Caged Women (1991) User Reviews

Women in prison is a steamy exploitation film better in parts rather as a whole. Not bad but no match for films like The Big Bird Cage

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 11 June 2006]

A women in prison film for the low brow in us all.

Woman is sent off to prison after rebuffing the advances of a sleazy guy who kidnaps her and sends her to the mountain top prison in some third world country. There the prisoners run around damn near naked as they are abused, raped and hunted by the staff. Meanwhile, the guy who did go home with the woman the night before tries to find out where she disappeared to.

For the record I've seen this in two versions undubbed or subbed French version (this is the reason my plot summary is lacking in details) with all of the nudity, sex and violence intact and a Japanese import version in English with Japanese subtitles, shortened by 12 minutes and heavily fogged (which I shut off almost instantly because of the censoring). Given the choice I'd watch the fuller version I'm not sure what I think of this film. Its a good movie if you like these sort of things, but at the same time it seems to be be play acting and not too serious (I can't believe that the women's hair always look perfect). Its a weird feeling, it some how misses the grit and violence of say The Big Bird Cage or Caged Heat, and exists just for the titillation of the sleaze factor. I some how wanted more than just the scenes of naked women running in slow motion, soft-core bondage and trashy lesbianism. On some level its a women in prison film which wants to be something spicier, but no more offensive than the Man Shows girls on trampolines. I think I missed the strong take no crap stands of the women in the Roger Corman produced films of the early 70's.

Its not bad, but given the chance I'd probably go with the earlier films (though this does have some classic exploitation scenes including the one with the two women are thrown in a cage in the hot sun with no source of water). If you like women in prison films I'd say try it, though you'll remember the pieces more than the whole.

Women in Prison flick

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 20 January 2007]

A late entry in the women-in-prison exploitation genre, Caged Women is the brainchild of Italian director Leandro Lucchetti, creator of such titles as Bloody Psycho and Apocalypse Mercenaries, so we know what we're getting here, folks, and there is no point in setting our expectations high unless we happen to belong to that small band of souls who get their kicks from woman-hating porn.

Former Miss Spanish Basque Country, Pilar Orive, stars as American Janet Cooper who arrives by boat at an unspecified South American country and immediately begins nibbling bananas in a suggestive manner. Dressed in a wholly appropriate little black number, Janet pays a visit to the seedy bar of her seedy hotel and is immediately hit on by a greasy local who later turns out to be a narcotics cop. Saved from his unwanted attentions by an American who (crucially, as it turns out) happens to be a helicopter technician, Miss Cooper dishes out the goodies to her knight in shining armour with such grace and expertise that she wins his undying love in the course of their one night stand. Which is a good thing for the hapless girl because the evil narc cop has planted drugs in her bag and the morning after her liaison with our hero has her drugged and shipped to a remote women's prison managed by a sleazy warden and a Nazi-type lesbian guard (Elena Wiedermann). Naturally, this prison is no enlightened centre for the rehabilitation of society's outcasts, and poor Janet, in a state of constant nudity, finds herself the subject of various sexual abuses.

Surprisingly, this film isn't all that bad. The acting is pretty crappy, especially from the lovely Miss Orive (and the actress who dubs her), and the storyline is strictly by-the-numbers porn designed to pander to one of men's less savoury fantasies, but it never really takes itself seriously. Good guys and bad, while drawn with broad strokes, occupy the furthest extremes of each spectrum, so that the bad guy's come-uppance is all the more enjoyable when it arrives. There's acres of female flesh throughout – Orive spends a good 90% of the movie naked, or nearly so – and you will never ever see a greater excuse than the one given in this movie for a couple of hot naked chicks to lick every inch of each other's bodies.

Unfortunately, at little more than an hour long, the British DVD has cut a lot of the action, so that UK viewers are left with a collection of scenes that at times seem to have been randomly cobbled together by a bunch of monkeys sitting at typewriters (or something); scenes are abruptly curtailed before they have barely started, and the movie doesn't make a lot of sense at times. So, if this is the sort of flick that floats your boat, seek out the French Region 2 90 minute version. There are no English subtitles but, buddy, you ain't going to care

From Seuss to sleaze, I'm easy to please.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 20 September 2020]

I had intended to watch The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T for my 5000th review on IMDb but I couldn't find it, so I plumped for yet another trashy women-in-prison flick instead (to be honest, I didn't look THAT hard for the Seuss film). Caged Women is short on '50s surrealism and bizarre musical numbers but heavy on sex and sleaze, with nary a frame going by without bums, boobs and bush.

Former Spanish beauty queen Pilar Orive plays American traveller Janet Cooper, who finds herself thrown into a remote South American women's prison on a trumped-up drugs charge. While she is subjected to the usual genre ordeals (forced to strip, abused by a lesbian guard, a pressure-hose shower, sold for sex etc.), helicopter mechanic Frank Nolan (Christian Lorenz), with whom Janet had a steamy one-night stand, attempts to find the missing woman.

