Bad Girls Dormitory

Bad Girls Dormitory is what you get when you put the director of gay porn in charge of a 'Women In Prison' exploitation flick: what is intended to be a gritty slice of sleaze regularly veers into 'camp trash' territory, and the standard of women is average at best, ranging from the downright ugly to the vaguely pretty, with most failing to fill their regulation tight white t-shirts in a satisfactory manner; in contrast, all the men look like gay porn stars, being either buff or blessed with impressive upper-lip facial hair.

Director Tim Kincaid does manage to tick off most of the standard elements one expects from such a film, including a protagonist that doesn't deserve her fate (Carey Zuris as Lori), a cat fight in the mess room, lesbian sex, rape by the more despicable male members of staff, gratuitous shower scenes, a couple of killings, and a riot that allows for a spot of bloody revenge, but his handling of the material is far from great: not one of his cast gives anything remotely resembling a convincing performance; the fight scenes are totally unrealistic; the dialogue is diabolical; and any attempts at pathos are totally botched.

Having said that, it is thanks to Kincaid's lousy film-making skills and his cast's total lack of acting ability—plus loads of hilarious mid-80s trappings—that the film proves to be quite a lot of fun. How could anyone fail to enjoy the drawn out brawl between tough prisoner Rebel (Donna Eskra) and a dyke guard in which neither person lands a convincing punch? Or a disco scene with male visitors dressed like members of Debarge? Or Lisa's stunning (ie. crap) display of grief when she hears of her mother's death? Or... well, the list could go on and on. Suffice to say that if terrible, trashy movies are your thing, you really must see Bad Girls Dormitory.

Various young women find themselves at an NYC juvenile facility which proves that teen WIP don't have to take a backseat to their adult compatriots. Various cliques vie for superiority, the warden has an odd Eurotrash accent, and inmate Jennifer Delora conducts regular private catfights with one of the guards. Other inmates sex it up with male guards, but the only lesbian content is by implication (and what about those fights, Jen?)

Film has a large cast, which seemingly includes every NY actress of its day with teenish looks and willingness to strip for the camera. Tech credits are crude and the film looks lowbudget. What saves it for me is an early sequence where the prison's brand new doctor, a drug addict with the demeanor of a male porn actor, happens upon the side door to the shower room. Naturally, a gang bath is taking place at the time. We study the soapy inmates from his P.O.V. for what seems like about 5 minutes, until finally the camera settles on sad-faced Carey Zuris, who stares at the lens and asks, "Seen enough?"

Plotwise, of course, she's talking to the doctor guy, but she might as well be speaking to the voyeur audience itself. To a more sensitive crowd than that which relishes WIP films, this moment might even be somewhat of an epiphany, but I suspect the automatic response from genre fans was, "No, baby, why don't you turn around now so we can check out the other side?" (Okay, that's what *I* said, watching this film on tape in my living room. But I'll bet $2 I'm not the only one who did.)

Cast was and remains virtually unknown. Frances Rains, Jennifer Delora, and Natalie O'Connell had other mid-80s credits in NY-produced exploiter films. The only other place I've seen Zuris was as a nude extra in Chuck Vincent's NEW YORK'S FINEST. All the girls look fairly natural as JDs and most give fairly convincing performances, with Zuris perhaps the standout (she does suffer a lioness' share of the indignities usually visited upon actresses in a production such as this but retains considerable poise throughout and probably deserved bigger roles and better breaks than she ever got during her acting career). Delora is given an homage to the *other* scene you remember from WHITE HEAT. It doesn't really work. One redhead prisoner looks genuinely underage, though she's probably just an underdeveloped 20 yr old with no makeup; her molestation by a slimy guard who catches her smoking a J in the basement mostly consists of removing her shirt at command and displaying the AAAs. The actress playing the warden gives a somewhat eccentric performance but does not sound as if English is her native language, which might explain it. Admirers of big hooters will definitely admire redheaded Natalie O'Connell (most of the other cast members are A-cuppers, but what's wrong with that, I'd like to know? they're all real).

Picture is determinedly sleazy, but strictly on the basis of the "Seen enough?" exchange I'll give it a 4. If the very thought of women behind bars, unable to control their passionate impulses, forced to pay their debt to society, but what about their obligations to themselves? barbed wire could not hold them back, savage dogs could not control them, if you only see one picture this year, you MUST see ... does not set your blood racing, rent THE MATRIX or NOTTING HILL or something. This one is for WIP fans only.

This is about as good as you'd expect from a group of novice actors, a minuscule budget and a story that must have been made up as they went along. It seems to have been shot in an abandoned Pizza restaurant, with static exterior shots of a huge grim old building arbitrarily inserted here and there. All the familiar W I P tropes are aimlessly trotted out, in most cases without a fig-leaf of basis or logic. As obligatory sadistic wardens go this one, abysmally acted, seems very tame and does little to warrant her bloody fate. Pretty Jennifer Delora gives her all in the largely unmotivated fight scenes and Rebecca Rothbaum really looks the part as the corrupt Nurse Stevens, making it worth a viewing at least for fans of trashy movies.

I am female and I liked this film, it was one of those that my parents rented out and hid in the usual place at the back of the wardrobe, my best mate and I found it one day when rummaging. 80's cheesy music is my thing, and I can't get the 'Hose Me Down' song out of my head. PLease put it on a CD, it isn't on any Man Parrish CDs. If anyone does know of a CD or vinyl with this track on, please put me out of my misery and let me know where I can get my grubby mitts on it. Please do a soundtrack for this film.

It goes something like this; "HOw much love is gonna bring you round, I'm heating up so won't you hose me down....just come to me and don't you make a sound...the time is right to fool around so hose me down".

Thats about all I can remember

This was one of the most ridiculous movies that I have ever seen. The plot was non-existent and the end left me completely mystified. I believe that the movie was created solely for gratuitous sex and violence, but it did not even succeed at that. I would never even consider recommending this movie, not even to my worst enemy.