Andreas Bethmann is the man behind the X Rated Kult label and is the man who now and then brings out a movie containing gore done by Olaf Ittenbach and hard core sex. This is also one of them. The movie is available in different versions. The German Kino version and the version delivered outside Germany. Both clocks in at 116 minutes and not the 106 stated here by IMDb. The movie for me was the same as his other flick Angel Of Death. Girls being prisoned in their nudity, wardens torturing them by blow jobs, some kind of escape and then the gore comes in by torturing one of the girls. Literally the same, just some other girls. The acting is below zero but the girls have other things to shown. It's pussy from shot one until the end credits. Now and then you will have some blowing and some lesbian licking. The difference between the available versions is just that the hard core version uses dildo's and other stuff. The girls themselves aren't that ugly as in some other low budgets but the weirdest part is that the sound is in German but added afterwards while editing. Sometimes you see someone shutting his mouth but you here him talking, strange because they have added English subs on it. It's a bit of an ode to the prison flicks of Jess Franco and of course to the Ilsa flicks. It takes a while of cum and blow before the gore comes in but when it comes in the red stuff flows in excess. Once the girls are trying to escape heads will be shot, knife goes in the flesh, nipples are ripped of, surely not for the squeamish. You see the tortured girl peeing, zoomed in on her vagina, before all that once the lesbian warden goes berserk she put all of her fingers into a girls vagina and moves her fingers until it bleeds, all in camera. So it's a bit for everybody, if you are into hard core.
4 Reviews
Franco style filth from Andreas Bethmann.
BA_Harrison18 December 2014
To date, this is the only the second film I have seen by German director Andreas Bethmann, but that is enough to tell me that the guy has a major fixation on the trashy cinema of Jess Franco: K3 Prison of Hell is highly reminiscent of the prolific Spaniard's women-in-prison movies (Women in Cellblock 9, Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, Barbed Wire Dolls, to mention just a few) being not only similar in content, but also in style ie., sleazy, violent, and extremely dull to watch. In fact, it's quite possible that, despite being more explicit, K3 is even less entertaining than the bulk of Franco's filth.
This is due to the fact that there is virtually no plot to speak of, and the action is extremely repetitive, with the majority of screen time devoted to close up crotch shots, and incredibly tedious and un-erotic sex scenes between a motley selection of German skanks and ugly men (prior to watching, I was unaware of the high adult content, although I soon guessed when I saw the names of some of the performers in the opening credits: Suzi-Anne, Candy-Sue, Dirk and Arnie).
Whilst the endless beaver shots might prove to be of some value to amateur gynaecologists, explicit German smut really isn't my thing; I stayed the distance thanks to the involvement of Olaf Ittenbach, Germany's finest purveyor of quality splatter, whose name guaranteed that, somewhere in this endless mess of nudity and rough sex, there was going to be some outstanding gore. Sure enough, only minutes from the end, the film finally delivers what I had been waiting for: bones are smashed, intestines are munched, and the blood flows in rivers in an outrageously violent scene involving an unlucky lass and a drooling, bald psycho named Pete-Scissor-Hands. Unfortunately, it's a real chore to get to the good stuff, and it doesn't last for long.
Ittenbach's realistic and disturbing contribution to K3 deserves a rating of 8/10, but Bethmann's lifeless hardcore and dreadful direction means that the film as a whole really doesn't deserve any more than a 3.
This is due to the fact that there is virtually no plot to speak of, and the action is extremely repetitive, with the majority of screen time devoted to close up crotch shots, and incredibly tedious and un-erotic sex scenes between a motley selection of German skanks and ugly men (prior to watching, I was unaware of the high adult content, although I soon guessed when I saw the names of some of the performers in the opening credits: Suzi-Anne, Candy-Sue, Dirk and Arnie).
Whilst the endless beaver shots might prove to be of some value to amateur gynaecologists, explicit German smut really isn't my thing; I stayed the distance thanks to the involvement of Olaf Ittenbach, Germany's finest purveyor of quality splatter, whose name guaranteed that, somewhere in this endless mess of nudity and rough sex, there was going to be some outstanding gore. Sure enough, only minutes from the end, the film finally delivers what I had been waiting for: bones are smashed, intestines are munched, and the blood flows in rivers in an outrageously violent scene involving an unlucky lass and a drooling, bald psycho named Pete-Scissor-Hands. Unfortunately, it's a real chore to get to the good stuff, and it doesn't last for long.
Ittenbach's realistic and disturbing contribution to K3 deserves a rating of 8/10, but Bethmann's lifeless hardcore and dreadful direction means that the film as a whole really doesn't deserve any more than a 3.
Absolute drudgery to watch
AnusPresley22 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
First up, I am 99% sure that the external prison shots are of the same prison/fortress as in Jess Franco's _Barbed Wire Dolls_. In fact, I would not be even slightly surprised if much of the outdoor scenery shots were simply lifted out of that film and reprocessed for cleaner picture. I also suspect this is meant as a homage to BWD - the whole set up is almost a carbon copy.
