Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:
Total Movies Watched: 26
Total First Time Views:14
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $2,140.32
Violence in a Women’s Prison (1982) d. Bruno Mattei (as Vincent Dawn) (Italy) (90 min) (1st viewing)
Convicted sex worker Laura Kendall (Laura Gemser) is sentenced to serve out her time at a remote penitentiary far from the prying eyes of good taste and housekeeping. Packed to the rafters with sadistic jackbooted watchdogs and overseen by the sneering warden (Lorraine De Selle) and her second-in-command Rescaut (Franca Stoppi), both depraved sexual deviants, Laura must create alliances with whomever she can if she is to survive her horrifying ordeal.
Following her string of successful "Black Emanuelle" features, Gemser once again finds herself in uncomfortable predicaments surrounded by horndogs of every stripe and gender. In this case, however, as directed by Mattei (Robowar), the titillation elements are far less emphasized in favor of a bumped-up sleaze/violence factor (so many catfights) that seems to delight in punishing the viewer as much as the onscreen inmates.
For example, Rescaut is fond of forcing her female charges into lesbian couplings, then beating them senseless with her baton after being driven into an ecstatic rage, getting it out after she gets off. In fact, rarely does ten minutes pass without some form of sexual assault or just straight-up assault, with everyone from guards, male and female prisoners, and swarming rats getting into the act at some point.
Even with the marginal acting and laughable special effects, the exploitation elements are never quite outrageous enough to be funny or entertaining; it’s just a grim, lame, and depressing affair for all concerned that turns into a political thriller in the last act when Laura’s true identity is revealed, but it’s far too little far too late by then.
Along with being naked half the time, Gemser brings her patented brand of sexiness, likability, and dignity to the proceedings, with real-life husband Gabriele Tinti providing haggard support as the prison’s in-house physician. De Selle (Cannibal Ferox) has a good time strutting about in pseudo-Nazi garb while Stoppi (Beyond the Darkness) pulls out the stops as the unhinged gatekeeper, especially in the infamous scene featuring a four-way wrestling match on a poop-covered tile floor.
(Y’all have fun now, I’ll be over here.)
BONUS FEATURES:
“Brawl in Women’s Block” (29 min) Claudio Fragasso and Rosella Druidi
Archival interview with Bruno Mattei (3 min)
Theatrical Trailer
Trivia: Laura Gemser served as costume designer for Claudio Fragasso's infamous Troll 2!
Violence in a Women’s Prison is available now on Blu-ray and can be ordered HERE:
https://severin-films.com/shop/violence-in-a-womens-prison-bluray/
After a REALLY deep dive into the Black Emanuelle films recently, I watched this one and found it to be at least interesting, with the usual Mattei barftastics. Mostly it was just exciting to see Laura Gemser and Franca Stoppi in a film together, as both has so much show-stealing presence and for such different reasons.
ReplyDeleteI've only seen a couple of the BE films (Last Cannibals, in America) and a few others starring Ms. Gemser, and while there's little denying her appeal, this one just didn't do it for me. Then again, it was also late in the Scare-A-Thon and I admit to a certain level of fatigue! Maybe I'll give it another go at some point.
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