This is called the first women in prison flick ever made, so only for that alone it's a reason to watch it to see where it all started. But for the geeks in horror genre there's more. It was a co-production between the USA and Italie and it showed. Roger Corman was producer. The cinematography was done by Joe D'amato en the editing was in the hands of Joe Dante. All of them becoming notorious for their flicks. And if you look at the thespians, it had Pam Grier in it just coming out of Coffy (1973). With all those famous names it should have been a fantastic flick but it's all done before their heydays and it shows even as it do has a few potentials. The story is simple but believable and of course due some catfight in the kitchen it's decided that all women who are slaves should become gladiators. Being raped and humiliated by Romans they all work together to destroy the Romans. Don't expect big effects, there aren't any, and when stabbing takes place it's all done off-camera. Being an exploitation flick it also has a bit of nudity full frontal from the slaves. It was so typical back then around those years because porn was the big thing so nudity was a must in most of the flicks made early seventies to compete with the porn business. Clocking in under 90 minutes makes it watchable. And it do show the use of the typical zooming in on faces or action seen in spaghetti westerns made then and Italian horrors. If you aren't into WIP flicks then forget this but if you want to see the start of a few famous horror directors and producers then you must pick it up. It's not a good flick as I wrote earlier but a perfect example of early seventies exploitation.Gore 0/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

This movie takes place in the days of ancient Rome with people from various places outside of the empire being taken captive by the Romans and sold into slavery. One particular place they are taken is the city of Brundusium where the local coliseum is filled to capacity in anticipation of the gladiatorial games they take place on a regular basis. Although not initially intended for this barbaric sport, several female slaves are forced to participate due in large part to the insatiable blood lust of the restless crowd. Of these female slaves there are three main figures with different viewpoints. The first, named "Bodicia" (Margaret Markov) wants all of the females to band together and resist providing entertainment to the crowd. The second, "Mamawi" (Pam Grier) doesn't want to fight but is willing to kill in order to stay alive. The third, "Livia" (Marie Louise) is a Roman citizen and actually approves of the sport but would rather watch it from a distance. In any case, all of them are essentially powerless but none of them consider that fact to be a permanent condition. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a basic women-in-prison film which consisted of the typical elements of that specific sub-genre but was transposed to an ancient Roman setting. Both Pam Grier and Margaret Markov put in solid performances with Marie Louise being the most attractive while the character of "Deidre" (Lucretia Love) was the most annoying. At least in my opinion. Be that as it may, I found this to be an okay film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

A rare collaboration between U.S. and Italian exploitation exponents and the result is not all that bad either: director Carver, executive producer Roger Corman, producer Mark Damon, editor Joe Dante (I wonder whether these last 2 mentioned reminisced about it at the 2004 Venice Film Festival where I saw them both at the screening of Vittorio Cottafavi's THE HUNDRED HORSEMEN {1964}!) and co-star Pam Grier on one side, and cinematographer Joe D'Amato, composer Francesco De Masi and supporting actors Paul Muller and Rosalba Neri on the other. The film supplies a novelty to the Roman gladiator subgenre – which had seen service in many an Italian and Hollywood spectacular during the Golden Age of such fare, and would of course be revived with the Malta-shot GLADIATOR (2000) – by presenting us female combatants: in this respect, it recalls the contemporaneous "Amazon Women" flicks (and the girls here are even addressed as such at one point!) also emanating from Italy.The plot starts off with a number of them (including statuesque blonde Margaret Markov and buxomy black Grier – the two had actually already appeared together in BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA {1973; which I also own but have yet to watch} and, for the record, the former would marry Damon and retire from acting not long afterwards!) from different tribes being separately captured and sold as slaves to work for the Romans at the arena, under the supervision of Neri. Muller, then, is a politician who, as if taking a leaf from any of the Jess Franco movies he had appeared in, rapes Markov in front of his peers as a demonstration of his power! As befits its pedigree, the film is filled with wall-to-wall violence and nudity (much of it gratuitous) but also other potentially tasteless ingredients – but who can carp when everything is clearly done in fun? – such as the presence of a sissy overseer.At first, the girls are made to offer comfort to the male combatants the night before the latter are "about to die" – but, when they break into a veritable catfight in the kitchen, the flustered organizer of the bouts suddenly sees a ray of light in order to inject new blood (no pun intended) into the worn-out formula! Soon, the women (one of whom, annoyingly, is shown to be perennially drunk) begin to realize that someday they may have to kill each other: Grier is the first to have to make this difficult choice but only after her hesitation causes an archer to shoot an arrow and wound her (the result of her not complying with the arena-goers' thumbs down)!; the victim happens to be the love interest of their trainer, a Tor Johnson look-alike(!) who then changes loyalties and determines to help the girls escape. Eventually, the latter take control of the arena and exact a terrible revenge upon their captors (but also one of their number who had ingratiated herself with the 'enemy'); when the Roman militia sets out in pursuit, they (or, rather, the two protagonists since they predictably emerge as the sole survivors) escape through the caves to the safety of the sea. The film, essentially a variation on the Women-In-Prison flicks that were very popular around this permissive time, was actually remade by Russian director Timur (NIGHT/DAY WATCH) Bekmambetov in 2001!

