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The 'women in prison' sub-genre goes back as far as the
1930s, but it wasn't until Jess Franco's 99 Women (1969) that the
template changed. A formula was established that was to be followed for many
years – and many films – to come. Innocent girls thrown into a depraved hell
hole of a prison, often in a stifling foreign climate, only to be tortured and
seduced in equal measure by both guards and fellow prisoners. Sadistic wardens
(often times female) would treat their guests of the state like slaves,
and many WIP films involve prostitution or trafficking sub-plots. Toss in
plenty of bare/sweaty/soapy female flesh, prison riots, escape plans, and cruel
injustices resolved with furious vengeance, and you've got the essentials of
the genre.
The locations would change (islands, jungles, Los
Angeles, East Germany, etc), and the tone would shift (action fest,
sexploitation, Naziploitation etc), but common themes remained true across
the board. Repetitive, perhaps, certainly sleazy, these films fought with
sexual politics head-on. Simultaneously exploiting attractive women while also
unleashing them to seek their bloody satisfaction; there are few good men in the
WIP arena. These are the sort of movies in which, when the women do wear
clothes, they might as well not have bothered as their breasts always find a
way to get maximum screen time. Bombastic, low budget, sometimes shocking,
occasionally grotesque, it's a wild-eyed world of hot bodies, cold steel,
burning passions and animalistic insanity.
Read on to discover the delirious depravities of 99 Women,
Women Behind Bars, Bare Behind Bars, Sadomania, and Amazon
Jail.
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