Escape from Hellhole Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Escape from Hellhole Blu-ray Movie Review

Escape from Hellhole is an entertaining and enormously violent women-in-prison grindhouse offering. Executive produced by Subagio S. (Si Buta dari Gua Hantu: Neraka Perut Bumi, Lentera Merah), Escape from Hellhole is a thrill- ride of sensationalistic filmmaking. Produced by Gope T. Samtani (Noktah Merah Perkawinan, Waktu Maghrib), Escape from Hellhole is an excellent feature-film by Rapi Films. A cult film perfect for grindhouse fans.

Rapi Films was a successful genre film company of Indonesian Cinema known for producing a wide variety of cult genre titles. One of the genres of film most frequently explored by Rapi Films was the popular Women-in-Prison sub-genre. Escape from Hellhole is one of those memorable productions. The Indonesian feature explores over-the-top grindhouse roots with performances by Gudi Sintara, Siska Widowati, Dicky Zulkarnaen, Ramli Ivar, Leily Sagita, and Youstine Rais.

Indri (Gudi Sintara) wants to start over and find a new path in life. Seeking a change from her state of rural living, Indri moves to a new city based on the recommendation of her close friend Kartina (Siska Widowati). Yet the move to a new city brings with it changes that Indri never expected when she finds herself double-crossed by Kartina.

Kartina sold Indri as a slave to a wealthy business entrepreneur, Uncle M.G. (Dicky Zulkarnaen). Uncle M.G. also goes by the name of “Big Boss” with those working beneath him. M.G. determines what to do with his slave girls. M.G. often uses sadistic delights to whip, torture, and brutalize women at his own slave camp.

Indri doesn’t want to end her life as a slave to the sadistic whims of the Big Boss. Nonetheless, Indri is tossed into a women’s prison to serve these wild pleasures. The women are tormented with daily torture from the owner and the guards.

With determination and perseverance, Indri seeks to lead a rebellion of women slaves to bust out of the sadistic clutches of Big Boss and ultimately escape from the place known as Hellhole. Can Indri be a leader and victor in escaping her slavery and busting out all of the other imprisoned female slaves?

Gudi Sintara is terrific in the leading role. Escape from Hellhole is a perfect example of exploitation sleaze and actress Gudi Sintara understands her role in the film and has an abundance of fun with playing her part. The performance is often over-the-top and in the best way possible while also providing some humanity and realism to the feature-film during the later-act escape scenes. A performance that showcases the sleezy and seductive nature of the filmmaking, Gudi Sintara is remarkably sexy in the film, showcasing her beauty throughout the film while often being in an abundance of skimpy clothes. The role was a great fit for the actress. As the drama unfolds, Sintara clearly enjoys the chaos of the role, and plays the part with the right vitality necessary for a fun and memorable grindhouse feature.

The production is more impressive than one might expect given the low-budget nature of most grindhouse features. The art direction by Ramidi Rogodjampi (Asal Tahu Saja, Kisah Cinderella) showcases some nice stylistic flourishes. The slave camp has a grittiness to it that is effective. The make-up by Harry Hendrawan (Lady Dragon, Angel of Fury) helps to highlight the sex appeal of the women and their deeply seductive appeal. The costumes by Usman are impressive and work well for the women-in-prison genre – audiences should have a bit of an idea of what to expect.

Edited by Muksin E. Hamzah (Jaka Sembung, Golok Setan), Escape from Hellhole is fast-paced and the film doesn’t feel overburdened by too long of an edit. The film flows nicely and there is a sense of grindhouse entertainment throughout the feature-film. Even with some quieter moments in the production, the edit seems well-done. There is never a dull moment in Escape from Hellhole.

The cinematography by Thomas Susanto (Five Deadly Angels, Ratu Sakti Calon Arang) is one of the greatest highlights of Escape from Hellhole. Escape from Hellhole is a far more beautiful looking film than anticipated. The cinematography is visually sumptuous and the filmmaking looks all the more engaging as a result. There are some fantastic outdoor visuals – including an especially memorable image from the final scene of the film (which is well lensed by Susanto).

The score composed by Gatot Sudarto (Revenge of the Ninja, Jungle Virgin Force) is entertaining and a solid backdrop to the production. The score is surprisingly solid for a grindhouse feature-film. A score which highlights the over-the-top visuals and fits the stylistic flourishes of the production.

Written by Pitradjaya Burnama (Sorga yang Hilang, Misteri di Borobudur), Escape from Hellhole is no high art. The script is arguably one of the weakest elements of the production. The story is a fairly straightforward women-in-prison genre feature and given that it might not stand out as being a particularly memorable script for some audiences. Even so, the script is well paced, and during the finale, the build up to escape is well done. Expect a lot of over-the-top and outlandish dialogue, too.

Directed by Maman Firmansyah (Barang Terlarang, Rahasia Perkawinan), Escape from Hellhole is an enormously fun and sleezy feature-film. Escape from Hellhole delivers a ton of sleaze and for audiences wanting some simple fun from the women-in-prison genre, look no further - Escape from Hellhole delivers what you want in spades. Beautiful ladies, skimpy clothing, and sadistic terror – fun for everyone!

Escape from Hellhole Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Terror Vision, Escape from Hellhole is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1 widescreen. The release is sourced from the original camera negative. The original camera negative was used for this brand new 2K restoration. The original negative provided a longer cut of the feature-film and this version of the film is now available on home video for the first time. The 2K restoration is one of the highlights of the film.

Remarkable clarity and plenty of depth to the presentation. The colors have considerable "pop" on the release and impress in spades. The transfer is naturally filmic, cinematic, and engaging. It is even a little bit surprising how great the source footage looks with this crisp restoration. No doubt this is because of the quality of the original camera negative combined with the excellent restoration efforts by Terror Vision.

Escape from Hellhole Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Indonesian uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release has an impressive lossless presentation. The lossless encoding sounds crisp, clear, and engaging on the release. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The score is well reproduced on the release. An impressively detailed audio track and one that nicely accompanies the new 2K video restoration as well. Featuring brand new subtitles created by Terror Vision. The quality of the subtitles are great, too.

Escape from Hellhole Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes with a fantastic looking o-card slipcover. The limited-edition o-card slipcover makes the release a nice collector's edition for fans. The slipcover art is incredible and looks great in hand. A different cover-art is highlighted under the o-card slipcover and the sleeve art looks terrific, too.

The attention to providing additional key art is one of the things that sets Terror Vision apart from some other Blu-ray labels. Terror Vision also provides interior artwork on the inside of the case. These elements provide an extra degree of quality to the release and fans of Terror Vision will surely appreciate the video-store era quality to the top-class packaging.

It Came From Rapi Films: An Interview with Gope T. Samtani (HD, 5:18)

My Name is Helga: An Interview with Leily Sagita (HD, 23:23)

The She-Wolf of MG: An Interview with Yousine Rais (HD, 19:30)

Escape from Hellhole Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Escape from Hellhole is an entertaining and thrilling grindhouse feature. The women-in-prison genre film is an enormously fun slice of sleaze (cheese?) and provides a lot of sexy ladies in skimpy clothing in precarious situations. Gudi Sintara is great in the lead role. The Blu-ray features an excellent new 2K restoration. The release also includes a selection of exclusive bonus features. The first print run also includes a stunning limited- edition o-card slipcover with excellent artwork. A quality release all around. Highly recommended.