Roger Corman's tough, engrossing, skillfully executed proto-feminist $1.98 drive-in version of "Spartacus," an early New World Pictures production reuniting the dynamic distaff duo of Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, who previously formed a sparky, highly charged rat-a-tat-tat chemistry together in Eddie Romero's excellent Filipino "The Defiant Ones" variant "Black Mama, White Mama." Ancient Rome, Italty: Desperate for a little variety and bored with your standard mano a mano gladiatorial combat, the gross, idle, decadent rich captors of a culturally diverse assortment of slaves decide to let their much abused female servants engage in vicious one winner per battle to the death gladiator fights. The female fighters, who include the gutsy Mamawi (the one and only Pam Grier, in typically ferocious fit'n'physical fighting mode), the compassionate Bodicia (beauteous, blue-eyed unsung favorite firebrand blonde Margaret Markov), and the flighty Diedre (lovely redhead cupcake Lucretia Love), understandably disgusted with the foul, ignoble, dehumanizing treatment they receive from their odious oppressors, stage a violent, rousing climactic revolt in which men and women alike savagely fight for their freedom.Ably directed by Steve Carver (who also helmed the bang-up Depression-era corker "Big Bad Mama" for Corman), with quick pacing, snappy editing, a pungent, convincing period atmosphere, a tightly constructed narrative that thunders along with tremendous drive, and a fine, brooding score by Francesco De Masi, "The Arena" really makes the cut as top-of-the-line high concept 70's exploitation cinema at its most quirky and inspired. The solid, unusually intelligent script by John William and Joyce Carol Corrington (who previously wrote the funky end-of-the-world sci-fi/action hoot "The Omega Man") poses an extremely challenging and provocative moral question: Would you willingly kill another person in order to stay alive? And how much abuse would you endure before finally deciding that enough's enough? Furthermore, the truly terrific B-movie twosome of Pam and Margaret make for strong, smart and sympathetic heroines whose desire for independence is both genuinely admirable and even inspirational. Sara Bey, a striking brunette actress who's most fondly remembered as the titular perverted character in "Lady Frankenstein," makes for an eminently hateful villainess as the bitchy, overbearing, cold-hearted wealthy wench Cordelia. The gladiatorial combat scenes seriously cook: they're brutal, sweaty and bloody, the kind of splendidly staged down'n'dirty swords and battle axes a swinging fights that are quite exciting in a fiercely visceral, kick-you-in-the-guts sort of way (Pam in particular wields a mean trident). A genuine oddity from the Glorious Golden Era of the Grindhouse, "The Arena" partially succeeds on the basis of its sheer strangeness alone and largely because it's simply a very well-done consummate pro job all around.