Les brûlantes

This flick was made a year after the notorious "Love Camp 7", and it ain't as nasty as that and compared to Jess Franco later WIP sickies like "Sadomania" - "99 Women" is kinda tame but there's plenty of cheap thrills, groovy broads and Herbert (Mark Of The Devil) Lom in top form! It's also a wellmade film with a fun (yet dated) soundtrack. The infamous UK censors cut over 30 min. of the running time, so get the uncut version!

A must for Francophiles!

Does the world really need all these 'Women in Prison' flicks? The legendary director Jess Franco apparently seemed to think so, because almost half of the titles that fall under this category are his. There's also a lot of variation in this questionable sub genre of cult-cinema - largely determined by how old they are - as most of them are really nasty and exploitative whereas some (the pioneers mainly) are more sensual and emphasizing on the drama-elements. "99 Women", at least the original non-hardcore version, got released during the earliest stage of "W.I.P" madness and thus Franco was still clearly 'exploring' how far he could go with inserting lesbian sleaze and brutal whippings. The later ones are a non-stop series of tasteless sex and raw violence, but this film actually has a remotely decent script and an above-average amount of stylish elements. A small island in the Pacific Ocean serves as a gigantic prison, with a fort for women in one corner and one for men in the other. Female prisoners n° 97, 98 and 99 arrive one morning by boat and they immediately meet the sadistic head warden Thelma and the sleazy Governor Santos. The girls are punished and put in isolation cells for no reason and lethal 'accidents' appear to be a regular routine. Just because so many prisoners die, the government sends a new female principal to the island. She makes efforts to befriend the prisoners, particularly the beautiful & innocent Marie, but the wicked old headmistress constantly boycotts her. "99 Women" isn't the most exciting movie ever, as many sequences are dreadfully slow and pointless, and there's a serious lack of continuity. The locations are very nice looking and the photography is occasionally even elegant, but sadly it's all just an empty package. If you don't purchase the X-rated version, you won't have much sleazy goodness to admire. "99 Women" is incredibly tame, with only a couple of scarcely dressed women cat-fighting and some lesbian experimenting. The cast is really good, though, with the ravishing regular Franco-nymphs Maria Rohm ("The Bloody Judge", "Eugenie") and Rosalba Neri ("Amuck!", "Lady Frankenstein") playing likable characters. Herbet Lom is awesome as the fiendish, nudity-obsessed (can you blame him?) governor. Mainly just recommended to Francophiles.

The new inmate Marie (Maria Rohn) arrives in an island prison in the women's sector and receives the number 99. The inmates are controlled by the sadistic lesbian warden Thelma Diaz (Mercedes McCambridge) and Governor Santos (Herbert Lom) and submitted to torture, rape and lesbianism. When the Minister of Justice replaces Diaz by Leonie Caroll (Maria Schell), Marie believes that her life will improve and her case will be reopened. However, Marie is disappointed with the new warden and decides to escape with two other inmates. But their runaway scheme fails and the three women are chased not only by the guards, but also by male's prisoners that have not seen women for many years.

"Der heiße Tod", a.k.a. "99 Women" is a lame exploitation of the genre "women's prison" with a story that uses the clichés and the stereotypes of this type of story. The great cast is unusual in Jess Franco's films, but the insertion of scenes of explicit sex is ridiculous and without continuity. I believe that the version without these X-rated scenes inserted may be better. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "99 Mulheres" ("99 Women")

The newest batch of detainees arrives at a remote women's prison. The fortress-like prison is ruled with an iron hand by Thelma Diaz (Mercedes McCambridge), a woman who has no qualms against death or torture. But when a new state official takes notice of the body count coming out of the prison, Diaz must prove her ability and hide the truth. As the powers that be turn up the pressure it sets up a daring escape by several of the ladies.

"Women in prison" flicks can be a mixed bag. Many offer the usual softcore action (usually of the lesbian variety) and / or nasty torture sequences that often exploit. But "99 Women" doesn't really offer too much of either. "99" is actually more artistic than most of the "W.I.P." films that I've seen and as a result it comes off as a bit bland. The photography is fine but with most of the action taking place indoors the camera-work is not flashy. The acting is pretty decent but the script is a bit "talky" in an unnecessary way. The softcore action is not awfully titillating since many of the scenes are shot in an "artistic" fashion the X-rated version does offer some hardcore inserts but you can easily tell they were added much latter since they don't match. "99 Women" has some style but not a lot of substance. A bit disappointing.

New inmate Marie (Maria Rohm) arrives at an island prison in the women's sector and receives the number 99. The inmates are controlled by the sadistic lesbian warden Thelma Diaz and Governor Santos (Herbert Lom) and submitted to torture, rape and lesbianism.

Apparently, this film "kicked off the genre in a new direction" and "was a big box office success in the U.S. in 1969." I find this somewhat hard to believe... because as much as I love exploitation and Jess Franco, this just is not all that great. Even with veteran actor Herbert Lom, it more or less has just a group of women wandering around doing a whole lot of nothing.

Not surprisingly, Franco continued to make more films in this genre, probably turning a quick profit: Women in Cell Block 9 (1978), Ilsa, The Wicked Warden (1977), Barbed Wire Dolls (1975), Women Behind Bars (1975), and Sadomania (1980).