Though I love sleazy exploit cinema, I haven't watched too many of Jess Franco's films. Reason being, the handful that I have watched have been pretty lame. SADOMANIA is much of the same. A pretty proto-typical WIP film, with tons of full-frontal nudity and a few notably sleazy scenes - but Franco has a way of making even these elements boring.A man and his wife accidentally trespass on the property of a women's prison. The husband is let go, but the wife is detained. The typical female abuse at the hands of the female warden and guards, and even a German Shepherd in the highlight scene of the film. There's some side stuff about some of the women being sold into prostitution, but who cares? This one's all about the nekkid women...There's really very little in SADOMANIA that you haven't seen in other WIP films. The plot is just like every other entry: Girl gets imprisoned, girl gets abused, girl eventually escapes. There IS an absolute ton of full-frontal nudity, and most of the women are quite hot, so that's a plus. The aforementioned dog-scene is interesting too and is worth an extra point in my book. Problem is, these films would have really benefited from some hardcore sex and some stronger violence - elements that are noticeably lacking from most WIP entries. Die-hard exploit/WIP fans will probably want to give SADOMANIA a look, the average film viewer will either be bored or offended...6/10

"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

Sadomania starts with newly weds Michel (Angel Caballero) & Olga Gordon (Uta Koepke) taking a little detour on the way to their honeymoon & ending up in the middle of a place called 'Hacienda Blanca' which just happens to be a rehabilitation camp for delinquent women, Franco's description not mine... It quickly turns out that they are trespassing on private land, they are quickly arrested by topless gun-wielding female guards & taken to the camps sadistic warden, Magda Urtado (Ajita Wilson, a transsexual & porn star born Goerge Wilson). Michel is told to bugger off & never come back while his unfortunate bride Olga is taken prisoner & after having her top removed is thrown in the cells where she meets some of the other topless inmates & the topless guards. Poor Olga is made to work in the blazing sun, topless of course, & Olga quickly discovers that 'Hacienda Blanca' is a hell hole where the inmates have no rights, the officials are corrupt & everyone is constantly topless! Governor Mendoza (Antonio Mayans as Robert Foster) shows up & picks a woman for a hunt, a hunt in which an inmate is given a one minute (one minute? Thanks for nothing!) head-start before she is shot, sounds fair to me. Governor Mendoza is impotent & his wife Loba (Gina Janssen) isn't too happy about it so she has lesbian sex with inmates like Tara (Ursula Buchfellner) whom she then sells to Mario (Otto Retzer) who in turn sells her to Lucas (director Jesus Franco) who forces Tara to work in his brothel. Inmates like Conito (Andrea Guzon) are forced to fight to the death in gladiatorial combat with the guards, topless of course, & if they survive these tortures the Governor's pet Alsatian dog is ready for some loving...This Spanish West German co-production was co-written & directed by notorious Euro sleaze peddler Jesus Franco & considering I usually loathe Franco & his films I found Sadomania somewhat entertaining. The script by Franco & Gunter Ebert certainly isn't boring like most of Franco's sorry attempts at film-making, in fact it moves along at a nice pace & something is always happening to keep most Euro exploitation fans happy. There are hunts which end in the target being shot & then eaten by crocodiles, gladiatorial combat between topless women, an Alsatian dog rapes a tied up woman, lesbian sex, someone has a pin stuck in their nipple, women are beaten, groped, raped, humiliated & generally treated like dirt which is where my biggest problem with Sadomania lies. I simply dislike the overall tone & feel of Sadomania, my best friend at the moment is a 23 year old girl & I simply take no pleasure in seeing females treated like they have no feelings, treated like they are only on Earth to sexually please & nothing else & I found it a little hard as a male to enjoy all this depravity. Yes, I know it's only a film & as a film I liked it & even though it's a little longish at over 100 minutes it passed the time painlessly enough. There is no real story in Sadomania just a collection of incidents which lead up to the eventual prison break & rather abrupt ending. Characters just come & go, Sadomania never really focuses on any particular one, it dishes the nastiness out evenly! If it's nudity your after then Sadomania is a dream come true, I don't think I've ever seen another film with so much nudity in it, just about every sequence has nudity of some sort. The violence is far more restrained with a few whippings, a few fights, a needle piercing a nipple & a few gunshot wounds but none of these are what I would call particularly graphic. The acting is as good as one would expect, transsexual Ajita has a real screen presence & is pretty intimidating as the obligatory sadistic warden. Technically Sadomania is cheap, very cheap. Shot on location the cinematography is OK & there is a nice scene when two women have a fight against a purple blueish setting sun in silhouette. Overall I disliked the tone & derogatory attitude towards women but at the same time I found myself enjoying Sadomania for what it was. I'm in two minds about it, I've given it an above average 6 because when all said & done I'd probably watch it again. Also, I bet Franco saved a fortune on the costumes...

Spoilers herein.I approach Franco films as something more than sleazy exploitation. Much of my mail and even some of my colleagues are against me on this: they feel I read too much into them.I have a special place in my imagination that current Spanish-speaking filmmakers can reach and tickle. I think they are the most clever filmmakers working today, and I suspect Franco had something to do with it.Yeah, yeah, we get some breasts here, some mild (amazingly mild compared to 'Ilsa') suggestion of sexual torture and lots of huffing and puffing simulation. What we also get is an allegory of filmmaker as pimp, not quite a worn out idea in 1981. Franco himself plays the pimp. Unless I am wrong, this time he does not feature a lover as the girl, instead just hired a passel of 'models.'What makes this an extraordinary film is one character, the sadist of the title: the black mistress who is captain of the guards - a stark lesbian. This actress is in fact a transgendered man. She has an appearance and manner that are strange and disturbing. The fact that the story is obviously bogus adds to the mystery in a sort of Soviet-newspaper way. What we are told is going on is discounted as thin fiction. That leaves us to suspect that the real world is ever so more ambitiously dangerous.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.