Policewomen

"Lacy Bond" (Sondra Currie) is a young policewoman who is stuck in a jail-house processing female prisoners and she feels like she is going nowhere fast. Then a mass breakout occurs and she single-handedly manages to prevent all but two female prisoners from escaping. Because of her actions she is offered an extremely dangerous assignment involving a group of female gold smugglers headed by a ruthless leader by the name of "Maude" (Elizabeth Stuart). Now, rather than reveal any more of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this was a mildly entertaining low-budget film which attempted to emulate the James Bond series to a certain extent. Unfortunately, some of the characters and the script clearly needed some fine-tuning and as a result it just wasn't up to the same high standards. But Sandra Currie was definitely hot and having plenty of attractive young women in swimsuits lolling about certainly didn't hurt this movie in any way. In short, this isn't a great movie by any means but it wasn't that bad either. Accordingly, I rate this movie as about average.

Among the films that have featured female super cops (mostly Hong Kong), Sondra Currie is more believable. She's not big, but displays sufficient athleticism so as not to ruin the illusion. This low budget crime action film is passable entertainment. I actually liked it, but I enjoy the action woman genre. None of the movie was believable. After all, who would put a policewoman in such extreme danger without much backup.

The video box cover indicates that this movie is "the most daring caper since "The French Connection". This puffing is a tad overstated, okay, a lot overstated. The cast was fairly extensive and the acting ability varied quite a lot. Don't be mistaken, most viewers will be laughing at portions of the movie. For me, I will overlook the bad and take some comfort in seeing the film and knowing that the film makers tried to make a good movie. Policewomen has largely disappeared from circulation. I gave it a 6 (from 10).

"Policewomen" (actually, there is technically only ONE policewoman in the movie) is not as sleazy or action-filled as other drive-in movies of the period. However, it does manage to be much more enjoyable than many of them.

Much of this is due to Sondra Currie, who is a delight as the lead. She gives her character confidence, a sense of humor, and a spirit of adventure. Whether arguing with her superiors or in hand-to-hand combat, she constantly shines. Judging from her performance here, it's a mystery why she didn't go onto bigger things, or at the very least become a prominent star in the drive-in genre.

But there is additional enjoyment beyond Currie. There is a good amount of humor - some unintentional, like how Currie's policemen co-workers are surprisingly sexist. However, most of the comedy is intentional and pretty funny at that. The plot has some outlandish touches (an all-girl gang that spends most of its time in bikinis?), a cameo by William Smith, Elizabeth Stuart has some hilariously stingy one-liners, and there is a respectable amount of nudity and sex. The best bits are the martial arts sequences, which are unusually very well choreographed (and surprisingly brutal at times.) Dim the lights, pretend you're at the drive-in, and sit back and have some fun.

Policewoman Lacy Bond,played by small dynamic redhead Sondra Currie,is a "supercop" assigned to take down a band of female gangsters who are up to all sorts of fiendish criminal activities.She uses(pretty basic)martial arts skills against them,and is later joined by undercover agent Pam Harris,played by Jeanie Bell,to help her take down the bad girl mob.The guys are generally pretty unimportant in this movie.Tony Young,as Lacy's boss and partner is reduced to a hapless sidekick,muttering his disapproval when he thinks she is putting herself in danger(and at one point having to be rescued by our heroine from some murderous babes who are beating him to death!).Only Phil Hoover,playing a funny and pretty vicious villain,and the great William Smith,sending himself up in a cameo as a patronizing police fight instructor,really register among the male cast.This cheap but entertaining movie contains all the elements expected from Lee Frost's "drive-in" fare,some sex and nudity,scantily clad girls,and lots of action.Fans of female fighting in movies should like the scenes where Lacy and Pam use judo and karate battling the female villains-such as tough con Janette (Laurie Rose)and Caroline (Dorrie Thomson) and her gang.

A beautiful, albeit deadly, young policewoman named Lacy Bond (Sondra Currie) is recruited to help bring down a new all-girl gang.

This film is aimed squarely at drive-in film fans who like their stories with a little touch of female exploitation. Well, this film is nowhere near as sleazy as its opening credits would seem to suggest so some may be disappointed.

Ultimately this is a film that Almost Works: the fight scenes are surprisingly good, there's a coherent plot that's easy to follow and our leading lady proves easy to like as well as easy on the eyes. Yes this almost works...in terms of a serious film...

But Not Quite...why?

Well for one thing there's a few too many underdeveloped characters. Another is how the all-girl gang likes to spend most of their time sunning themselves in bikinis....also the ending really stretches the credibility a bit too far...

Still all in all this is sometimes quite a lot of fun to watch. My favorite scenes include Lacy kicking butt in police uniform when the prisoners make a break, what happens when she takes on William Smith, and when she saves someone (I won't say who) from a severe beating at the hands of five vicious bikini-wearing babes?! Somewhat ahead of its time given the current craze in television for this type of stuff.