Femmine in fuga

I've seen a handful of women in prison films, and one thing I thought I'd never see was a half decent one! Trust the director of the brilliant Massacre in Dinosaur Valley to come up with something more fun than the average women in prison flick! The film is not too different from the masses of trash directed by the likes of Jess Franco in the way that it's plotted, but Michele Massimo Tarantini forsakes overly graphic hardcore porn for a more story based approach, and that really does the film benefit as despite lacking what some may be watching for; Women in Fury is at least entertaining, and it's also the only women in prison flick that I'd consider watching again! Naturally, the plot focuses on a women's prison. The central character is Angela Duvall, a young woman wrongly sent to a Brazilian prison after supposedly murdering a drug dealer. She soon finds that there are lots of lesbians in jail in Brazil, and after being initiated into the prison by her fellow inmates and the guards, an opportunity to escape beckons, and Angela takes it...

As previously mentioned, this film does not feature as much sex and sleaze as many women in prison flicks, but that's not to say it doesn't feature any! The fact that it's not wall to wall sleaze really does do it benefit; the sex itself is graphic, but not overly graphic, and while many women in prison film grind to a halt as a result of too much graphic sex, this one always has the story to fall back on; which gives it a strong backbone. Aside from the sex and sleaze, there's also a fair amount of violence featured, which is nice and while this isn't as shocking as many genre films; it's still a brutal picture and I'm sure it has enough grit about it to please most fans of cult cinema. The women featured are mostly nice to look at and the lesbian sex scenes are well filmed. The way that the film changes from prison drama to a chase through the neighbouring jungle is good, and while overall I can't really profess this to be a brilliant film - I will say it's the best women in prison flick that I've seen, and it's the only one that I'd give high recommendations for.

Yep, that's right. No shame about it. What begins… True story… aye. Yes its one of those. Anyhow for a sub-genre that's pretty much rough around the edges and doesn't hold back on its draw-cards (sleaze, violence and sex). Michele Massimo Tarantini's Italian Women-in-Prison entry 'Women in Fury' (which was shot on location in Brazil) doesn't have that ultra-cheap cloud and rancid feeling, but shows a competently handled, well-paced, story focused (oh my and it's interesting!) and more often stylishly photographed exercise. That aside, it still doesn't cop out on the trashy essentials like cruel torture, cat-fights (there's a lot!), foul cussing, sexual domination, gratuitous nudity and some bloody violence. It's packed with plenty of cheap, raw and gritty thrills within its sweaty environment, but it's not drenched in unpleasantness. There's a little skill behind it all, although it's no masterpiece of its sub-genre, it still registers as one of its most entertaining. When it wasn't concentrating on the conventional aspects, it tags along with a doctor trying his best to get out Angela (the dashing girl who finds herself in prison with everyone having their eyes on her, after taking the fall for her brother) and then it turns into squabbling jungle adventure when a group of women prisoners scale the walls and escape. The script was better than I thought, but it had its cheesy moments and quips that I just couldn't take seriously. No kidding. The ending couldn't be anymore vapid. The music score is an overwrought and clunky mess, but never too distracting. Suzane Carvalho is capable in the lead role and truly is easy on the eyes. You can see why everyone wants a piece of this fresh meat. There are modest turns by Henri Pagnoncelli as the kind-hearted prison doctor and Leonardo Jose's corrupted head prison officer. The rest of the enthusiastic performances fit the buck. A solid WIP film.

A weak Italian-Brazilian co-production, a sort of female penal institution, the leading role was made by a famous and gorgeous Brazilian actress Suzanne Carvalho as Angela, who took the blame of a murder to save his addict brother, after the trial was sent to this prison, there she lives in a hell, all kind of the harassment she has to stand, hard lesbian sexploitation oriented, in other hand outside of the jail Dr. Cuña struggles to proves his innocence, when finally he gets a confession by letter the rebellion explodes on prison, many inmates escapes including Angela, running through the jungle, (actually Tijuca's forest) the same place was shot Mike Henry's Tarzan, the final is unbelievable flimsy, let it see, it was a VHS release, on DVD never came out, maybe soon, but however no hope !!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 5.5

