Naive and innocent Carol Jeffries (a solid and appealing portrayal by the attractive Jennifer Gan) gets framed by her dope dealer boyfriend and winds up incarcerated in a brutal female prison located in the Filipino jungle where the sadistic head matron Alabama (fiercely played with lip-smacking wicked relish by Pam Grier in a rare full-blown villainous role) treats the inmates with appalling cruelty and inhumanity. Director Gerry De Leon, working from an appropriately sordid script by James H. Watkins and David B. Osterhout, relates the harsh story at a constant swift pace and maintains a suitably hard and gritty tone throughout. All the pleasingly seedy grindhouse bases are well covered here: copious gratuitous female nudity, demeaning strip searches, a group shower scene, a ferocious catfight, lesbianism, torture, prostitution, drug use, and a thrilling breakout. Sturdy distaff veteran drive-in flick favorites Judy Brown as the sarcastic, hard-boiled Sandy and Roberta Collins as the resilient, but treacherous strung-out smack addict Stoke both excel in their juicy parts. Moreover, there's a pervasively rough, grimy, and sweaty quality to this picture which greatly enhances the overall supremely seamy atmosphere. Felipe Sacdalan's fairly polished and dynamic cinematography does the trick. The funky syncopated score likewise hits the get-down groovy spot. Recommended viewing for fans of down'n'dirty 70's exploitation cinema.
Review of Women in Cages
