With 'Sadomania', director Jess Franco has deftly created yet another cinematic masterpiece, while at the same time he completely blows the lid off of the shadowy underworld of topless female slave camps. (Not surprisingly, this gem was completely ignored by the snooty snobs on the Oscar committee!) The film also exposes just how easy it is to assemble a bevy of attractive young 'actresses' in the middle of nowhere and convince them to degrade themselves for an entire film. A young newlywed couple is honeymooning along a desolate, rocky, section of the Spanish coastline, (why?!), when they are suddenly hijacked and taken prisoner by the sadistic warden of a local slave camp and her, topless, female armed guards. The husband is quickly released and ordered to never return, (oh, O.K.!), while his hot wife remains captive. She is placed with the other slaves and forced to crack rocks along the coast, beneath the blazing sun, and under the watchful eyes of the guards. Their uniforms consist of 'Daisy Duke' short shorts and sneakers. In fact, there is not a bra in sight for the entire film. These poor wretches aren't even provided with some basic sunscreen! Enter the 'Governor', a man who lacks any morals, nor, apparently, any blood flow to his penis. He and his warden like to kill prisoners for sport. One blond hottie soon gets in a fight with one of the guards, and the warden orders that they fight to the death to settle their differences. The fight scene which follows is of such complexity that it clearly took seconds to choreograph. Blondie finally dispatches her adversary, but her skill, and body, have caught the attention of the Governor. He has her brought to his home, where he devises a perverted plan which will finally allow him to successfully pork his smokin' hot wife. Enter 'Panzer' the Wonder Pooch, (I just made that name up). Panzer is a large German Shepard with a fondness for hot, blond, slave chicks. As the Governor and his wife watch, Panzer is set loose upon the naked and shackled slave chick. He dives into humping slave girl with gusto. (Surprisingly, Panzer chooses the missionary position over doggy style!) This sick display of bestiality is enough to finally give the Governor a stiffy, and he is able to successfully pork his wife to completion. (Panzer later won the award for 'Best Dog on Blond Chick Sex Scene' at the Cannes de Alpo awards.) Next, the Governor's wife decides to sell slave girl to another slaver, and she drives her to a local wharf to make the deal. Following the sale, the evil slaver locks slave girl in the cargo hold of his boat and sets sail for.....who knows? As expected, his own horniness soon gets the better of him, and he begins raping slave girl. She spots his gun in his belt and sees an opportunity for escape. She uses her feminine charm to convince the slaver to unshackle her, and when he does she quickly snatches the pistol from his belt. Now with the upper hand, she displays a moment of sheer stupidity. She holds the gun a mere few inches from his face and upraised hands and orders him not to move. Of course, he immediately swats the gun from her grasp, and then proceeds to continue dry humping her into submission. The viewer is treated to the sight of his hairy ass rising and falling between her thighs. At this point, my curiosity has been more than satisfied, and I decide to extricate myself from this sucking vortex of suckiness. Sorry, if you want to know how it all ends you'll have to waste an hour and a half of your own life. 5 stars given only for the wealth of gratuitous topless and full frontal nudity. Show less

Sadomania (1981) *** (out of 4)Jess Franco put his hands in many genres but there's no question that he was the king of the WIP genre. His women-in-prison films are some of the most outrageous out there and this here might very well be the most offensive, which means it's a must-see for fans of the genre. The story is pretty simple as newlyweds Olga (Uta Koepke) and Michael are making out on some private property, which belongs to a local prison. The evil warden (Ajita Wilson) orders Olga to be held behind bars where she realizes all the lesbianism, torture and other evils going on. SADOMANIA is, simply put, a sick, deprived and downright outrageous film and all of this makes it one of the best of its type. If you're looking for a soft and easy R-rated prison drama then this here certainly isn't that. This film is perverted on just about every letter and I honestly don't think five-seconds goes by without some woman being nude. The film has pretty much wall-to-wall nudity as all of the women in prison are forced to be naked and even the prison warden and her guards are always in the nude. Those wanting flesh are going to get plenty of it here. There's also some rather fun violence including a "game" where women must run through a swamp to try avoid getting shot. The only problem are some fake looking alligators who are very hungry. The film even goes as far as to have a prostitution ring, white slavery and most notorious of all is a dog who likes to have sex with the girls. Yes, SADOMANIA is pretty much the sleazy exploitation trash that makes the genre work so well when it gets everything right. Sure, the performances aren't the greatest, although Wilson has her certain charm in full force. The film actually looks a lot more professional than the previous ones done by Franco and this includes good cinematography, great lighting and very good editing. Another major plus is that it seems the budget allowed for a lot more naked ladies because these films usually have a limited number of girls but this one here has dozens available. Again, if you're going to be easily offended or are afraid of the genre then it's best to stay away. Those wanting to see one of the best WIP films out there should jump right in.