The good news ends there. Whilst Franco has his own brand of sleaze that no one else can really come close to and is entertaining in its own right, Bethmann's effort is nothing of the sort. It is a chore to try and wade through to reach the pay off - and that is entirely the contribution from Olaf Ittenbach, no kudos to Bethmann for that at all.
The copy I got is the 106 minute version - I have no interest whatsoever in obtaining any extended cuts because, judging from whats in here, the chances of any added value are going to be nil. In fact, if you do score a copy of this flick, you can save yourself an hour of your life for something more useful and simply fast forward to the 85 minute mark where the only real content of interest (unless you like cheaply made and banal vanilla porn) begins.
There is no story or characters to speak of at all. There is no real direction beyond pointing the camera and the players just seem to be ad libbing from rough guidelines scribbled on a napkin. The first 85 minutes consist of little more than unimaginative vanilla XXX captured in a paint-by-numbers unimaginative way, interspersed with occasional lame and unconvincing S&M plays. I don't think I have ever seen less convincing whipping in any film as an example.
But the last 20 minutes do offer some meat for the grinder - and that is thanks to Ittenbach, and I really wonder why he is wasting his talents here. This brief pay off however is only really of interest to the more jaded of gore-hounds out there that like to keep up with what the genre is offering. If that's not your thing, then don't even bother with this thing at all. It is an embarrassment to have in your collection.
One bonus point to note - the finale has one of the best head-blown- clean-off scenes in recent memory. Wonderfully executed. Viewed frame by frame the trickery is seen to be cheap and nasty. But in real time, it looks absolutely brilliant.
But other than that, this is just plain crap. Bethmann does not exhibit any kind of cinematic talent, nor offer any hope that he ever will. This is all just some juvenile fantasy he seems to be playing out for himself and no more. Save yourself some time and get some real Ittenbach or Japanese gutter filth instead. This is a waste of time.
Rating 0/10 - raised to 2/10 for Ittenbachs contribution.
The good news ends there. Whilst Franco has his own brand of sleaze that no one else can really come close to and is entertaining in its own right, Bethmann's effort is nothing of the sort. It is a chore to try and wade through to reach the pay off - and that is entirely the contribution from Olaf Ittenbach, no kudos to Bethmann for that at all.
The copy I got is the 106 minute version - I have no interest whatsoever in obtaining any extended cuts because, judging from whats in here, the chances of any added value are going to be nil. In fact, if you do score a copy of this flick, you can save yourself an hour of your life for something more useful and simply fast forward to the 85 minute mark where the only real content of interest (unless you like cheaply made and banal vanilla porn) begins.
There is no story or characters to speak of at all. There is no real direction beyond pointing the camera and the players just seem to be ad libbing from rough guidelines scribbled on a napkin. The first 85 minutes consist of little more than unimaginative vanilla XXX captured in a paint-by-numbers unimaginative way, interspersed with occasional lame and unconvincing S&M plays. I don't think I have ever seen less convincing whipping in any film as an example.
But the last 20 minutes do offer some meat for the grinder - and that is thanks to Ittenbach, and I really wonder why he is wasting his talents here. This brief pay off however is only really of interest to the more jaded of gore-hounds out there that like to keep up with what the genre is offering. If that's not your thing, then don't even bother with this thing at all. It is an embarrassment to have in your collection.
One bonus point to note - the finale has one of the best head-blown- clean-off scenes in recent memory. Wonderfully executed. Viewed frame by frame the trickery is seen to be cheap and nasty. But in real time, it looks absolutely brilliant.
But other than that, this is just plain crap. Bethmann does not exhibit any kind of cinematic talent, nor offer any hope that he ever will. This is all just some juvenile fantasy he seems to be playing out for himself and no more. Save yourself some time and get some real Ittenbach or Japanese gutter filth instead. This is a waste of time.
Rating 0/10 - raised to 2/10 for Ittenbachs contribution.
Badly executed in its entirety
Horst_In_Translation24 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Prison of Hell: K3" is a German adult movie from 2009, sot his one has its 10th anniversary this year. Happy birthday? Or more like unhappy birthday overall as it probably would have been better for everybody had this never been made. It was written and directed by Andreas Bethmann, one of his more recent efforts, and runs for 105 minutes approximately. Bethmann himself also acts in here and if you know a bit about his films in the past, then you also won't be too surprised to see Thomas Kercmar on board as well. These are the two most known names we have here. If you take a look at the cast list, you will find more pseudonyms and aliases than real names and most of these (female actresses) have probably seen more experience in adult films than anything else. The movie we got here starts with a scientist who is on the run from a prison where seemingly all the female inmates get humiliated. Okay. This approach is one that throws us directly into the movie, one where we see a scene from much later in the film early on and later again when we find out how it came to said scene, actually almost at the ending already. But this is where the problems already start in terms of plot and story-telling (or lack thereof). What does she tell us right away? She knows one or several women are humiliated here, so what did she do? She fled from prison to help these poor souls. Okay. I mean sure why not, it's not that anybody would care she is gone right? Or do something against it. Later we at least find out she disguised herself in a prison employee's uniform to get out. I mean sure why not, it's not as if anybody would have minded as long as she wears that uniform right? So now you already know that storytelling is definitely not this film's strongest factor. If there is any strong factor here at all. You could say all the film is about is depicting sex scenes, sometimes oral, sometimes more, and you wouldn't be wrong. And when the inmates here are not humiliated for once and sexually abused by the guards or the sadistic lesbian warden, then they have nothing better to do than masturbate or just have sex with each other. I am sure that is close to reality.
