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99 Women
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A DECENT EFFORT TO A DEGREE
Review date: 2007-10-26 Rating: 6 out of 10
Taken prisoner, Marie, (Maria Rohm) is assigned to the women's Castillo de la Muerte Prison, overrun by the harsh warden, Thelma Diaz, (Mercedes McCambridge) and her troupe of lesbian guards. Immediately upon her arrival, Marie is stripped of her clothes and issued a ratty prison uniform and a number, and quickly learns that the prison is in a rather poor state, lorded over by Diaz who sells the girls to the corrupt Governor Santos, (Herbert Lom) who also heads the island's male prison. After being thrown in solitary confinement for helping a fellow inmate and raped by her cell-mate Zoe, (Rosalba Neri) the arrival of a new inspector, Leonie Carroll, (Maria Schell) is sent to oversee the prison. Tired of being held against her will, attempts to escape with some fellow inmates, but the surrounding locales make it a difficult one.
The News: This here is a really mediocre film, but there is a lot to like about it. One reason for this is the mystery behind the main character for, in having her tell her own story, it is impossible for us to tell whether or not she is guilty. Marie certainly makes herself out to be innocent, but we can never be completely sure, and, after all, why would she be convicted by a system that, for once, isn't being portrayed as particularly unjust. The screenplay is relatively simple and straightforward, and within its somewhat crude framework, it is imbued with a sense of drama and emotion. He especially revels in the sequences that depict the past crimes of the inmates. The visual aspects is at its best here. The film drifts with ease from very classy, classic professional cinematographic set-ups to "typically-Franco" scenes of delirious, poetic beauty, like soft-focus, over-zoomed sex scenes and the best is a hallucinogenic striptease before a high society crowd that plays in a large manner of moods, noticeably erotic, charged with class schisms and the toll of exploitation on all women that's reminiscent of Argento in its use of sumptuous colored lighting. There's also some really good scenes emerging that later form the basics of the entire genre. With the sadistic lesbian guard in charge events, the sleazy politicians in-cahoots with it all, the veteran that comes to like the innocent inmate, and the unfair punishment for a humane act, the conventions are here and well-established. In a rather shocking turn, the new inspector actually seems genuinely interested in the prisoners' treatment, making sure they are fed decently, treated humanely, and punished fairly. It's problems, though, come in the form of the X-Rated Version, which is about fifteen to twenty minutes longer and consists of hardcore footage that has been jammed in with almost no regard for continuity, logic and setting. There's just something bizarrely amusing about the fact that the porn shots have been so poorly inserted, as they are generally massively inappropriate for where they're being placed, and it seems like only the most passing attempt was made to get them to match the scene they're being stuck into. It's quite hilarious to see the new footage shot, as they quite alter the film drastically. The main flashback, which is supposed to be her being raped by four men, is replaced by some blonde girl and an old guy struggling in a dirt-patch. The earliest insert sets things off right away. It comes with a prisoner sleeping in their cell and cuts from her lying on the ground to a couple of women being together in what looks to be a suburban bedroom. Is this supposed to be a dream, a flashback, or is it just a really bad stand-in for the cell? A blonde woman has been thrown in, seemingly to stand in for the original performer, yet it's quite clear she isn't her, and no attempt is made to hide this fact. Best of all, the scene in which she spies on the redhead and her dead lover's friend's sexual counter now continues, with a couple of different women standing in and then a third escapee making love out in a forest. What makes this scene so fantastic is the fact that the two girls' prison uniforms are simulated by a couple of bath towels that mysteriously appear out of nowhere, with their ensemble being perfectly completed by matching fuzzy slippers. It also could've been a little sleazier, as it's quite tame and really not that exploitative, considering the theme and talent involved. The snake is quite laughable and doesn't even look right, coming off badly and making it's scenes a disappointment. Otherwise, this one wasn't that terrible.
The Final Verdict: If the hardcore footage would've been inserted into it with any attempt at coherence, this might've been knocked up a couple notches on the sleaze scale, but it's still a fun, watchable Women-in-Prison film that offers up enough elements of the genre to allow fans a chance to enjoy it.
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Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Mercedes McCambridge; Maria Schell; Luciana Paluzzi; Herbert Lom
Creators:
Mercedes McCambridge; Maria Schell; Luciana Paluzzi; Herbert Lom (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Redemption Films
Manufacturer: Redemption Films
EAN: 5060080531844
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2007-06-11
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Running time: 89 minutes
Language: English (Unknown)