Women in Cages

American women prisoners in a foreign country. Sex and action.

From producer Roger Corman, and starring Pam Grier as Alabama, we have a story of various women who are locked up in a foreign country (I believe the Philippines). Yes, there are the "women in prison" motifs, such as the showers -- and you might see plenty of nudity. But the film is hardly sexual, as it is so raw and gritty. This is the type of nudity you get from National Geographic.

Pretty much the best thing about this film is seeing Pam Grier kick a little butt, get her butt kicked, and then kick a little more butt. She is one of the early modern strong females in film, and there is no denying her power on screen.

Jeff is sent to a woman prison, after being caught carrying heroine that belonged to her crime figure boyfriend Rudy. He asks her to keep her mouth shut and would try his best to get her out, but unknowingly to her he has other plans. When she arrives at the prison to do her time, she must face a tyrant of a head warden, Alabama who has a thing against American woman and a sadistic torture chamber of the dark ages called "the playpen" for certain troublemakers.

We all know the formula by now for cheap drive-in WIP features, I take it? Wrongly accused woman. Hard labourers work in the fields. Out-of-control cat-fights. Mass showering. Suffering at the hands of the head warden. Harsh terrain surrounding the prison to make it hard to escape. A gusty prison break. And finally those corrupted individuals get their up and comings. So basically the heat is on in the banana republic.

"Woman In Cages" is another quick, cheaply done Corman production, but this time Jack Hill didn't hold the helm. Instead Gerry De Leon was in the director's chair and he brought to the table a real mean-spirited and quite gloomy Philippine WIP affair. His conventional direction might lack style and cracking energy, but it's balanced out by its intrusive grittiness. The story by James H. Watkins and David R. Osterhout is rather straightforward with little lead way in its same-old-same-old actions and plodding moments, but plenty of sour and quite outlandish moments do occur. The moral card of injustice that leaks its way in comes off as quite silly and lazy. While, there's some slight wit evident, it just seems to get derailed. It mainly concentrates on the unpleasantness and sleazy nature that's drilled in constantly. In the long run these scenes might be effectively crude, but personality does lose out to this rough shtick that really does dry up proceedings. The characters don't feel as dominating; say in "The Big Doll House". Some of the actresses of that film do turn up here. Pam Grier plays the nihilistic lesbian head prison guard with such venom, but this hard-boiled devil woman glow does take away from her energetic persona. The crackling stunner Roberta Collins is in fine form as the on edge drug addict and the gorgeously biting Judith M. Brown also appears. Jennifer Gan was decent in the lead role of the glassily clueless Jeff. Music director Tito Arevalo provides a smoking; on-the-ball soundtrack and Felipe Sacdalan's cinematography methods are unsparingly grounded.

Not one of the best of the sub-genre, but well worth a look for the fans for some glorified badass whipping in this mostly dour WIP outing.

If I recall correctly, Pam Grier appears in about four women-in-prison films on both sides of the bars. In this film, she is the Chief Matron, and not a nice person at all.

This was one of the last films for director Gerardo de Leon, the most- awarded director in the history of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Science.

It also features Judith Brown and Roberta Collins, who both appeared in several women-in-prison films.

In an uncredited role, you see Sofia Moran, a Philippine action star, who became their 13th President.

Torture, showers, crawling through the sewer (Yech!) and boobage.

Pam Grier is in this - and you may or may not be aware of her, but after watching this, you will have her on your radar. Really mesmerizing performance. And while the movie itself was not exactly good, the other actors give it their best shot too. Women in cages - it's almost taking the (sub)genre and put it into your title. It literally is if you think about it.

As with every good (and bad) of these female prison exploitation movies (I have not seen many, but they sort of write themselves to a degree), you have a lot of violence but also a lot of nudity. It just is inevitable. Sleaze and down and dirty as it goes. This is I would imagine not the worst of them, though if you are into that sort of thing, you'll find something to "enjoy" anyway

Women in Cages is yet another sleazy women in prison film from the same people that brought us classics such as The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage. This film is nowhere near as good as those two, but it's still an entertaining effort that fans of this sort of trash will surely appreciate. The plot is just your general women in prison sort of story and, naturally, focuses on a bunch of women inside a women's prison. One in particular has been sent to jail after being set up by her boyfriend; meanwhile, another prisoner has been given the task of murdering said unfortunate prisoner. There's also an escape attempt being plotted. This women in prison film stands apart from many of the others simply because it stars Pam Grier in the role of a guard rather than a prisoner. Naturally, she steps into this role well and plays the antagonist with relish. Unfortunately, there's no role for Sid Haig in this one. The film is directed by Gerardo de Leon, and regrettably he doesn't have the same flair as Jack Hill and the film does fall a little flat in that respect. However, it's still decent enough entertainment and at about seventy five minutes, it doesn't outstay its welcome either. Worth a look.