The really anti-woman thing here isn't really the sex scenes. It is basically how all these female characters were written, especially the scientist I mentioned earlier and after what we find out about her, she is more like a lunatic or person with many disorders than really somebody who is a scientist. If that is supposed to be the definition of strong female character writing in Bethmann's universe, then that is a sad state of affairs. By the way said island seems to be rather small and same applies to the prison I guess as we constantly see the same people regardless of if we are talking about inmates or guards. It is also of course a very violent movie. Unless you're hardened up, stay away. The toughest scenes to see may be thos when we see a rotten corpse filled with maggots out there, of course this had to be included twice, a woman being shot off her entire head, several counts of rape, how one woman gets basically cut into pieces violently by a sadistic bald retarded butcher and so on. So a lot of blood in here for sure. But also there, it is not a realistic film. I mean when that woman near the end gets a knife through her forehead, a little bandage and she is basically fine again despite the heavy bloodshed until the scene I just mentioned continues. Now is there anything positive to say about the film? Maybe that on 2 or 3 occasions, there is some guilty pleasure potential. Like when we have one character randomly remove her upper clothes while talking about some devastating cries of pain and humiliation she hears from the room next door. Or the bald retarded butcher I mentioned already. Or how bad everything is really here and how very well aware they are, even if they do sound like having the intention to make a better film than this turned out to be. Also on a slightly positive note, the actresses here are more attractive than they usually are in films like this. Well, I don't know if you can really call them actresses as they are truly bad needs to be stated. Not that the men are any better. All in all, it is a disastrously weak outcome and I give it a big thumbs-down. The scenes outside are also not beautiful in terms of cinematography or so. It is a failure from start to finish and also way too long for its own good. Highly not recommended. Bethmann has not made a new film for a couple years now and looking at the horrendous quality here, one can only hope it stays that way. The fact that his work we have here is not going for forced happy ending and plot twists and a powerful female winner at the end (well there is one, but not the one you may expect or cheer for) is only keeping the film from being 100% garbage and even more unrealistic, but 98-99% isn't a good number either. Really don't watch.
The really anti-woman thing here isn't really the sex scenes. It is basically how all these female characters were written, especially the scientist I mentioned earlier and after what we find out about her, she is more like a lunatic or person with many disorders than really somebody who is a scientist. If that is supposed to be the definition of strong female character writing in Bethmann's universe, then that is a sad state of affairs. By the way said island seems to be rather small and same applies to the prison I guess as we constantly see the same people regardless of if we are talking about inmates or guards. It is also of course a very violent movie. Unless you're hardened up, stay away. The toughest scenes to see may be thos when we see a rotten corpse filled with maggots out there, of course this had to be included twice, a woman being shot off her entire head, several counts of rape, how one woman gets basically cut into pieces violently by a sadistic bald retarded butcher and so on. So a lot of blood in here for sure. But also there, it is not a realistic film. I mean when that woman near the end gets a knife through her forehead, a little bandage and she is basically fine again despite the heavy bloodshed until the scene I just mentioned continues. Now is there anything positive to say about the film? Maybe that on 2 or 3 occasions, there is some guilty pleasure potential. Like when we have one character randomly remove her upper clothes while talking about some devastating cries of pain and humiliation she hears from the room next door. Or the bald retarded butcher I mentioned already. Or how bad everything is really here and how very well aware they are, even if they do sound like having the intention to make a better film than this turned out to be. Also on a slightly positive note, the actresses here are more attractive than they usually are in films like this. Well, I don't know if you can really call them actresses as they are truly bad needs to be stated. Not that the men are any better. All in all, it is a disastrously weak outcome and I give it a big thumbs-down. The scenes outside are also not beautiful in terms of cinematography or so. It is a failure from start to finish and also way too long for its own good. Highly not recommended. Bethmann has not made a new film for a couple years now and looking at the horrendous quality here, one can only hope it stays that way. The fact that his work we have here is not going for forced happy ending and plot twists and a powerful female winner at the end (well there is one, but not the one you may expect or cheer for) is only keeping the film from being 100% garbage and even more unrealistic, but 98-99% isn't a good number either. Really don't watch.
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