Polizia investigativa femminile

"Policewomen" (actually, there is technically only ONE policewoman in the movie) is not as sleazy or action-filled as other drive-in movies of the period. However, it does manage to be much more enjoyable than many of them.

Much of this is due to Sondra Currie, who is a delight as the lead. She gives her character confidence, a sense of humor, and a spirit of adventure. Whether arguing with her superiors or in hand-to-hand combat, she constantly shines. Judging from her performance here, it's a mystery why she didn't go onto bigger things, or at the very least become a prominent star in the drive-in genre.

But there is additional enjoyment beyond Currie. There is a good amount of humor - some unintentional, like how Currie's policemen co-workers are surprisingly sexist. However, most of the comedy is intentional and pretty funny at that. The plot has some outlandish touches (an all-girl gang that spends most of its time in bikinis?), a cameo by William Smith, Elizabeth Stuart has some hilariously stingy one-liners, and there is a respectable amount of nudity and sex. The best bits are the martial arts sequences, which are unusually very well choreographed (and surprisingly brutal at times.) Dim the lights, pretend you're at the drive-in, and sit back and have some fun.

Policewoman Lacy Bond,played by small dynamic redhead Sondra Currie,is a "supercop" assigned to take down a band of female gangsters who are up to all sorts of fiendish criminal activities.She uses(pretty basic)martial arts skills against them,and is later joined by undercover agent Pam Harris,played by Jeanie Bell,to help her take down the bad girl mob.The guys are generally pretty unimportant in this movie.Tony Young,as Lacy's boss and partner is reduced to a hapless sidekick,muttering his disapproval when he thinks she is putting herself in danger(and at one point having to be rescued by our heroine from some murderous babes who are beating him to death!).Only Phil Hoover,playing a funny and pretty vicious villain,and the great William Smith,sending himself up in a cameo as a patronizing police fight instructor,really register among the male cast.This cheap but entertaining movie contains all the elements expected from Lee Frost's "drive-in" fare,some sex and nudity,scantily clad girls,and lots of action.Fans of female fighting in movies should like the scenes where Lacy and Pam use judo and karate battling the female villains-such as tough con Janette (Laurie Rose)and Caroline (Dorrie Thomson) and her gang.

POLICE WOMEN is a straightforward early '70s action flick about an undercover cop who infiltrates an all-female gang in order to bring some perps to justice. It has a low rent, TV movie-style look and feel to it, but a string of rather basic martial arts fights keeps the running time bubbling along, allowing this to be mildly enjoyable for the undemanding viewer.

Sondra Currie essays the role of the tough, ass-kicking female lead, and she does a fine job with it. She brings some of the sass and verve of Pam Grier to the part, and she's one of the best things about the movie. Elsewhere, watch out for William Smith's amusing cameo as a karate instructor. Director Lee Frost worked his way through an exploitation career incorporating such titles as HOUSE ON BARE MOUNTAIN, THE DEFILERS, LOVE CAMP 7, and THE THING WITH TWO HEADS. What a resume!

Policewomen is an action movie directed by Lee Frost, who made several exploitation flicks including the pleasingly ridiculous The Thing with Two Heads (1972) about a white racist who has his head transplanted onto the body of a black guy! This one is certainly less psychotronic than that effort but is better value overall in my view. Its title makes no sense at all of course, as there is only really one policewoman in the film, seemingly it was going to be titled 'Policewoman' until a TV movie of that name was aired just before its release so the producers just pluralized the title of this one. Whatever the case, it hardly matters. It's about a female police officer who goes undercover to infiltrate an all-female gang of criminals.

I really like films full of women so this one was right up my alley. The guys that appear are very peripheral and sometimes even get beat up by the chicks, which is never a bad thing. But seeing as it's a 70's action flick, while it has some material satirising male chauvinism, the female empowerment stuff is offset by a sprinkling of nudity throughout, so everyone's a winner basically. The lead actress is Sondra Currie who makes for a great heroine. She, and the other women, get involved in much kung fu fighting and it's consistently entertaining stuff. The film opens with a prison break and then moves onto its gangster plot-line but it is in essence a female-led action flick which was clearly aimed at the unpretentious low budget drive-in crowd. I personally found quite a lot to like about this one and consider it something of a success.

I have always loved crime or action films starring female criminals, inmates or not. Although there were dozens of women in prison movies. This one is not, or only at the beginning, whilst a bunch of chicks escape from behind bars. Besides this, that film is a great fun, despite the fact that it is really corny, but that's why I love it. Don't watch it in the same way as you could do it with SET IT OFF, A GUN FOR JENNIFER or GIRLS ON THE LOOSE, other girl gang features, which deserve to be seen with other eyes, with a more serious manner. This is a grade B film destined to Saturday evening drive in audiences, nothing else. I would not be surprised to learn that Quentin Tarantino is a great fan for this kind of stuff, and this film in particular. It could have been a series TV pilot, but I guess the TV show starring Angie Dickinson - POLICE WOMAN - would have jeopardize this never made TV show. I laughed with the sequences showing the lead female character - the cop - wearing her suit without undergarment for her breast. We clearly see her tits through the shirt. I am surprised that no other viewer has commented about this. And useless to say that the scenes showing the headquarters of the bikini girls is unforgettable. And the old gang leader with her younger husband, a sort of pencil neck bodybuilder pumping iron...ha ha ha

A must see for grade B cinema. But ONLY grade B cinema. Don't expect any serious stuff.