|
|||||||||||||||
If you are not familiar with the Emanuelle (Emmanuelle) movies, they are basically a series of films dealing with Emanuelle and her continuous sexual exploits and appetites. First appearing in 1974s Emmanuelle, there have now been nearly three dozen films made of this soft-core adventurer. The originals were all of French origin and were handled more like late night Showtime or Cinemax films. Sexual scenarios abounded and it seemed that everyone was horny 24 hours a day and cared little of who shared who's partner.
Later, Italian filmmakers wanted to get in on the action, however they were forced to take away one "m" to avoid copyright infringement. So it is that a string of more inventive (and far less thought out) "Emanuelle" films took shape. These include such wonders as: Emanuelle Around The World, in which our heroine battles a white slave trade; and Emanuelle's Amazon Adventure, in which she encounters a girl raised by cannibals, oh no! Famed Italian horror maestro, Bruno Mattei got sucked into the Emanuelle series, and ended up creating two of the more violent entries, if it can be said that they were not the exact same movie. First was this, Violence in a Women's Prison, followed a year later by the far more gore laden, Emanuelle in Prison. Oh well, go with what you know, I guess!
In this installment of the infamous series, Emanuelle is going under cover to investigate reports of brutality and abuse of the inmates. On the inside, she is exposed to beatings, forced sexual encounters (which in these films no one ever seems to mind), being chowed on by rats, and the occasional inmate death. All of this would be far more horrific if Mr. Mattei had elected to tell us that Emanuelle was an innocent person who was there voluntarily, but instead he chooses to keep it a secret (oops it says it on the box!) until late in the movie...beyond the point when we care if she gets out or not.
Will she escape? Can she stop the horrific injustices being committed to the lady inmates? Will it be uncovered that the headmistress of this prison and the headmaster of the men's prison next door are humping? See you just won't care...but that is fine, because this is not a movie designed to wrap you in its story. This movie is to watch when you want to see great exploitation fare. You want violence and sex in your entertainment? Go no further.
The guards are fever-pitched on abuse and sexual abuse. They go about their duties with a volley of whacks from their obvious rubber nightsticks. I say "obvious" for the reason that some of these prisoners take 40+ hits with a baton about 2-3 times a week. If you laughed at the Homey the Clown skit on the overrated In Living Color TV show, you will pee your pants laughing at the sheer amount of beating that takes place here. And if that isn't funny enough for you, there is always the exploits of a gay male prisoner who is the "target" of his cell mates affections, and can't quite convinve himself he doesn't like it. There is a reason that these films are called exploitation.
As far as the Emanuelle series goes, Violence in a Women's prison is of a different ilk. The addition of Mattei's violent atmosphere took away all remembrance of the "free love" roots of the films and replaced it with gritty situations and disturbing subjects. For these reasons alone it is a good thing that this was snatched up by Media Blasters. Admitted or not Emanuelle is a series with high vitality, and it is good to see one chapter of the legacy preserved. -aaron-
|
|||||||||||||||
