Policewomen

Policewomen is an action movie directed by Lee Frost, who made several exploitation flicks including the pleasingly ridiculous The Thing with Two Heads (1972) about a white racist who has his head transplanted onto the body of a black guy! This one is certainly less psychotronic than that effort but is better value overall in my view. Its title makes no sense at all of course, as there is only really one policewoman in the film, seemingly it was going to be titled 'Policewoman' until a TV movie of that name was aired just before its release so the producers just pluralized the title of this one. Whatever the case, it hardly matters. It's about a female police officer who goes undercover to infiltrate an all-female gang of criminals.

I really like films full of women so this one was right up my alley. The guys that appear are very peripheral and sometimes even get beat up by the chicks, which is never a bad thing. But seeing as it's a 70's action flick, while it has some material satirising male chauvinism, the female empowerment stuff is offset by a sprinkling of nudity throughout, so everyone's a winner basically. The lead actress is Sondra Currie who makes for a great heroine. She, and the other women, get involved in much kung fu fighting and it's consistently entertaining stuff. The film opens with a prison break and then moves onto its gangster plot-line but it is in essence a female-led action flick which was clearly aimed at the unpretentious low budget drive-in crowd. I personally found quite a lot to like about this one and consider it something of a success.

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.

I have always loved crime or action films starring female criminals, inmates or not. Although there were dozens of women in prison movies. This one is not, or only at the beginning, whilst a bunch of chicks escape from behind bars. Besides this, that film is a great fun, despite the fact that it is really corny, but that's why I love it. Don't watch it in the same way as you could do it with SET IT OFF, A GUN FOR JENNIFER or GIRLS ON THE LOOSE, other girl gang features, which deserve to be seen with other eyes, with a more serious manner. This is a grade B film destined to Saturday evening drive in audiences, nothing else. I would not be surprised to learn that Quentin Tarantino is a great fan for this kind of stuff, and this film in particular. It could have been a series TV pilot, but I guess the TV show starring Angie Dickinson - POLICE WOMAN - would have jeopardize this never made TV show. I laughed with the sequences showing the lead female character - the cop - wearing her suit without undergarment for her breast. We clearly see her tits through the shirt. I am surprised that no other viewer has commented about this. And useless to say that the scenes showing the headquarters of the bikini girls is unforgettable. And the old gang leader with her younger husband, a sort of pencil neck bodybuilder pumping iron...ha ha ha

A must see for grade B cinema. But ONLY grade B cinema. Don't expect any serious stuff.

POLICEWOMEN opens with a semi-explosive, karate-enhanced jailbreak, led by the nefarious duo of Janette and Pam (Laurie Rose and Jeannie Bell).

Now, uber-tough policewoman, Lacy Bond (Sondra Currie) is on the case. Thankfully, she's as good at gunplay, stunt driving, and snappy comebacks as she is with her fists. She'll need all of her skills to take on an all-female drug smuggling ring, headed by a 75 year old granny!

Lacy's superiors have a hard time containing her unorthodox, violent methods, while many terribly-choreographed, sluggish martial arts battles ensue.

This is another example of drive-in movie fodder, with the typically forced "street" dialogue, hit and miss acting, and haphazard story line. Still, Ms. Currie remains likeable throughout, in spite of the hilarious shambles around her. Her character's training session with Bill the karate instructor (William Smith) is one for the ages!...

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.