* B.B.B. stands for Babes Behind Bars. Even though they all sound and look fascinating, these B.B.B. (or W.I.P = women in prison) movies usually are the most boring and incompetent exploitation moneymakers of all. All those movies directed by Jess Franco (Barbed Wired Dolls), Oswaldo De Oliveira (Amazon Jail) and God knows who else look promising enough but they ultimately fail in accomplishing anything at all, apart from showing tons of pointless and often even very unattractive naked female flesh. Michele Massimo Tarantini's – great name – "Women in Fury" is different from every possibly viewpoint and actually a surprisingly good film. It has a great story to tell, the acting performances are adequate for a change and even though the amounts of sex and nudity are plentiful, it always remains stylishly shot and within the boundaries of good taste. No endless sequences in which the camera zooms in on women masturbating or getting barbarically whipped for no reason other than sick sexual pleasure. Instead the script patiently takes the time to introduce the main characters and make the audience empathize with them. It involves nudity, of course, but it serves a purpose and at least the actresses here are highly desirable. The pivot figure is Angela Duvall, a silent girl doing prison time for a murder that was really committed by her cowardly brother. Very much against her own will, Angela causes amok within the prison's walls because everybody – guards as well as fellow inmates – want a taste of her beautiful body. The penitential doctor falls madly in love with Angela too and even convinces the authorities to release her, but in the meantime she and a handful of other girls already escaped into the Brazilian jungle where new types of terror await her. "Women in Fury" is an extremely violent film, with quite a lot of nasty massacres occurring every couple of minutes and legitimate tension nailing you on the edge of your seat. Suzane Carvalho is a beauty with talent and brains, and you're guaranteed to cheer for her. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best B.B.B. movie available on the market.

This English dubbed Italian / Brazilian co-production opens with a title screen claiming that we're about to be told a true story.

Believing she'll receive a more lenient sentence, a young woman named Angela Duvall (Suzane Carvalho) takes the rap for her addicted brother after he murders a drug lord. We immediately realize Angela's exceptional beauty is going to cause her problems since even on the way to the slammer, a police officer in the prison transport truck lasciviously leers at her gorgeous thighs. She winds up in a Brazilian penitentiary hell hole where she's subjected to the obligatory strip search. The guards don't find any concealed weapons or narcotics on Angela's body, but they do learn from her obvious tan lines that she's apparently been spending a lot of time lately sunbathing in a very skimpy bikini. Naturally, she immediately attracts the unwanted attention of everybody from two feuding prison dykes to the lesbian head matron. During their first meeting, the prison official parts Angela's robe with her billy club to get an eyeful of her breasts, then purrs, `You're very different from the way the papers described you - much better.'

The first half of the plot follows the usual women-in-prison movie formula, with long-suffering Angela enduring an endless series of indignities while a concerned prison doctor (Henri Pagnoncelli) campaigns to prove her innocence. He's up against a tough obstacle, though: his boss, the Warden Bonifacio (Leonardo Jose), is affiliated with the same drug ring as the murder victim and he'll stop at nothing to silence Angela permanently. At one point, three gang members sneak into her cell and nearly succeed in hanging her before the good doctor comes to her rescue. With the help of a big and tough but sympathetic and maternal black inmate, Angela eventually escapes with seven other prisoners during a prison riot. The rest of the film plays out like TEN LITTLE INDIANS: the escapees are picked off one by one as they're pursued through the jungle by the vindictive warden.

Though the film doesn't offer much originality, the production values are a lot higher than you might expect from a foreign made B movie. The plot moves through a nice variety of locations from downtown city streets through tropical jungles to a seaside resort. Many scenes involve impressive numbers of extras, and during the prison break sequence, dozens of them are fully decked out in authentic looking police uniforms, helmets, and riot control shields. In the escape scene, a pair of tank-like vehicles equipped with water cannons show up, and later, the doctor searches for the escapees via helicopter.

But the real reason to watch WOMEN IN FURY is the virtually unknown but ultra-sultry Suzane Carvalho, who provides most of the film's nudity, usually in humiliating scenarios. During Angela's first night in the over-crowded prison cell, she's stripped by a dozen bunkmates and whipped with wet towels to soften her up for the butch queen bee, who then rapes her. When she later refuses to identify her attackers, she gets hosed down with high pressure water, which conveniently tears her robe open and leaves her dripping wet. The steamiest scene is an erotic lesbian encounter when the horny head matron ravishes Angela in her office. The sequence runs for several minutes in length and includes full nudity from both actresses and lots of passionate close-ups.

Fans impressed by Ms. Carvalho will also want to check out her only other known film appearance, STRANDED IN DINOSAUR VALLEY (another Italian / Brazilian co-production made the same year, 1985), which in spite of its title features no dinosaurs but more of Suzie's magnificent body.