"Sadomania" is one of the sleaziest films Franco ever did.**SPOILERS**Enjoying a day in the sun, young couple Olga, (Uta Koepke) and Michael, (Angel Caballero) take a wrong turn on a road and are immediately captured and sent to a nearby prison, lead by the evil warden Magda Urtado, (Ajita Wilson) and her staff. Michael is set free, while Olga is detained and charged with trespassing. Thrown in with the other inmates, all women, she is forced to work in the local fields while Magda occasionally comes in and takes one away, including selling Conito, (Andrea Cuzon) to Governor Mendoza, (Antonio Mayans) and his wife, Loba Mendoza (Gina Janssen) as a sex toy. After hearing that the other inmates at the prison where also sold into slavery or prostitution rings from the prison, Michael leads a small force to take over the prison and release the inmates trapped inside.The News: This is perhaps one of the sleaziest and greatest entries in the Women-in-Prison genre. This film simply rests on its sleazy laurels. The intent is perfectly clear with the flesh count being ridiculously high, hot-pants being the sole contribution from the wardrobe department and lesbianism coming into play whenever a scene runs out of ideas. All you need do is notice how any camera move goes out of its way to ogle a quick behind or pair of breasts before coming to the realization that this is film with only one thing on its mind. In this respect, then, it's a film which does exactly what you'd expect of it, and therefore could be described as a perfect example of this kind of film. It also gives the Women-in-Prison audience all the naked flesh, lesbianism and sadism it could ever want and then some. This is brought out with some off the best punishment ever shown in this type of situation. It ranges from being locked in a cage like a wild animal to being hunted down in the swamp to the death and being sold into slavery and prostitution rings. The swampland scenes are its best ones, as there's quite an amusing feel to see armed guards traipsing through the swamp gunning down nude inmates, finally being subjected to the Warden's grin of approval as a lone crocodile chomps down on the inmate's lifeless body. The slavery and prostitution subplots offer up even more sleaze and torture, and offer some really bizarre scenes. Since the Governor has become impotent, his wife, who will stop at nothing to help her husband through it, allows for some really sleazy help. This includes getting it on with the prisoners herself, allowing him to get it on with the prisoners and ultimately allowing their German Shepard to get it on with one of the prisoners, which is quite disturbing in thought but really quite funny in execution. There really isn't much to it that will keep from bursting out in laughter, but it's still a cruel thought. The film also has moments of genuine artistry, such as the impressionistic imagery as Mendoza silently enters the room to take over from his wife in servicing Olga. There is an incredibly strong sense of feminism in the film for the way in which the male characters are weak and ineffectual, their female superiors strong and capable. This is quite evident in the fact that all the male attempts to rescue the women fail and must resort to the women to get them out of trouble. Franco's direction continues to be plagued with relentless zooming and panning shots, but overall is more coherent than a lot of his work. The message of this film seems to be that of what hides under our civilized surface and what kind of animals we are deep inside. Plenty of segments without dialog and some symbolic scenes, like the knife-fight-to-the-death scene, which show and depict the wild beast psyche that hides inside every human being, but in many cases un-active, are brought loud and clear to the forefront. Another example is the sadists in the film are totally insatiable and hungry for sex, which is perhaps the strongest instinct in human nature and psyche. It shows us the faces of human nature we wouldn't necessarily want to face, but as we think about the state of the world and what kind of things take place, the thoughts are more than true and serious. There is also a couple of problems in the film. With tons of gorgeous naked blonde women on display throughout, all of the girls look alike, and there are so many of them it's hard to keep track of who's who and where they are. Worse still, the camera work in here is a distracting mess Franco shoots one love scene mostly out of focus, and another with an emphasis, or an obliviousness, to a giant zit on the woman's torso that is frighteningly unerotic. Perhaps most representative of the style is a long shot of a car driving off as seen from behind some trees. Instead of shooting through the branches, the shot is directly into the branches, thus obscuring the view of the car altogether. There is also a really distracting sequence where a toy pistol is standing in for the real thing in one key scene. Rather than attempt to hide this, it is shot in tight close-up, where it even can be seen expelling a few drops of water when "fired." All these elements, though, don't distract from a severely twisted and exceptional sleaze epic.The Final Verdict: A sleaze classic from Franco, this is required viewing for those interested in seeing a master work his trade or those who are into the scene. It's got it all for everyone and indulges in everything possible.Rated UN/NC-17: Nudity, several long, graphic sex scenes, bestiality, Rape, Graphic Violence and Language

Filmed on an exploitation level this sleazy flick is a typical Jess Franco-film and everyone should know what that means: a nearly not existing plot, lots of nudity and some misogynist violence. This film is banned in the United Kingdom, but it´s really questionable in how far "Sadomania" is still an exciter compared to today´s standard: there is a girl having hinted sex with a dog, trade with female human slaves, lesbian sex and some S/M-role playing, but it´s full of unconscious humor and bad acting. The most memorable part comes from Ajita Wilson, a transexual, who became a porn star in the 1970s and plays the role of the sadistic prison leader. Nevertheless "Sadomania" is worth to be seen - assumed that you like this kind of film: it´s entertaining from beginning till the end and definitely the right stuff for your next trash movie video party! Jess Franco´s masterpiece "Vampyros Lesbos" however is still unequaled!!!