Nightmare in Badham County

Being a fan of 1970's made-for-TV movies AND women-in-prison films, I just couldn't miss this 1970's made-for-TV woman-in-prison flick. And as bonus, unlike other made made-for-TV WIP films like "Jackson County Jail", this was released overseas in a much sleazier version than the one that appeared on American network TV. Thus you have fairly respectable American TV actors (at least if you consider "Mike Brady" from "The Brady Bunch"and "Ginger" from "Gilligan's Island" to be "respectable") appearing in a typically sleazy WIP flick.

The plot is actually fairly serious--two UCLA co-eds, one white and one black, are traveling through the Deep South. They have car trouble and are arrested for vagrancy by a racist sheriff (Bo Hopkins) the black girl earlier insulted. After a brutal (off-screen) rape they are sentenced to a work farm where they are kept segregated and cut off from the outside world and brutalized by sadistic "honorees" (prisoners acting as guards), one of whom is Tina "Ginger" Louise. Robert "Mike Brady" Reed plays the warden who takes sexual advantage of the women (again, off-screen, thank god). There is brutality, suicide, homicide, multiple escape attempts, and--in the "European" version--graphic lesbianism and a nude whipping. In typical 70's fashion the end is not unambiguously happy.

The "respectable" actors stay out of the sleaze scenes (but Tina Louise does do some of her guarding in a halter top and hot pants). Former Bond girl (and the much less talented sister of Natalie) Lana Wood appears in a lesbian scene with a naked inmate. And fans of 70's sleaze cinema will be gratified to know the nude whip-ee is Denise Dillaway from "The Cheerleaders".(Regrettably, her scenes probably didn't make the broadcast TV version). Nor is this quite the collision of Sherwood Schwartz sitcom actors and softcore porn that myself and others might have fantasized about (i.e. there's no three-way lesbian shower scene with "Mary Ann", "Marcia Brady" and "Laurie Partridge"). Still, I would certainly recommend this (especially the uncut version) to fans of both 70's made-for-TV and WIP movies.

I first saw this (like most of the other reviewers) as an made-for-TV movie in 1976. It was a typical Friday night diversion...put the brain in neutral, sit down and watch. Deborah Raffin (model-turned-actress famous for her looong hair) and Lynne Moody (nice lady later on Soap and Hill Street Blues) play two college coeds driving through the South when the car breaks down. They run afoul of the local law and end up in the county work farm for 30 days. Things only get worse and worse until a mixed ending (good news and bad news...I won't spoil it...some others already did). A great supporting cast including a lot of "good guy/girl" actors/actresses in "bad guy/girl" roles (Chuck Connors as the sheriff; Ralph Bellamy as the judge; Robert Reed as the warden; Tina Louise, Fionnula Flanagan, Lana Wood and Della Reese as guards/prisoners/trusties; etc.). This movie was an emotional experience in 1976 and the impact stayed with me for quite a while (ABC ran an advisory saying it might not be for all viewers and it may give a bad image of Southern justice). Fast forward to the early 1990s...my now ex-wife was working in a video store and brought this film home as one of her "victim movies" (she liked women-in-peril movies). What a difference 14 years makes!! This movie had all the added features described elsewhere (lesbian love scenes, nudity, strong language, etc.)...it amplified the movie I saw in 1976. Another reviewer was right...this would've made a good drive-in movie. If rediscovered, it could be set next to "Caged Heat" and "Chained Heat" as a great movie of its genre. The "9" is for both versions blended together. Leonard Maltin gave this a "below average" rating...it's much better than that. It's the type of film parents could watch with their children and say (sarcastically) "look what can happen to bad girls."

Seriously good women-in-chains exploitation flick that was an ABC Movie of the Week. Deb Raffin and Lynne Moody star as coeds on summer break who pick the wrong backwoods town to have car trouble in. The town is run by a demented sheriff (Chuck Connors, much more effective as a baddie here than he was in "Tourist Trap"). When the girls spurn his advances, he jails them and rapes Moody, and then arranges to have them shipped off to the local prison farm. There, they are abused by the sadistic guards (among them Tina Louise) and brutal warden (Robert Reed). They soon discover not everyone gets out of the place alive, either. Della Reese plays one of their fellow inmates. The film is harrowing and believable, even if all the guards are shapely if not beautiful women. Guards in this type of film tend to come in all shapes and sizes, the better to intimidate and beat up on the inmates. The film is all the more frightening because this stuff happens in real life, or used to. Some decent nudity and whipping and cruelty, obviously added to the video release and for the overseas market.

Nightmare in Badham County is a 'women in prison' film, but I wouldn't recommend going into it expecting something along the same lines as the sleazy Jess Franco women in prison films as you're liable to be disappointed. That being said, this is still an excellent seventies made for TV movie and while it may be lacking in the sleaze factor; it makes up for that in other areas and John Llewellyn Moxey's film is still well worth a look. Naturally, considering that the film is a TV movie; it's not too violent, but influence was still obviously taken from the 'hicksploitation' genre and we focus on a small town where the legal system doesn't exactly adhere to the national standard. Two young college girls are driving through Badham County when they get a flat tire. After finding someone to help them, they run across the local sheriff and come a cropper when he doesn't take too kindly to them brushing off his advances and making a fool out of him. He then sets up his revenge; by having the girls thrown in a backwater prison for a minor offence.

This film will no doubt get plaudits for the acting, and it's certainly above average considering the type of film. Deborah Raffin and Lynne Moody give good turns in the lead roles, and really do manage to draw you into their characters. Lynne Moody is the standout for me for giving the more realistic performance; Deborah Raffin overacts to quite a large and noticeable extent on several occasions. The film draws in themes of the racial divide as the prison at the centre of the film separates the blacks from the whites. This is probably the most shocking element considering the lack of sleaze. The prison itself doesn't seem as imposing as some of the prisons shown in other films, and it actually never seemed all that difficult to escape from. However, John Llewellyn Moxey creates a great atmosphere of hopelessness that stems from the inmates and surrounds the central location, which ensures the film has the right feel to it. It all boils down to a well worked and memorable ending and while this film may not be one of the best in its field; it's very good and well worth seeing!

Reminiscent of the Roger Corman cycle of "babes-behind-bars" flicks from the late '60s and early '70s, this is an enjoyable little exploitation item. Maybe some think it has pretensions to mask as "social commentary," but don't believe it, and just enjoy it for what it is--a made-for-TV version of those great Corman Filipino "prison-chicks" flicks. Apparently the video version is a lot more explicit than the TV version, but I haven't seen that one yet, so I can't say. Deborah Raffin and Lynne Moody are the two poor souls who get shanghaied into a Southern hellhole, and while Raffin is her usual bland, whitebread self, Moody steals the show from her. She's a much better actress than Raffin, is (IMHO) prettier and far sexier, and has a fresh, approachable, open appeal that Raffin lacks. Robert Reed does a nice turn as the corrupt prison superintendent, and it's fun to watch Tina Louise playing the sadistic prison matron--and Lana Wood is a blast as a lesbian (ahh, where would women-in-prison movies be without them?) prison guard.

All in all, it's a fun watch if you don't take it too seriously--or seriously at all. Check it out.