Uma Prisão Chamada Inferno

Standard fare about female criminals and a female penitentiary certainly doesn't have the best acting in the world and relies heavily on predictable material. Why bother?

I was really surprised. What could you expect of a movie named "the Naked Cage", produced by Cannon Group and Golan-Globus Company? I myself was expecting crap, but it was fine. This film depicts prison for women and terrible things happening there. Michelle is falsely accused in a bank robbery, and goes to prison where she faces a lot of cruelty and horrible things. Worth watching this movie.

A leggy sexy girl (Rita) in short shorts and cowboy boots somehow manages to hitch a ride from some dude driving a stolen red Corvette. They team up in a robbery/shooting and drag the dude's girlfriend (Michelle)into the fracas and she is convicted of armed robbery and is to serve 3 years.

Thrown into an all female prison, Michelle tries to cope with the the requisite evil warden, personal conflicts, bad guards, bad prisoners, but hey it IS prison.

Actually this film has a lot of social justice between the nude prisoners running around and kissing and making out. The blacks are segregated but Michelle bridges the divide and teams up with them to ferment a full fledged Attica style riot.

The big tough gal, Faith Minton, a centerpiece in the population, is tough enough to serve in a men's prison, where she would get respect.

Lots goes on in this above average prison flick, and it kinda reminds me of a female version of Brubaker. If you see it for $5, buy it or rent it for a fun evening of chic on chic action with some social justice thrown in.

Sadly the movie did not provide IMDb with practicals, i.e. photos of all cast members and bios. So faces are blank, making it hard to identify the actors.

Moral: avoid going to prison at all costs. Be a good citizen. Well, even that might not help you if you are framed.

Writer / director Paul Nicholas, who'd previously done the Linda Blair classic "Chained Heat", returns to the Women In Prison genre for this diverting bag of cinematic trash. Although it doesn't offer anything that W.I.P. fans haven't seen before, it still goes through its paces adequately, offering gore, atmosphere and titillation in respectable doses. The supporting cast is largely nondescript, but there are a few performers that stand out, which I'll get to in a moment. The movie does have a fair bit of set-up; the main character doesn't get to the prison until 16 minutes of screen time have gone by. But once she's there, there's plenty of sordid melodrama to keep an exploitation fanatic amused.

Lovely Shari Shattuck of 'The Young and the Restless' fame stars as Michelle, whose bank is held up by her no-count husband Willy (John Terlesky, "Chopping Mall"), who's met a ferocious femme fatale named Rita (Christina Whitaker) who has put him up to it. The robbery goes awry, and after all is said and done Rita falsely claims in court that Michelle was a willing participant, which gets Michelle sent to the slam for three years.

You get what you pay for with "The Naked Cage". Lesbian encounters? Check. Shower scenes? Check. Repulsive male characters such as rapist guard Smiley (Nick Benedict)? Check. And of course there's the usual corrupt warden (B movie veteran Angel Tompkins, "The Teacher") who's always got something going on. The ladies in this thing are enjoyable to watch; Shattuck is appealing as the "good girl" heroine who definitely takes her lumps before this is over. Faith Minton has an undeniable presence as butch top con Sheila. Buffs will note the presence of Carole Ita White ('Laverne & Shirley'), who'd already appeared in "Hellhole", "Chained Heat", and "The Concrete Jungle". Larry Gelman ('The Bob Newhart Show', 'The Odd Couple', "Chatterbox") has a cameo as the prison doctor. But it's the intense Whitaker who dominates things with a campy portrayal of a vindictive and vicious character.

All in all, if you're a devotee of this genre, you may not be blown away by "The Naked Cage" but you should have a pretty good time.

Seven out of 10.

"The Naked Cage" is a textbook anthology of "Women-In-Prison Drama" cliches (innocent heroine, sadistic warden, lesbianism, catfights, stabbings, riots, etc.). Watching it, you feel as if you're wallowing in a cesspool, and the fact that leading actress Shari Shattuck is not believable for a minute certainly doesn't help matters. At least Christina Whitaker is spirited and fun as the "wild" Rita. (*1/2)