Women in Cellblock 9

A group of women led by Karine Levere is caught by the warden of a women's prison,located somewhere in the South American jungle.None of them will reveal the secrets of their organization or the names of their collaborators in the cities,so they are handed over to Dr.Costa who,after four years inactivity in Europe,is delighted to be able to practice his torture techniques once more.Laverne fails to resist the inhuman treatments and reveals all.The only hope of saving the organization is for the girls to warn the city cell before it's too late.They trick the prison guard into having sex with them,knock him out and break out of prison.The warden and Dr.Costa must prevent them from revealing the practices inside the prison,so the hunt begins."Women In Cellblock 9" is an enjoyable exploitation film made by Jesus Franco.The script is terrible,but it serves as a pretext for showing lots of full-frontal nudity,sexuality and some rather nasty torture sequences.The film was produced by Erwin C.Dietrich,but it's not as memorable as "Barbed Wire Dolls".Franco regular Howard Vernon is perfect as a sadistic Dr.Costa and Susan Hemingway is a stunning beauty.So if you are ready for some fun sleazy thrills give this film a look.8 out of 10.

This sexploiter was quite clearly made for the sex & gore crowd. Thus we have here several beautiful women (nude most of the time), who are imprisoned and raped and tortured and raped and killed and raped. Completely lacking in this film is a source of reference, a coordinate system in which we could place any of these people. There are no answers to questions such as "Why?", or "Where from?", regarding any of the characters. They don't have a future, a past, a motivation, a connection to any kind of life as we know it. In a way, they are like some of these alien societies encountered once (and only once) by Captain Kirk in one of the Star Trek episodes.

We normally criticise movie characters as two-dimensional when they are underwritten - here even "one-dimensional" would give too much credit, as they don't move in space, time, or behaviour. Thus there wasn't much acting skill asked of the cast and thus they have no problems coping with this very limited demand; especially Howard Vernon is (as ever) excellent at portraying unpleasant people of the sinister kind.

Compared to other Franco flicks the cinematography is exceptionally good (none of his trademark out-of-focus zooms) and at times even inspirational. The sets are fine too, although it has to be said that torturing instruments that are meant to aid interrogation completely fail their purpose if they almost instantaneously kill.

The reputation of explo-surrealist Jess Franco's penchant for sadism and cruelty largely rests on the four Women In Prison films he made almost back to back in the late '70s. Far from the 'intellectual' flaunting of 'Succubus' or the dream-like aura of 'Vampyros Lesbos', Franco's works like 'Ilsa: Absolute Power', 'Barbed Wire Dolls', '99 Women' and this film, reveal his fascination with unabashed sadism and humiliation without distraction.

Granted a couple of other filmmakers have far surpassed this film in terms of hyper-shocking violence (Guinea Pig anyone?), but the latent nihilism and hatred of Franco's entire oeuvre comes out in spades in 'Cell Block 9'.

Granted, it's highly inartistic, very cheap and mainly a smörgåsbord of cruel scenarios depicting a woman's political prison in the jungle and the cruel warden who rules it with an iron fist. There is a message in the sense that you can feel Franco's outrage regarding prisoners of conscience, but there's no unifying statement here, political or otherwise.

For those who like Franco's skewed view of human sexuality but can do without the heady surrealism, this is a pretty good film to watch, especially if you're curious about what happens when the Master takes his gloves off and gets dirty. Also, for you hardcore Franco fans, if you thought 99 Women and Barbed-Wire Dolls was a little 'soft', you'll be redeemed here. Recommended for Franco fans.

Sleaziness and nudism abound in this movie with a lot of gory scenes , grisly killing and loathing frames . Somewhere in the jungles of South America mercenaries stop a truck which has supposedly loaded fruit. The cargo results to be six young girls (Karine Gambier, Susan Hemingway, Gouveia , among others) . Apprehended and handed over to the custody of the local prison wardens and jail chiefs (Howard Vernon , Dora Doll) . They are really villainous and heinous wardens who the prisoners really fear them . The unfortunate girls escape but are relentlessly chased by the most dreaded pursuers and they will stop at nothing to get their purports and at whatever means . Along the way , things go wrong . Beaten ! Shackled ! Raped ! Just another day in Cellblock 9 !

From the fevered , wonderfully perverted minds of Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco and Swiss producer Erwin C. Dietrich comes the notorious WIP shocker Frauen für Zellenblock 9 (1978) or Women in Cellblock 9 or Tropical Inferno . This is an extremely controversial movie , in fact it was and remains banned , nowadays , in the U. K. Stars Franco regulars Susan Hemingway , Howard Vernon and Karine Gambier and tells the tale of a gaggle of female freedom-fighters who are taken to a secluded women's jungle prison where they endure al manner of violent sexual humiliations . And with Howard Vernon and Dora Doll showing as two feared villain wardens at a death camp mistreating inmates and undergoing creepy criminal acts . Like all of the production in the prolific Franco/Dietrich collaboration cannon (most of which are represented in Full Moon's limited digitally and remastered uncut tranfer struck from Dietrich's own archival negative edition Jess Franco collection) this Zellenblock 9 or Cellblock 9 is a visually lush , erotic and exploitation work , armed with exotic locations , weird interpretations and dreamy musical score by Walter Baumgartner . Disagreeable movie stars the naughty as the evil doctor Howard Vernon and nasty warden Doris Coll enjoying the female prisoners and torturing them . Plot is incidental to violence , tortures and loads of nudism . Here the sinister entertainment is watching as the torture-loving wardens mistreat prisoners by using all kinds ordeals and tortures , as well as the subsequent getaway of the naked girls across the lush jungle . This is a below average and extremely sadistic film with lots of graphic gore , violence , guts and naked women.

Produced in short budget by Erwin Dietrich , the motion picture was lousily directed by Jesús Franco or Jess Frank with lots of skin and no acting , providing a boring flick in low budget with plenty of shortfalls , failures , flaws and gaps . In the Seventies Franco directed various WIP movies , such as : the revered classic ¨99 Women¨with Maria Schell , Herbert Lom , Elisa Montes , Mercedes McCambridge ; ¨Love camp¨ (1977) with Muriel Montosse , Monica Swinn ; ¨Barbed Wire Dolls¨with Lina Romay , Paul Muller , Monica Swinn ; "Wanda , The Wicked Warden" 1977 by Jess Frank with Dyanne Thorne , Lina Romay , Tania Busselier . Not for the easily offended (but what Franco movie is ?) Frauen für Zellenblock 9 (1978) is an essential and fundamental trash movie gem not to be missed for Uncle Jess enthusiasts. It is a 78 minutes of pure mind melting sleaze entertainment with no sense and for some fans being an exploitation gold .

Released almost at the end of the infamous collaboration between Jess Franco and Erwin C. Dietrech, Women in Cellblock 9 is a entertainment women in prison flick starring the gorgeous Karine Gambier, the innocent looking young actress Susan Hemingway and the great Howard Vernon.

The movie follows a group of women lead by Karine Gambier, who are captured and send to a tropical prison. In there, a female warden and the sadistic Dr. Costas (Vernon) force the girls into revealing the secrets of the organization they belong. But the women won't talk, so they torture them in various ways. After the ladies can't take it anymore, the try to escape the prison, starting a battle to survive.

While no as sleazy as Barbed Wire Dolls (1975), the movie features some good torture sequences and a lot of female nudity, to satisfy all exploitation fans. Definitely worth a look. 7/10