Violence in a Women's Prison (AKA Emanuelle in Hell) sees Italian trashmeister Bruno Mattei (as Vincent Dawn, just one of many silly aliases the guy operated under) tackling the WIP genre with the same lack of subtlety, skill and style that he applied to most of his work; in other words, the film is an inept but gloriously cheesy slice of exploitative garbage that offers lots of misogynistic action, cartoonish violence, and unintentional hilarity, interspersed by moments of extreme drudgery and sheer tedium.Laura Gemser, she of the dusky skin and perky breasts, once again stars as intrepid reporter Emanuelle, who this time around poses as a hooker and drug pusher to go undercover in a women's correctional facility and, with the help of Doctor Moran (Gabriele Tinti) and some friendly inmates, expose the depravity and corruption that goes on within. This flimsy plot is all the excuse Mattei needs to give fans of such dubious fare (myself included) over an hour and a half of poorly acted, badly directed sleaze, including the obligatory lesbian action from big breasted bimbos, assorted scraps, a rat attack, a touch of rape, a smidgen of buggery, a little drug abuse, some torture, and best of all, a scat-fight (that's a cat fight that takes place in human feces). It's not art, but it is fun (some of the time).I give Violence in a Women's Prison 5.5 out of 10, happily rounded up to 6 for Lorraine De Selle's unmissable performance as the prison's nasty head warden, who parades around in black stockings and sussies, forces Doctor Moran to have sex with her (the poor man), and watches on with glee as a virginal female prisoner is raped by two leering inmates borrowed from the neighbouring men's prison.

Gutsy reporter Emanuelle (luscious Laura Gemser) goes undercover as an inmate in a women's prison to expose the corruption and brutality going on inside the place. When her identity is revealed, she incurs the vicious wrath of the sadistic staff. Veteran Italian trashmeister Bruno Mattei, working from a suitably seamy script by Olivier Lefait and Ambrogio Molteni, scrupulously covers all the spot-on essential slimy bases: abundant tasty distaff nudity, lurid lesbianism, sizzling soft-core sex scenes, ferocious rape, rough'n'tumble fisticuffs, mean and cruel guards, a grimy location, an exciting last reel break-out, a few lively catfights, a dark and gritty tone, and a simply fantastic sequence with Emanuelle being attacked by nasty red-eyed rats after she's placed in solitary confinement all add up ton provide a quite sleazy and hence most enjoyable piece of low-grade schlock. The sturdy cast of familiar Italian exploitation cinema regulars helps a lot, with stand-out contributions by Gabriele Tinti as the kindly, humane Dr. Moran, Lorainne De Selle as the wicked and depraved warden, Ursula Flores as the fragile Consuelo, Maria Romano as the snippy Kitty, Francoise Perrot as ruthless and predatory snitch Hertha, Jacques Stany as the crooked chief inspector, and Leila Durante as wise old felon Pilar. Luigi Ciccarese's polished cinematography makes all the filthy goings-on look slicker than they probably deserve. Luigi Ceccarelli's bluesy'n'jazzy pounding rock score hits the right-on groovy pulsating spot. Worthwhile viewing for babes-behind-bars buffs.

(aka: VIOLENCE IN A WOMAN'S PRISON or CAGED WOMAN)This one looks like it was filmed in Italy, although it's supposed to take place in some unnamed South American country. There's no jungle setting here like you'll find in other woman's prison films.The first of two woman's prison films Bruno Mattei did with EMANUELLE star Laura Gemser, this one involves a woman journalist who goes undercover inside a woman's prison in order to expose the inhumane treatment of prisoners.All around her, there's all kinds mechanical soft-core lezbo sex going on. It's really un-erotic and boring. There's also not a lot of blood or gore in this one. Not as much as one would expect from this kind of film. In a so-so early scene, Gemser throws a bucket of sh#t at two female prison guards after they shove her around and force her to clean it out. For this transgression, she is locked up in solitary confinement and bitten by a large number of rats running around in her cell. Then the female warden finds out Gemser is a journalist and has her beaten with clubs. Next, Gemser is put into a metal cylinder while guards bang on it with metal hammers. This description reads more exciting than it actually is.Hey, if this is your kind of thing, then you're much better off watching those female prison films Eddie Romero and Roger Corman did back in the 70s. At least they had the Philipino jungle to give it a more savage atmosphere. This one looks like a bunch of ugly women going through the motions for the sake of the motions. It's about as exciting as a flat curve.The Shriek Video uses a clean, widescreen print with bad dubbing, pops and static in the soundtrack and few extras beyond an interview with Mattei and a movie trailer. Not much to recommend. 2 out of 10

