Savage Sisters

I was warned that this would not be a typical women-in prison film. Cheri Caffaro may have tempted us with clothing that she was about to burst out of, but the key words are "about to." Even the shower scene with Caffaro and Rosanna Ortiz was a bust. Even Gloria Hendry in a bathtub was covered in soap. Even the matron (Rita Gomez), who jumps into bed with all the officers, hides herself well.

It's all about some crazy General, who has 10 stars and wears medals on his T shirt, who is after a million dollars the rebels stole. He enlists Capt. Morales (Eddie Garcia) with the promise of a star. Hendry takes Caffaro and Ortiz and they make a plan of their own with a shifty John Ashley, who plans to double-cross them.

Funny, but a big disappointment for WIP fans.

An exciting not totally serious film. Gloria Hendry is excellent as Lynn Jackson. She is a totally underrated actress and should have received the fame and acclaim of Pam Grier.

'Savage Sisters' is a valuable addition to the blaxploitation/women in prison genre, and is a must for all those into this stuff. It is actually, in my opinion, one of the better examples of the genre.

I saw it when it came out in 1974. It was then available on VHS for a while.

However, as far as I know, it is NOT available on DVD, although there is a boxed set with the same title it doesn't include the movie!

The boxed set of DVDs available entitled 'Savage Sisters'consists of blaxploitation/women in prison movies but DOESN'T include the movie 'Savage Sisters'! Very strange.

I caught this little biscuit over winter break from school. I've been a huge fan of 70's exploitation fare, and decided that my film diet needed a good injection of cheese, so I sat down to watch it. The plot is pretty basic, three very different women (an Asian revolutionary, a black bad-ass, and a rich white girl) team up to track down a desperado (an over the top performance by Sid Haig) who has one million dollars stolen from a corrupt third world dictatorship. The Asian girl and white girl are involved in a revolution (for very different reasons) and the black girl was a torture expert used by the government, but she switched sides to get the cash. Along the way, they meet up with a scumbag wheeler-dealer (John Ashley) who wants the cash for himself and are chased by an incompetent army captain trying to make a name for himself.

The plot is pretty standard cookie cutter exploitation fare, and it obviously was made on a budget, but it isn't without its charm. The jokes that they pull off, although extremely campy, actually are kind of amusing. The girls give solid performances and John Ashley seems to be having a good time playing the used car salesman type, but the real winner here is Sid Haig. I wouldn't say Sid is the only thing this picture has going for it, but he's obviously enjoying his role and gives a fantastic performance.

Recommended for anyone who likes the women in prison genre (even though there is no nudity in this one).

Savage Sisters (1974) is a movie I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline focuses on some females that form a plan with a local bandit to steal $1 million US dollars. They need to team-up to execute the heist but can they trust their bandit friends and his group of outlaws? This movie is directed by Eddie Romero (The Passionate Strangers) and stars Sid Haig (House of 1,000 Corpses), Gloria Hendry (Black Belt Jones), Cheri Caffaro (Girls are for Loving), John Ashley (The A-Team) and Rosanna Ortiz. How can you not love this movie? The script is absolutely awesome. The dialogue keeps you cracking up from beginning to end. You also have to love the old school gun shooting and bodies hitting the ground noises. There's also great torture, shower, sex, shootout and fight scenes. And how can you not enjoy the slang from this era - jive turkey, cabbage and pork chop. Lol The soundtrack is also awesome. While this isn't an epic masterpiece, it is non-stop entertainment that I'd easily score a solid 7/10 and strongly recommend.

'Savage Sisters' comes from the same period as the Jack Hill led Filipino "chicks in chains" flicks of the early 70s ( see 'The Big Doll House' and 'The Big Bird Cage' for the best of the genre). Hill wasn't involved in this one mind you, the director is Eddie Romero, also responsible for the classic 'Black Mama, White Mama', who also appears in a supporting role as Captain Morales. The three aforementioned movies all co-starred blaxploitation icon Pam Grier. Grier isn't along for the ride in 'Savage Sisters', the Grier role is taken by Gloria Hendry ('Live And Let Die', 'Black Belt Jones'), and while the prison side of things isn't as important as the others in the series, fans of them will really dig this one. As always, while filmed in the Philippines, the movie is set in some unnamed Banana Republic. General Balthasar (Leopoldo Salcedo) plans on smuggling one million dollars US out of the country. A group of local revolutionaries plan on stealing the money and form an uneasy alliance with some bandits, led by the wily Malavael (the legendary Sid Haig, a regular in these kinds of movies), and his bumbling sidekick One-Eye (Vic Diaz, another familiar face). Malavael not surprisingly double crosses the revolutionaries and makes of with the cash. Meanwhile Jo Turner (Cheri Caffaro) and Mai Ling (Rosanna Ortiz), each with varying commitment to the Revolution, are captured before they can rendezvous with their comrades, who include Turner's lover. While in prison they are interrogated by tough hooker turned cop Lynn Jackson (Hendry). She is later convinced by the shady W.P. Billingsley (John Ashley, who also co-produced) to break the two women out of prison and help them track down Malavael, with the secret intention of getting hold of the cool million for themselves. However, Billingsley's plan of betrayal may not go exactly as planned as Jackson begins to bond with her "savage sisters" on the jungle journey. Newcomers to these kinds of movies may not enjoy this as those more familiar with their style and approach, but I enjoyed 'Savage Sisters' a great deal, and think it deserves to be much better known than it currently is. A tough and cool movie with plenty of fun and thrills.