Uma Prisão Chamada Inferno

I recently watched The Naked Cage (1986) on Prime. The storyline follows a woman unjustly imprisoned in a women's facility, where she must navigate cliques among the inmates and contend with a corrupt warden who has her own twisted desires. The warden controls the prison through spies who can make life easier or harder for inmates. As the young woman starts to understand the dangerous dynamics inside, even her allies begin to turn against her. Can she survive, or will the prison system destroy her?

Written and directed by Paul Nicholas (Night of the Archer), the film stars Shari Shattuck (Spy Hard), Angel Tompkins (The Teacher), Nick Benedict (Get a Job), and John Terlesky (Deathstalker II).

This is a classic 80s prison drama, complete with all the era's iconic elements. The cast of gorgeous women, 80s hairstyles, and a lively soundtrack make it fun to watch. There are some entertaining action scenes, like the opening robbery, the fight sequences, and the predictable but enjoyable prison riot at the end. The film also has its fair share of girl-on-girl action, nudity, and the inevitable shower scene-though that didn't play out quite as expected. The warden's office looking like a set straight out of a porn film was unintentionally hilarious. However, as you'd expect, there's inconsistent acting, over-the-top situations, and predictable plot points-though they're fun in a campy way.

In conclusion, The Naked Cage is a fun 80s prison drama, but you'll need to manage your expectations. I'd score it a 5-5.5/10 and recommend it only if you're looking for some nostalgic, over-the-top entertainment.

I love campy movies like this. The dialogue is a hoot, the scenes of women in jail are so preposterous but who cares? It's a cheap thrill to watch women slap, stab, pull hair and lez out. Even the warden (Angel Thompkins) is a hot babe who gets off being sadistic. In my opinion Faith Minton steals this picture as tough inmate who looks like she just came off of the pro-wrestling circuit. She has the best lines in the movie, my favorite being when she tells a muslim inmate "Nothing you sh#$heads do concerns me!" Sit back, watch and turn your brain off and you will have a good time. Yes, the language is quite foul but when there is this much unintended comedy it loses it shock value. Not the best of this genre (Chained Heat, Concrete Jungle) but close.

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.

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?

"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)