Girls in Prison

Girls in Prison (1994)

** (out of 4)

An innocent woman is accused of killing a record producer and gets sent to prison for life. Once in there she fits right in, although on the outside the real killer gets nervous when proof surfaces that the girl is innocent. The most shocking thing about GIRLS IN PRISON is the fact that film legend Sam Fuller actually wrote the screenplay. As funny as it is to know that Fuller wrote the screenplay, I think a lot of the blame can go towards him as well. The film really suffers because it doesn't know what type of movie it is. Is it an exploitation picture? Is it a political drama? Is it just a harmless throwback to the AIP years? Is it simply a remake of the 1956 picture of the same name? This film really is all over the map because it's all of those things but it just doesn't mix together very well. Especially some of the political stuff dealing with the McCarthy witch hunts and some stuff dealing with the Korean War. This is especially true early on when we see a couple of the crimes committed by some girls and especially a scene dealing with the murder of a TV host. Director John McNaughton does what he can with the picture and it seems that he wanted to have a little fun with everything. There are some pretty over-the-top moments, which had to be done on purpose and just look at how the title sequence goes and it seems this is just going to be an in-joke picture. Then, as I said, the screenplay goes in a variety of directions. The performances in the film are all rather rough around the edges with the exception of Anne Heche who is wonderful as the bad girl. Her nude scene also makes for one of the more memorable sequences in the film. As with most prison movies, this one features some lesbian stuff, cat-fights and of course a shower sequence but in reality the exploitation level is somewhat low. GIRLS IN PRISON isn't a horrible movie but it just tries to be way too much and in the end there are other films out there that do this much better.