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"The Concrete Jungle" doesn't offer anything you haven't seen before, but it's still an absorbing, fairly well-made & acted little Women-In-Prison drama. What the fans of this sub-genre need to know is that the filmmakers have taken a mostly serious-minded approach here, at least until the last 10 minutes when a massive fight that breaks out in the prison yard turns into a mudbath! Most of the time, though, the film simply chronicles, in a straightforward manner, the daily struggle for survival of a 100% innocent woman who tries to adapt to the harsh prison life. Tracey Bregman's sweet, innocent-looking face is perfect for the part, and she is surrounded by actresses who mostly manage, in a short amount of time, to build their own characters. The standout for me was June Barret as the bad girl Icy, who is both strong and insecure. (**)

I liked the film Concrete Jungle it reminded me of the Australian TV series shown here in the UK Prisoner Cell Block H. Concrete Jungle had a good storyline, perhaps too much swearing in it, but in this day and age this is nothing to crow about. The swearing in the film would not stop me from watching it again and again The acting was very good from everyone in the film and I was routed to the spot watching the film, I just had to see how the film ended and if everyone got their just deserts. I am a great admirer of the actor Peter Brown and it was great to see him in the part of Mr Bad Guy for a change, although I still prefer him in westerns and Mr Nice Guy.

The Concrete Jungle is the gold standard in movies about women in prison. Since then, a dozen of "late night, Cinema like" prison films with naked women trying to survive behind bars. For 1982, the Concrete Jungle made headlines for being the first of its kind. Today, it is far from being taken seriously. I felt bad for Camille Keaton rape scene. Not only was she not a leading actress in this film, nor did her character have any real importance to the story, her role was a quick flashback to her only famous role as the rape victim in the "classic" horror movie I Spit on Your Grave. I think it's time to call your acting career quits once you keep getting only rape roles.

The Concrete Jungle (1982)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Elizabeth (Tracey Bregman) is the sweetest and most innocent thing you'd ever want to meet but her sleazy, no-good boyfriend plants some drugs on her and when she enters the U.S. she is arrested for trafficing. The poor woman is sentenced to a prison ran by Warden Fletcher (Jill St. John) who has some illegal doings happening with Cat (BarBara Luna) who just happens to be the toughest and dirtiest woman there.

Tom DeSimone's THE CONCRETE JUNGLE is a rather interesting women-in-prison flick just like his HELL NIGHT is an interesting slasher. What's so interesting about both movies is the fact that both of them try to cash in on a certain genre yet they also want to do their own thing. With HELL NIGHT, it was released during the slasher craze but it was more a Gothic horror film without the brutal slashings. With THE CONCRETE JUNGLE, yes it's a women-in-prison flick but it doesn't go for a lot of the trappings that you might expect.

Those trappings include the lead female getting naked, a manditory shower scene or a bunch of rough lesbian scenes. There's minor stuff throughout the picture but it's clear that director DeSimone wanted to deliver something more that a sleaze feast and to his credit he's actually done that. THE CONCRETE JUNGLE is a pretty entertaining movie thanks to a nice cast and a pretty good story. The prison life story has been told countless times and the story here isn't ground-breaking but it's interesting enough to keep you glued to what you're watching.

Another plus are the performers who do a nice job with their characters. Bregman is wonderful in the lead role because you really do buy her as the character. St. John and Luna are great villains and both of them add a lot of entertainment. The sleaziest moment in the film happens when Camille Keaton from I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE gets raped by one of the guards. You've also got porn legend Carol Connors showing up in a brief role.

While THE CONCRETE JUNGLE isn't the most graphic or violent women-in-prison film you're going to see, it's at least entertaining for what it is and fans should enjoy it.

You think, cause it's a true story, this won't be like those other sexploitation women's prison flicks. You very well know, where the guards and staff are as corrupt as the ones doing time, where there's hardly a good soul in the house. This movie starts off, giving a false impression, as if it's to be different, of good quality, but soon, when our little patsy is convicted, and we hear those bar doors slam shut, we fall back into the same path of sleaze, this prison infested with bad eggs. But we already know this, judging by the cover, what have you. Not surprisingly a few stars from Chained Heat return in this. Young and Restless star, cutie pie, Bregman, a woman who's got class, is set up unknowingly, when bags of snort are found in her ski's. Now her real nightmare begins in the cold confines of those four walls, where we meet some more nasty pasties, and we've got to have a queen b..ch here, that replaces Danning. Her name here is Margo, but this one's really evil, and if you cross her, you pay. One drug dependant woman, threatening to blab on her, ends up a statistic, shot up from air in a needle, and we know what that means. We again have many similarities here, as compared to Heat, like lesbianism, evil female governors, horny corrupt guards, and an investigating and sympathetic warden, determined to get to the bottom of this corrupt filled prison, and no surprise, it's again played by Nita Talbot, her character very much like the one in Heat, but I think here, she's a more stronger force. Now the sexy Bregman is an idiot. Why must you ask? Cause she's protecting her scum boyfriend, (Peter Brown) who has the balls to come in and visit her, saying he was doing it for him and her, to build a new life. Bologne, the drugs we're stashed in her ski's. So for the whole movie, she keeps her mouth, until she can't no longer, in light of all the madness around her. Talbot makes a deal with, an exchange, and she then walks out those gates, a free woman, until she's a blip in the distance, played against a great 70's song. If a fan of these film's, you'll enjoy this as much as the others. Performance wise, everyone holds their own, Bregman, strong, proving she can carry a movie, while Jill St John excels with a real nasty piece of acting as a female governor, better than Stella Stevens in CH.