Writer/director Leandro Lucchetti packs plenty of sex and nudity into his film, but with none of the gritty mean-spiritedness to be found in many similarly themed movies, Caged Women might well disappoint many fans of Women In Prison movies. What's sorely needed is some sleazy Jess Franco style torture and sadism, but what we get is almost a parody of the Women In Prison genre, with far-too-attractive prisoners in extremely short smocks (one inch below minge base) menaced unconvincingly by Captain Juan (Aldo Sambrell), lesbian guard Gerda (Elena Wiedermann) and their clientele of wealthy farmers who pay to have sex with the women.

I realise that most viewers aren't watching this kind of film expecting absolute realism, but the film borders on the farcical at times, the most ridiculous scene seeing Janet and fellow American inmate Louise (Isabel Libossart) trapped in a cage under the mid-day sun, licking the sweat off each other's naked bodies to stay alive (never mind the fact that doing so would actually make them ill - it's sexy, so screw logic!). Luchetti also stretches plausibility during the 'human hunt' finalé, with Frank (who has made his way to the island) hiding guns in all of the traps on the island for the women to use against their pursuers. How did Frank know where the traps were? How did he get hold of the weapons? How did he find time to put them in the traps? Wouldn't he have been better off keeping a machine gun for himself and using the element of surprise on the prison guards?

Don't get me wrong... I didn't have a bad time with the film (it's certainly a lot better than the previous WIP film I watched: Savage Island 'featuring' Linda Blair), but I had hoped that the Playboy-style sexy stuff would be balanced by more deviant exploitational goodness - you know... like human experimentation, flesh-eating rats, electrodes applied to tender body-parts, and sex-crazed dwarfs.

A Pretty Standard WIP Film

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 27 October 2015]

"Janet Cooper" (Pilar Orive) is an American tourist who travels to a small South American village to get away from it all. While in a bar she meets a helicopter pilot named "Frank Nolan" (Christian Lorenz) and spends the night with him. Unfortunately, when she wakes up she is arrested by a corrupt policeman and whisked away to a prison in a remote part of the jungle. As it so happens this prison is filled with women who are routinely stripped and beaten until they agree to have sex with any man who can come up with the money. Janet, on the other hand, refuses to cooperate and as a result she earns the enmity of the head female guard named "Gerda" (Elena Wiedermann) and the so-called warden "Captain Juan" (Aldo Sambrell). Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a pretty standard Women-in-Prison (WIP) movie for the most part. It featured a couple of attractive actresses who played their parts well enough but the dialogue was weak and some of the scenes seemed to drag on much too long which caused the movie to be rather boring at times. Having said that I would have to rate it as just slightly below average.

The best WIP film on the market

[correspondence-2 · 10/10 · 14 February 2007]

Yes- this IS the best WIP film ever made. I know that Jess Franco did some hotties, but this take the genre Oscar for its combination of sensuality, brutality and downright steaminess.

The UK censors murdered this film on certification, and many of us pondered long and hard what was behind the voids and sharp edits that their pointless activities had generated. It was released under the title "Caged Women", but is also known as "Caged - Le Prede Umane" and "QHS" (Quartier Haute Sécurité- French DVD title). It is the French title you need if you want to see this film in all its 90m uncut glory.

Pilar Orive, a former Miss Spanish Basque Country, is utterly magnificent as the abused heroine. She is both Amazonian and completely transfixing, and it stirred my teenage heart (and other bits) when released in 1992. That she and many of the cast are stark naked throughout the film is a plus rather than any sort of negative.

Its works for me- and I promise will work for you.....

Modern WIP exploiter

[SMK-4 · 8/10 · 14 April 1999]

Here we have a prime example of a women-in-prison film. None of the standard ingredients is missing: shower scenes, the lesbian prison guard, sexual abuse of the prisoners, unlawful imprisonment, staff murdering inmates, etc. We even have a good guy and a happy ending.

However, this film is way over the top, increasing the sleaze factor enormously, and having not the slightest inclination to tell a believable story. For example, both the sexual abuse and the unlawful killings are organised: the women are first auctioned to the highest bidder, then let loose in the jungle, then hunted down, then raped, and then killed. Come to think of it, this is actually one of the more believable elements of this prison system.

Although superficially the film is much more exploitative (more sex and more violence) than even the usual genre entries by the likes of Cirio H. Santiago, Jack Hill, or Jess Franco, the viewer is always aware that none of this is serious and that turns it around, it makes it less nasty. Do not get me wrong: this is not a comedy, and it does not have any unintentional laughs either; but it is noticeably tongue-in-cheek.

Released in North America on NTSC VHS videotape......No DVD Release....

