Frauen für Zellenblock 9

A group of women led by Karine Levere is caught by the warden of a women's prison,located somewhere in the South American jungle.None of them will reveal the secrets of their organization or the names of their collaborators in the cities,so they are handed over to Dr.Costa who,after four years inactivity in Europe,is delighted to be able to practice his torture techniques once more.Laverne fails to resist the inhuman treatments and reveals all.The only hope of saving the organization is for the girls to warn the city cell before it's too late.They trick the prison guard into having sex with them,knock him out and break out of prison.The warden and Dr.Costa must prevent them from revealing the practices inside the prison,so the hunt begins."Women In Cellblock 9" is an enjoyable exploitation film made by Jesus Franco.The script is terrible,but it serves as a pretext for showing lots of full-frontal nudity,sexuality and some rather nasty torture sequences.The film was produced by Erwin C.Dietrich,but it's not as memorable as "Barbed Wire Dolls".Franco regular Howard Vernon is perfect as a sadistic Dr.Costa and Susan Hemingway is a stunning beauty.So if you are ready for some fun sleazy thrills give this film a look.8 out of 10.

I saw this a few years ago when I was living in Europe (it's currently unavailable in the US except as a bootleg or an import). It is a completely stereotypical and unremarkable Franco WIP film of the era. Four implausibly sexy "revolutionaries" in an unnamed South American country are captured and thrown into an isolated jungle prison (after they try to drive their caravan right by the prison). They are stripped naked, chained by their necks to the ceiling in the titular "Cellblock 9" and forced to stand hours on end. The "Ilsa"-like female and her bent doctor cohort (long-time Franco regular Howard Vernon) take great delight in trying to torture information out of them. Some of the tortures (like the "Spanish horse) are exceedingly unpleasant but also surprisingly non-graphic, and this movie doesn't quite approach the nastiness of Franco's earlier "Barb-Wire Dolls" and "Ilsa, the Wicked Warden". It also doesn't have the plot of the later "Women Behind Bars" (or feature the genuinely talented Lina Romay). The girls eventually bust out, run into the woods (still completely naked mind you) where the movie ends EXACTLY the way all these Franco WIP films do. Furthermore, despite the four girls having very nice bodies and being almost perpetually naked, the only time this movie approaches any real eroticism is when the heroines stage a four-way lesbian orgy (that goes on for some minutes) in order to trick a horny, dimwitted male guard into unchaining them. This movie is completely unremarkable in any way, EXCEPT. . .

The BBFC (British Board of Film Censors) recently banned this movie after they somehow discovered that one of the incredibly obscure actresses was underage (I'll let you figure out which one--she looks maybe 17 and a half at the youngest). I do NOT want to try to defend Franco on this particular count, but this is a perfect example of where what no one knew would not have hurt anybody. Now though thanks to the "vigilance" of the BBFC (you're about thirty years late, guys) this movie, widely available from continental Europe through importers and bootleggers, will become another "holy grail" for the perverts who obsess about this kind of thing. Worse for me though is the hypocrisy. The BBFC did not cut the gratuitous nudity of much more obviously underage girls out of the more recent and much more respectable movies like "American Beauty" and "The Hole", even while the girls in question (Thora Birch and Keira Knightly, respectively) were STILL underage. If you are not going to protect actual underage actors from exploitation, it is downright silly to try to "protect society" from us Franco fans who might unwittingly see a naked seventeen year old and presumably go on some kind of sex-crazed rampage. This movie sucks frankly, but not nearly as much as brain-dead censorship and the BBFC.

Four hot chicks are sent off to a hellhole prison in either South or Central America and then spend most of their time butt nekkid, because it's a Jesus Franco film and chicks are contractually obliged to spend much of their screen time butt nekkid in Jesus Franco films, just like chicks are contractually obliged to have something unutterably horrible happen to them in Lucio Fulci films. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the chicks in Cellblock 9 only (very) briefly keep their clothes on for like the opening scene.

Anyhoo, this one's pretty nasty even by Senhor Franco's standards, and is chock full of misogyny, with some rather squirm inducing torture sequences to go with the bewbs and Franco's trademark lingering crotch shots.

One of the chicks in Cellblock 9, Susan Hemmingway, (At least I think it's her-she certainly looks young enough) was under 18 at the time of filming, which means it will never ever ever be accepted by the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) as she spends most of her screen time butt nekkid and chained, as well as getting down with three other chained and butt nekkid chicks. She also starred in Franco's Love Letters Of A Portuguese Nun, which I haven't seen, but am willing to bet isn't a dignified portrayal of a humble life of pious servitude in a convent. Cellblock 9 is also surprisingly down beat and grim, which puts it firmly in the category of totally and completely vile irredeemable filth which should not be viewed by anyone at all whatsoever, particularly chicks just released from prison. Best line: After thwarting an escape attempt by hawt chicks via fruit truck, a guard leers "THIS is the type of fruit my men like!" Awesome.

7/10, delivers in what it sets out to do in spades, and fans of dirty nasty no-value-at-all-whatsoever Eurosleaze exploitation should check out this grimy little doozy. Senhor Franco, you are a true cinematic Trashmeister, and I salute you good sir.

Released almost at the end of the infamous collaboration between Jess Franco and Erwin C. Dietrech, Women in Cellblock 9 is a entertainment women in prison flick starring the gorgeous Karine Gambier, the innocent looking young actress Susan Hemingway and the great Howard Vernon.

The movie follows a group of women lead by Karine Gambier, who are captured and send to a tropical prison. In there, a female warden and the sadistic Dr. Costas (Vernon) force the girls into revealing the secrets of the organization they belong. But the women won't talk, so they torture them in various ways. After the ladies can't take it anymore, the try to escape the prison, starting a battle to survive.

While no as sleazy as Barbed Wire Dolls (1975), the movie features some good torture sequences and a lot of female nudity, to satisfy all exploitation fans. Definitely worth a look. 7/10

The reputation of explo-surrealist Jess Franco's penchant for sadism and cruelty largely rests on the four Women In Prison films he made almost back to back in the late '70s. Far from the 'intellectual' flaunting of 'Succubus' or the dream-like aura of 'Vampyros Lesbos', Franco's works like 'Ilsa: Absolute Power', 'Barbed Wire Dolls', '99 Women' and this film, reveal his fascination with unabashed sadism and humiliation without distraction.

Granted a couple of other filmmakers have far surpassed this film in terms of hyper-shocking violence (Guinea Pig anyone?), but the latent nihilism and hatred of Franco's entire oeuvre comes out in spades in 'Cell Block 9'.

Granted, it's highly inartistic, very cheap and mainly a smörgåsbord of cruel scenarios depicting a woman's political prison in the jungle and the cruel warden who rules it with an iron fist. There is a message in the sense that you can feel Franco's outrage regarding prisoners of conscience, but there's no unifying statement here, political or otherwise.

For those who like Franco's skewed view of human sexuality but can do without the heady surrealism, this is a pretty good film to watch, especially if you're curious about what happens when the Master takes his gloves off and gets dirty. Also, for you hardcore Franco fans, if you thought 99 Women and Barbed-Wire Dolls was a little 'soft', you'll be redeemed here. Recommended for Franco fans.