It’s not easy to take this drama seriously, whether it’s watching hardened convicts bait a first-timer for being a ‘husband killer’ (parricide is apparently abhorred by the female prisoner population), or the warden allowing his inmates to press against the (cyclone wire) perimeter fence so that they can hear a press conference held in the prison car park and called to broadcast the shortcomings of his management to a national audience. (more…)
Posted on March 13th, 2011 at 9:41 pm. Updated on March 13th, 2011 at 9:41 pm.
If you can get past the notion that a prison guard can be stabbed to death and then, rather than have it investigated by the Police, the Warden is able to brutalise twelve prisoners for six months in the hope that one of them will falsely confess to the killing, you may well enjoy this film. (more…)
Posted on March 5th, 2011 at 10:23 pm. Updated on March 5th, 2011 at 10:23 pm.
Given the choice of five nights in the box in this unpleasant island prison or being forced to watch this piece of feculence, you might just choose the former. (more…)
Posted on February 6th, 2011 at 7:06 pm. Updated on August 11th, 2013 at 12:04 pm.
“A little too full of the joy of life, eh?” says the sadistic Justice of the Peace, Squire Meadows, to a miserable female prisoner who has been charged with unruly conduct (to wit, singing in her cell). “We must curb that! No doubt five days of bread and water will tend to take the happiness out of your disposition!” (more…)
Posted on January 15th, 2011 at 9:28 pm. Updated on January 15th, 2011 at 9:28 pm.
Paul Ramsey (Gregg Henry) is happily married, blonde (a bit too blonde), and of gentle disposition. The same can be said of neither Captain Omar Kinsman (George Kennedy) or his beloved Doberman Pinscher, Rattler. You know that it will be messy when all three inevitably tangle. (more…)
Posted on December 28th, 2010 at 9:12 pm. Updated on January 27th, 2013 at 12:35 pm.
At the intersection of movies about undercover cops in prison [eg Behind Prison Gates (1939), White Heat (1949), Death Warrant (1990), Club Fed (1990), Half Past Dead (2002)], and action movies starring blokes with ponytails (eg just about anything with Steven Seagal) is this number. It might not be as far-fetched as some of those others, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. (more…)
Posted on December 26th, 2010 at 10:44 pm. Updated on December 26th, 2010 at 10:49 pm.
Also known as ‘Seabo‘, this Earl Owensby vehicle is set in North Carolina in 1957. Owensby produced the film, and is also cast in the lead role as Seabo, a Native American ‘halfbreed’ who is a tracker, bounty hunter and a wronged and supposedly enigmatic prisoner. Owensby, it seems, appeared in 11 films as an actor… and produced every one. If that doesn’t tell you something, nothing will. (more…)
Posted on December 18th, 2010 at 10:50 pm. Updated on December 18th, 2010 at 10:50 pm.
I’d read the reverential, slightly fawning reviews and was looking forward to seeing this arty ‘throwback’ (Steve Balderson’s contemporary tale filmed in the manner of a noirish 50s black-and-whiter) with great anticipation. Sadly, I found that it not only failed to live up to the hype, but is not a patch on the Women in Prison films of the 50s, the style of which it seems to try to recreate. If you like the period, watch Women’s Prison (1955), Girls in Prison (1956) or the British Yield to the Night (1956) instead, is my tip. (more…)
Posted on December 4th, 2010 at 10:34 pm. Updated on August 11th, 2013 at 12:03 pm.
Untamed youth? These youth are so tame that after working as virtual slaves in the hot sun all day and then being fed dog food, their collective response is to spend all night dancing to a rock ‘n’ roll jukebox. In a very untamed fashion, of course. (more…)
Posted on November 20th, 2010 at 10:25 pm. Updated on November 20th, 2010 at 10:25 pm.
“From the creator of Police Academy“, trumpets the blurb on my DVD. I’m not sure if it’s true (the DVD cover manages to get every other detail wrong, including all the names of the film’s characters), but – sadly – it might as well be. (more…)
Posted on November 4th, 2010 at 7:10 pm. Updated on November 4th, 2010 at 7:10 pm.