Women in Cellblock 9

Four hot chicks are sent off to a hellhole prison in either South or Central America and then spend most of their time butt nekkid, because it's a Jesus Franco film and chicks are contractually obliged to spend much of their screen time butt nekkid in Jesus Franco films, just like chicks are contractually obliged to have something unutterably horrible happen to them in Lucio Fulci films. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the chicks in Cellblock 9 only (very) briefly keep their clothes on for like the opening scene.

Anyhoo, this one's pretty nasty even by Senhor Franco's standards, and is chock full of misogyny, with some rather squirm inducing torture sequences to go with the bewbs and Franco's trademark lingering crotch shots.

One of the chicks in Cellblock 9, Susan Hemmingway, (At least I think it's her-she certainly looks young enough) was under 18 at the time of filming, which means it will never ever ever be accepted by the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) as she spends most of her screen time butt nekkid and chained, as well as getting down with three other chained and butt nekkid chicks. She also starred in Franco's Love Letters Of A Portuguese Nun, which I haven't seen, but am willing to bet isn't a dignified portrayal of a humble life of pious servitude in a convent. Cellblock 9 is also surprisingly down beat and grim, which puts it firmly in the category of totally and completely vile irredeemable filth which should not be viewed by anyone at all whatsoever, particularly chicks just released from prison. Best line: After thwarting an escape attempt by hawt chicks via fruit truck, a guard leers "THIS is the type of fruit my men like!" Awesome.

7/10, delivers in what it sets out to do in spades, and fans of dirty nasty no-value-at-all-whatsoever Eurosleaze exploitation should check out this grimy little doozy. Senhor Franco, you are a true cinematic Trashmeister, and I salute you good sir.

This movie begins with a small group of women being transported by truck into a South American jungle so that they can join up with a band of revolutionaries. Unfortunately, they are captured by government soldiers and three of them are sent to a female prison hidden far from civilization. While there they are tortured in the hope that one of them will disclose information about the revolutionaries that the government can use. As far as this movie is concerned over half of the movie focuses on the torture aspects at the expense of everything else. To be sure there is quite a bit of nudity and it isn't all bad-especially with regards to Karine Gambier (as "Karine") and Susan Hemingway ("Maria"). But some of these torture scenes ran on much too long which resulted in a film that never realized the potential it clearly had. Additionally, some of those same scenes were just plain disgusting as well. In any case, I thought it could have been a better movie and as a result I rate this film as below average.

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

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.