Trois saisons en enfer

Peace Corps Carly and Melanie are leaving the African country Umlanga, but when they're pulled over by the authorities. The hitcher-hiker they picked up, happened to be carrying drugs. The two ladies are falsely convicted of smuggling drugs too. So the judge, sentences the pair to eleven years to the penitentiary known as Purgatory. When they get there, Carly soon discovers that showing fear and aggression is a big mistake and only backfires. The abuse going on behind the scenes sticks to the warden and the guards taking advantage of the inmates sexually. After their first encounter, Melanie cracks insistently. Carly becomes the warden's favourite and is forced to work in a brothel. While, her mother is doing her best to get her daughter out, despite finding it hard getting help from the American embassy.

Tanya Roberts (who's basically wasted) is the main draw card to this highly dank, lewd and by-the-numbers women-in-prison exploitation fodder. Well there's plenty of leering shots on Tanya Roberts (who wears some skimpy outfits and naively whimpers a lot over her innocence), but it really does utilize the lustful sexual attraction that's brewing. However, while it's sordidly suggested, it falls mostly into the implied bracket. It's pretty weak and tame in what you see and there's very little sleaze and flesh. Too much jilted dialogues involving whining or long-winded speeches with political interference has a certain seriousness about it, which just drowns out the fun that could've been and only aggravates. It doesn't quite ignite until the last fifteen minutes, but even then the action is amateurishly staged and the final big bang (the usual break out with some explosions and sweet revenge) lacks zing. Obvious plotting in the material doesn't help the stuffy pacing either. The look of the film comes across like a jagged TV episode, but it cooks up a gritty, dour and harsh atmosphere despite not entirely illustrating it. Director Ami Artzi does an systematic job, but can succumb to lazy touches, just like the conclusion. Free-willed camera-work can get murky with one or two unusual handled POV shots and the broodingly over dramatic music score is totally mishandled. The voluptuously stunning Roberts has trouble holding the film together in the lead role, but however it's a gusty performance. Clare Marshall provides much added spark as the mother Ruth Arnold. The performances aren't terrible, just extremely plain and shell-like.

A visually enticing Roberts and couple of unintentional chuckles can be found in this free-risk, below-average cheapjack "WIP" exploitation staple. Tanya Roberts' fans will eat it up, but I don't know about others.

"Carly Arnold" (Tanya Roberts) and her good friend "Melanie" (Julie Pop) are serving in the Peace Corp somewhere in Africa. As they are heading to the airport en route to the United States they happen to pick up a hitchhiker who says he is also headed in that direction. Unfortunately, they encounter a roadblock and during an inspection of their baggage a bag of heroin is found in the hitchhiker's belongings. When the hitchhiker tries to run, he is shot and killed leaving the two young ladies without the main person who might vouch for their innocence. After a quick trial with a preordained guilty verdict, they are both sentenced to 11 years in a prison known as "Purgatory". While there they are raped and abused with neither of them having much chance of acquittal or escape. Anyway, for a women-in-prison movie, this particular film requires viewers to use their imagination a bit as there aren't too many scenes which capture the anguish or violence normally seen in movies of this type. Along with that, except for Tanya Roberts, the rest of the cast suffers badly from a lack of character development. Additionally, while Tanya Roberts certainly performed well enough, she simply wasn't able to carry the movie all by herself. Slightly below average.

Starting off this *is* the writing of an oft-favoured 1980's B-grade fan, so I am in no way writing this to compete with previous reviewers or take some imagined review 'injustice' into my own hands.

I appreciate the plot line as a particularly classic one and with its means to expand on whatever drama or storyline unfolds the end result is what you get. Its the whole 'put in an overseas jail' thing. Yes, 'purgatory'. So my comments are really relative to people who like me who enjoy a little cheesiness. No you wouldn't see Meryl Streep in a movie like this one and thats what gives its character.

Take bits and pieces from the movie. For me they are dazzling scenes occurring by the minute. No matter what they say it all seems to wind up funny to me. No matter what the musical soundtrack is, it always manages to impress vintage cheese upon me. I am about to write up some quotes so check them out. Thy might give you an idea of what you're in for.

Yes. The 80's were this bad. Awesome

Read dozens reviews and wandered why people are so close-eyed. The film shows a real-like story happened in Rhodesia, sorry, after fall of Rhodesia, the newly created independent state of Zimbabwe. Clearly shown Russian red flags. Clearly shown Cuban militants and Castro portraits. Accurate image of American diplomats who imitated protection of the US citizens.

Absolutely, this documentary styled film critically depicted both totalitarian communists system and lair US policy.

This was a deep satirical political message of people of South Africa who felt a close catastrophe after the silent betrayal of UK and US. They had seen what happened in Rhodesia and they knew that same will occur in their native land.

After the several years the people of South Africa has been expelled from their land. Developed country was ruined, gangs expanded by country, garbage and blood made the streets unfit for living. Majority of the population fled from country for ten years.

This truly crappy women-in-prison flick looks like a leftover from the 1970s. Like so many of that genre, it was shot in the Philippines. One difference; instead of a totally no-name cast, it has Tanya Roberts, the erstwhile Charlie's Angel. Hold your Oscar nominations, please.

Though none exists, this movie could easily be subtitled, "Carly and Melanie Go to Africa and Get Gang Raped." That's pretty much the size of it. Sadly, poor Melanie drops out in the first twenty minutes, so that leaves Carly ( Roberts ) to fend for herself against a bunch of really yucky people. They're yucky, she's plucky. The outcome is predictable.

Lots of people get killed along the way, not that anyone really cares. The biggest question remains: What is John Newland doing in this dreck? Yes, that's right; the same John Newland who hosted the Sci-Fi TV classic from the 1950s, "One Step Beyond". He's dead now, so it's impossible to ask him. One can only imagine that his last wish was to have his name deleted from the credits. That appears to have been granted.