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** This Italian made movie must have developed a serious identity crisis by now: over the years, it's been released in various edited versions under at least half a dozen titles, including `Chicks in Chains,' `Women's Penitentiary 4,' and `Caged Women,' a name shared by three other women in prison flicks to date. A couple of the titles, like `Emanuelle in Hell,' reveal what the others obscure: this is in fact another installment in the long running series of `Black Emanuelle' softcore sex flicks, all starring the Indonesian-born exotic beauty Laura Gemser. By the way, the original BLACK EMANUELLE (1975) itself was an attempt to cash in on the legendary adult classic EMMANUELLE (1974), which starred sexy Sylvia Kristel and spawned a string of its own sequels along with a few other racially varied imitations, including YELLOW EMANUELLE (1976).Once again, Gemser plays our favorite globe-trotting, free-loving journalist, this time writing an expose on the harsh conditions in a notorious women's penitentiary. She deliberately has herself arrested and sentenced on fake drug charges so she can infiltrate the institution and get the inside scoop. She certainly has no problem gathering plenty of dirt for her report. The prison facilities are especially grungy and the kinky warden (lovely Australian actress Lorraine De Selle) gets off on watching the lesbian inmates have sex with one another. When they're not in the mood, she dispatches her guards to rape them. Unfortunately, Emanuelle has neglected to notify the authorities or anybody else of her plans, which isn't exactly the brightest of ideas. With no one to vouch for her innocence, she's left trapped with no way out just like the other pisoners.In an ill-advised act of defiance, she dumps a bucket of sewage from the toilet on a guard and gets thrown in a dungeon where she's nibbled on by rats that inflict fake looking wounds. Later, the warden torments her with one of the weirdest torture techniques I've ever seen: a huge brass bell is lowered over her body and repeatedly clanged! In a standard cliche of the genre that dates back at least to 1971's THE BIG DOLL HOUSE, she's eventually befriended by the prison doctor (played by Gemser's regular co-star and real life husband, Gabriele Tinti). Oddly, there's also a portion of the prison reserved for men, where a shrill voiced gay prisoner provides stereotypical comic relief.Throughout the '70, '80s, and '90s, Director Bruno Mattei pumped out a bunch of low rent exploitation quickies ranging from Nazi atrocities such as S.S. EXTERMINATION LOVE CAMP (1977) to splatter flicks like ZOMBIE INFERNO (1981). He had helmed a couple of previous Black Emanuelle sequels dating back to 1978 and was probably running out of steam for the series when he came up with the inspired idea of injecting the popular character into the time-tested women in prison scenario. A familiar heroine in a desperate situation should have been a winning exploitation combination but oddly, the film largely fails to deliver either the violence and suspense of most WIP movies or the eroticism of the typical Black Emanuelle film. Of course Ms. Gemser does show off her pert little body in several nude scenes, including one in which she's raped in the infirmary by the corrupt prison inspector, and De Selle contributes some partial nudity during a voyeuristic sex scene. Somehow, though, the rest of the film is a bit too low key to generate much excitement.Nevertheless, Mattei apparently liked the approach well enough to repeat it practically verbatim the following year. Emanuelle winds up behind bars again (with Tinti and De Selle once more on hand) in the next installment of the series, WOMEN'S PRISON MASSACRE (1983). It's more violent than its predecessor but is probably the only film Gemser ever made in which she manages to keep her clothes on from start to finish.