Caged Heat - Das Zuchthaus der verlorenen Mädchen

We have a bunch of chicks that looks pretty good and they have balls too. They are not some amazing actresses but they are OK: Juanita Brown, from "Foxy Brown"(1974), directed by Jack Hill, Erica Gavin, from "Vixen!"(1968) and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"(1970), both directed by Russ Meyer, Roberta Collins, from "The Big Doll House"(1971), directed by Jack Hill, "Women in Cages"(1971), "Death Race 2000"(1975), Ella Reid and Cheryl Smith are "the good girls". Barbara Steele is the "bad girl", the crazy Supt. McQueen, the prison boss. And Warren Miller is the "bad boy", the crazy Dr. Randolph, the prison doctor. They are all doing their best in this debut of Mr. Jonathan Demme, it's not so bad like somebody wrote right here, watch it, without high hopes, and judge for yourself! At least, you'll see some naked women...

Unbelievable that a director like Jonathan Demme, responsible for clean and sober Hollywood stuff à la "Silence of the Lambs" or "Philadelphia", started his career in the sleazy world of the B-movies..! But next to his colleagues Brian de Palma and Martin Scorcese producer legend Roger Corman gave him the right kickstart! The film itself has all ingredients a good B-movie´s got to have, because "Caged Heat" is dirty, suspense-packed and happily far beyond the political correctness of Demme´s later films! Nudity, soft sex, violence... there´s nothing left out a decent exploitation movie should contain! Two appearances are absolutely shiny: the one comes from Erica Gavin, the unforgotten boob queen in Russ Meyer´s hilarious sleaze classic "Supervixen"! However, the even greater performance is given by the grand dame of horrors, Barbara Steele! Her part as a paralysed and prudish prison director is the main attraction in this rough WIP-flick! Director Jonathan Demme should have made more films like "Caged Heat"! Unfortunately Oscars became more important to him than honest movies...

There's lots of naked showering in this movie about women in prison. It's all young woman, ranging in age from 19 to 30, except for elderly, wheelchair-bound Barbara Steele (who's 37) as the warden, who wears glasses. There's also Warren Miller as the doctor who likes to experiment with his unconscious subjects and take pictures.

It's Jonathan Demme's first movie as director, and it's exploitation all the way, baby. It's never clear for most of the movie why they're in prison; it's thirty minutes in before one of the inmates talks about how she wound up in the joint, and like every convict, it's a bad rap. Yet when they get a chance to escape, they all seem competent with stealing cars, handling weapons and so forth.

It may be hard to reconcile the director of films like SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA and PHILADELPHIA with trash like this. Yet that was the entree to directing in that period. Earlier, fledgling directors might come out of the vast landscape of B westerns or short comedies. In the 1950s, directors started out in television and moved to the big screen. In the 1960s and 1970s, they worked for AIP and Roger Corman. Yet despite some prestige pictures in the 1990s, Demme returned to trash, with remakes of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and weird stuff like RICKI AND THE FLASH, like John Ford returning to westerns. Some people never forget where they come from.

Jonathan Demme's feature length first unit directorial debut was this women in prison favourite, done for his boss in the 1970s, Roger Corman. It stars Erica Gavin as Jacqueline Wilson, a young woman nabbed by the police during a drug bust. While serving time, she meets a variety of convicts, among them the ultra tough Maggie (Juanita Brown), the equally feisty Belle (Roberta Collins), and the more low key Lavelle (Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith). When two of the ladies perform a risqué routine in order to entertain the others, the superintendent (Barbara Steele) decides to come down hard on her charges.

Once one stops to think about it, they do realize that there is more going on than in the standard issue type of W.I.P. feature. It *is* exploitative, of course; Demme does realize what's required of him. Still, he waits until about 24 minutes into the movie before he even begins showing off the birthday suits on the babes. There are shower scenes, and cat fights, and generally agreeable mayhem. There's also a decent subtext about the degrees to which males exploit females, and take advantage of them, and what can happen when enough females band together to take preventative steps. One can hardly fail to notice the depravity of a central male character, the nefarious prison doctor Randolph (Warren Miller), who has a taste for electro shock therapy and for taking nude photos of his patients at their most vulnerable.

The script by Demme is also laced with humour at appropriate moments. The characters maintain a good amount of rooting interest, with exploitation veterans like Brown and Collins offering standout performances. However, the most intriguing person here is Superintendent McQueen, played as being very repressed by Ms. Steele. In the real world, McQueen is confined to a wheelchair, and has one very erotic dream sequence.

Fans of the 1970s B movie will recognize a number of the supporting and bit players: Crystin Sinclaire, Carmen Argenziano, John Aprea, Patrick Wright, Gary Littlejohn. Pay close attention to catch Demme's regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto as a sex emporium customer.

"Caged Heat" is sexy and violent, paced reasonably well, and delivers some excitement in its climactic prison breakout sequence.

Seven out of 10.

Director Jonathan Demme's CAGED HEAT is a great example of the Women In Prison movie. All of the prerequisites are here:

#1- Women in snazzy street clothes behind bars!

#2- Multiple, full-on shower scenes!

#3- Cat fights!

#4- Thuggish / hillbilly guards!

#5- A sadistic, insane female Warden (played by the one and only Barbara Steele)!

#6- Gun fights!

#7- Hard core inmates!

#8- Breakouts!

#9- Torture!

Yes, this is a masterwork of its subgenre, and one of the gems in Producer Roger Corman's crown. Erica Gavin plays the woman who gets caught at the beginning, winding up in the pen. It's rough going, especially when she crosses paths with the tough-talking, no-nonsense Maggie (Juanita Brown). Ms. Steele's character isn't in it as much as you might think, but she makes the best of her crackpot role. Also, watch for Rainbeaux Smith as the very lovely Lavelle.

Highly recommended for the true WIP connoisseur...