[availablefilms · 10/10 · 9 January 2009]

This film was released on NTSC VHS videotape in North America by Videoville Showtime Film Distribution in 1993 with the title ....Q.H.S....(QUARTIER HAUTE SECURITE POUR FEMMES) .....It had a small distribution in Quebec and the French speaking areas of Eastern Canada and the northeastern USA....There is no DVD version......It was released in French Language with no English Subtitles.....It is no longer In Print and is rarely seen in French Canadian video stores.....the Ex-Rentals are generally poor quality and and the original tape has often been replaced.....Best to find one with Good Picture Quality........It was released with a French language jacket with a photograph of a beautiful woman tied to a big X......Directed by Leandro Lucchetti and stars Pilar Orive, Isabel Lissobart, Elena Wiedermann....the run time of the North American release is 1 hour 30 minutes.....Extensive Female Nudity and Bizarre Sexual Situations........Caged Women - Le Prede Umane.......A prime example of a European "beautiful women-in-prison" film. This one is one of the best....A Good Italian Cult women-in-prison film...............Similar to the usual genre entries by the likes of Cirio H. Santiago, Jack Hill, or Jess Franco, the viewer is always aware that none of this is too serious ......Very beautiful women....well photographed....

LET ME SEE THE MERCHANDISE

[nogodnomasters · 10/10 · 16 April 2019]

This is part of 10 films restored (some better than others) by Full Moon as part of their grindhouse series. This film was from 1991, so it really didn't need much in restoration. The opening credits could have been better, other than that, the film and sound quality were good.

This was your classic prison girl film on steroids. The plots are all the same, and no one watches the film for the plot. The PLOT SPOILER highlights of this film were:

1) Girls are initially stripped one by one. All the scenes generally include full frontal nudity. 2) The naked women are cleaned with a fire hose. 3) Girls are photographed naked and given revealing smocks/ hospital gowns to wear 4) There is the prison guard Girl/girl forced with Bondage 5) Sold to clients with Rape of the virgin 6) two girls survive by licking the sweat off of each other- Just too hot for words 7) Catfight with clothes being removed 8) Women hunted like animals 9) Revenge on female guard who is stripped and tied to wooden "X"

One of the problems I have had with this entire Grindhouse series is that they went cheap on the DVD cases. The center holder allows the disc to come loose during shipping. My recommendation is buy a "like new" used one and request the seller to tape over the center to hold it in place during shipping. This is an Italian film, dubbed. Its original US title was "Caged Women in Purgatory."

Perfectly sleazy babes-behind-bars exploitation fare

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 20 September 2013]

Beautiful young American tourist Janet Cooper (incredibly buxom, shapely, and drop-dead gorgeous brunette knockout Pilar Orive) goes on vacation to a remote South American country. After being arrested by a corrupt cop and subsequently found guilty of a trumped-up charge involving possession of narcotics, Janet finds herself incarcerated at an isolated castle that serves as a hellish women's penitentiary. The brutal staff at said prison not only treat the inmates as their own sexual playthings, but also force the ladies into prostitution and even allow decadent rich folks to hunt them down in the wild like animals. Writer/director Leandro Lucchetti covers all the satisfyingly seamy chicks-in-chains grindhouse cinema bases: Abundant tasty gratuitous female nudity, sweaty'n'steamy soft-core sex scenes, a cheesy bar fight, lesbianism, fierce catfights, nude gals being drenched with a fire hose, a gloriously lurid sequence in which two dehydrated women lick the perspiration off of each other's bodies, and a raw'n'scuzzy tone that ensures things remain appropriately sordid and slimy throughout. Best of all, the delectable Mrs. Orive ain't the least bit bashful about baring her deliciously ripe body and spends at least 90% of her screen time in the buff. Veteran character actor Aldo Sambrell has a ball as the evil, leering, and sadistic Captain Juan. Elena Wiedermann likewise impresses with her twisted portrayal of depraved guard Gerda. Lanfranco Perini's funky-throbbing score does the groovy trick. Renato Doria's plain cinematography gives the picture a suitably rough and grainy look. A choice chunk of tawdry trash.

Top WIP flick

[harry-tresoor · 9/10 · 18 November 2023]

I agree with Correpondence-2. This is a late (maybe the last) but a great WIP flick from Italian director Leandro Lucchetti. IMO the best ever. Among all the Italian nazi sleaze and sick flicks of the 70's and 80's this near-porn 90's movie stands out. It is has some class and decent production standards.

The movie has the Count Zaroff theme that started in 1932 with "The Most Dangerous Game". The sadist lesbian guards are a must-have. Also the shower and strip scenes are there.

The millionaire hunters are flown in by helicopter for the party in the swamps of an unnamed island. Nude women are set loose as prey for the guys and the party begins.

Two nude prey women in a cage, waiting in distress for the hunt and having an erotic lesbian engagement. Totally hilarious.

This is 1992 and an echo of the 70's and 80' sick flicks. No shame at all about sexism or wokism. Enjoy while you can.

I couldn't google my raunchy movie poster, so I had to pluck it from my own copy of the movie. I'm almost sure it will be refused because there are female nippels. Sooo American :-)