

Writers:

James H. Watkins (story), David Osterhout (story) (as David R. Osterhout)

Stars:

Judith Brown, Roberta Collins, Jennifer Gan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Judith Brown	...	Sandy (as Judy Brown)
Roberta Collins	...	Stoke
Jennifer Gan	...	Jeff
Pam Grier	...	Alabama
Bernard Bonnin	...	Acosta (as Bernard Bodine)
Charlie Davao	...	Rudy (as Charles Davis)
Johnny Long
Holly Anders
Dwight Howard
Roberta Swift
Paul Sawyer
Jeffrey Taylor

Storyline

Carol Jeffries (known as 'Jeff') is a naive American woman staying in the Phillipines. She is given ten years in prison after being set up by her drug-dealer boyfriend, Rudy. She endures the harsh conditions, sadistic head matron and attempts on her life, then convinces her cell-mates to try to escape with her through the jungle, in spite of the knowledge that ruthless trackers will be sent out after them.

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Plot Keywords:

sexploitation | b movie | grindhouse film | murder of a nude woman | nudity | 

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Taglines:

Naked lust that builds to a deadly climax

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Philippines USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 November 1973 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Playpen

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balatbat Productions,New World Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character Alabama in True Romance (1993) was named after Pam Grier's character in this film. In the original script, Clarence even mentions that the name sounds like a Pam Grier Character.

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Quotes

Alabama: This is going to be just like home, only different!

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Connections

Referenced in Grindhouse (2007)

User Reviews

Pam's No Hope Emerson But Still Pretty Darn Good

For those viewers who are accustomed to cheering on the antics of cult actress Pam Grier on screen, her character in 1972's "Women in Cages" may come as something of a surprise. Far from her bodacious, sympathetic action heroine, she here plays as nasty a personage as can be imagined: a pot-smoking, white race-hating, lesbian sadist from Harlem named Alabama, who is the matron in an exceptionally sleazy Filipino prison for women. Fans of this type of film--a subgenre that includes other New World films such as "The Big Doll House" ('71) and "The Big Bird Cage" ('72), both with Grier--know what to expect from such: nude shower scenes, sadistic but lovely prison guards, a handful of gorgeous inmates and over-the-top action sequences. While not as much fun as the other two films just named, "Women in Cages" does still provide the requisite goods, and Pam stakes her claim to be placed in the pantheon of such classic female jailers as Dyanne Thorne in the "Ilsa" films, Barbara Steele as the crippled warden in "Caged Heat" ('74), and my favorite, the grotesque matron that Hope Emerson plays in "Caged" ('50). In addition to Pam, the film boasts the presence of cult favorite Roberta Collins, as a smack-addicted rat fink; several catfights; vermin (of the snake, rat, leech and Filipino bounty hunter/rapist varieties); torture by fire, whip, rack, wheel and electricity; AND an oceangoing brothel. Though I still prefer the underrated Grier films "The Arena" ('73) and especially "Black Mama, White Mama" ('72) to this one, "Women in Cages" still proved an entertaining diversion.