Women's Prison Massacre

Emanuelle Escapes from Hell (1983)

** (out of 4)

Hack master Mattei directs this women in prison film that has Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) being sent to prison by a corrupt official. Once in prison she battles the warden as well as another inmate but soon things get out of control when four male prisoners take over the prison. Mattei and Gemser made another WIP film the same year as this one and the two movies share a whole lot in common. It appears most of the same cast and crew made both pictures and both remain mildly entertaining entries in the genre. The most shocking thing about this film is that Gemser doesn't take her clothes off, which must be a first in the ten or so films I've watched with her. The film is fairly sleazy but not near the level of a D'Amato or Franco film. The highlight include a rather erotic sequence when the men decide to have their way with the overly willing female prisoners. Gemser is her usual self, although, despite the title, this has very little to do with her Black Emanuelle films. The supporting cast features some good looking women but bad actresses but that's to be expected. Mattei's direction is certainly laughable and the screenplays has giant holes in it but all of this adds to the charm of the low-budget film. The dubbing is also extremely bad but adds a lot of laughs. AKA: Women's Prison Massacre, Emanuelle in Prison and its original title Emanuelle fuga dall'inferno.

"Women's Prison Massacre" is the last of the "Black Emmanuelle" series of films and this time director Joe D'Amato abandons his trademark sleaze for an attempt at an exploitation flick with a plot.

Emmanuelle (Laura Gemser)has gotten a bit too close to exposing a corrupt government official during the course of her investigative journalism, and he has her sent to a vicious women's prison on trumped up charges. 4 dangerous male convicts (including Gemser's real life husband Gabriele Tinti) are transferred there to be held until their trials and manage to create jailbreak mayhem a nasty hostage showdown with police.

I really wanted to like this film, but I just couldn't do it. The plot is a fractured mess, the acting awful and this film is so evasively shot (not enough film or budget for much visual explanation or gore, I guess) that I didn't even know what was supposed to be happening in most of the sleazy scenes (the razor blade castration, horny female convicts ripping one of the guys apart) until I read the DVD liner notes. Also gorgeous Gemser keeps her clothes on the entire time, and the actresses who do disrobe are less than stunning.

3 stars, one for Laura Gemser having a genuine beauty and screen presence that deserves something better than this drivel, one was a whole lot of accidental comedy ("I'll bite your nipples off!" and the blow up doll are the first examples that come to mind), one for Lorraine De Salle sticking it out in a film where she looks extremely uncomfortable in every scene (as if she's ashamed of being in this throwaway, whimpering end to an otherwise fun series).

"Emanuelle in Prison" is rather a variation than a sequel to „Violenza in un carcere femminile": even though Laura Gemser plays the same part as Emanuelle, Gabriele Tinti plays the leader of the criminals now, without any connection to „Violenza..." where he played the doctor. Anyhow, Emanuelle performs a theater play at prison in such a boring manner that inmates throw rotten tomatoes at her. Nevertheless, she still seems somewhat too popular to the guards. They are trying to humiliate Emanuelle, but their efforts fail, she's got nerves of steel and experience from the previous flick. The situation at the prison changes radically when armed male prisoners attack the guards and take control. The prison is besieged, and it's time to kill... Nothing special for the genre, in fact a bit lackluster, but the haunting soundtrack by Luigi Ceccarelli deserves mentioning; it reminded me stylistically (not quality-wise) a bit of Keith Emerson's compositions for Argento's „Inferno".

In WOMEN'S PRISON MASSACRE, Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) is a reporter "in stir" due to her being framed by a drug dealer. She's under heavy scrutiny by prison security. She's also on the last nerve of Albina (Ursula Flores), who challenges her to an arm wrestling match.

Next, we're off to the showers, where the female inmates just can't keep their hands to themselves! In no time, their fun is interrupted by the fascistic femme-guards and their aquatic torture techniques.

These guards are awful! They're nasty! They're available!

Then, everyone's in trouble when a gang of male inmates invade the prison, quickly subduing the guards and killing anyone who resists.

These guys are pigs! They're dogs! They're irresistible!

Annnd, on and on it goes.

While this movie isn't unwatchable, its soft core cheeeze-factor is stratospherically high! Those unaccustomed to such ridiculous goings-on might find that their brains have died in their skulls by movie's end!

Be careful out there...

This film has been identified in some secondary sources as an alternate title for the one released in US as CAGED WOMEN but they are in fact different, though not *too* different. For the greater part, WIP fans do prefer "the mixture, as before," without innovations, though it helps if there is a plot more coherent than the average Jess Franco production.

In this outing, Laura Gemser is not Emanuelle, doing undercover journalism at a prison, but rather a hard con doing time. Lorraine de Selle is still on staff and still has that hooker underwear she modeled in CAGED WOMEN, and best of all, the haystack hair blonde and skinny teenish brunette are both doing 20-life here too. The blonde looks as if she's eaten a little lasagna since the previous picture. Her opening scene finds her wearing nothing but *tight* kini panties, over which her tummy roll hangs enticingly. Wow! (scene is 'way too short.)

Here, dangerous male cons are temporarily housed in the women's lockup, but they get loose and a riot ensues -- at least when they're not having sex with horny femme cons who haven't seen a man since the Aldo Moro administration. No shower scene in my video copy, which is always a drawback, though it does feature a weird theatrical presentation by the inmates, for the inmates. (And you thought WEEDS was an original idea!) OK of its type.