Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray Movie Review

Gray is the new orange.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 3, 2018

As both Kung Fu Trailers of Fury and Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury more than amply demonstrated, the untimely death of Bruce Lee set martial arts filmmakers into a bit of a panic (maybe even a frenzy), trying to keep kiesters in theater seats without the man who had become the genre’s reigning superstar. Lee’s name was utilized in at least a few “iffy” releases where he really wasn’t featured, but there was a whole slew of new performers whose names were miraculously and I’m sure completely coincidentally almost exactly the same as Lee’s (Bruce Li is one of the better remembered examples). Maybe there’s something at least a little similar going on with regard to the name of a now legendary film character, Emmanuelle. The first Emmanuelle film, released in 1974, established a kind of lurid template that several sequels featuring star Sylvia Kristel followed, with a no holds barred, “X” (as in motion picture rating) marks the spot, sensibility. Emmanuelle was such a sensation that, somewhat like producers trying to cash in on the Bruce Lee phenomenon, a number of other entries started appearing featuring variations on that now infamous character’s name. One variant spelling eliminated one of the “m”’s, though (just to make things really confusing) not all of the so-called Emanuelle films are linked to each other, let alone to the original Emmanuelle franchise. Kind of interestingly, noted envelope pusher Jess Franco made both Emmanuelle and Emanuelle films, but another filmmaker with an “o” dangling off one of his names, Bruno Mattei, directed a couple of Emanuelle offerings, including this current one under review, though it’s notable that the character’s name is not featured in the title, and in fact the name (minor spoiler territory alert here) turns out to be a “head fake” of sorts, anyway. (Some databases seem to conflate this film with another Mattei offering which does include the character's name in the title, at least in some versions, 1983's Women's Prison Massacre, which was released in some markets as Emanuelle Escapes from Hell.)

Anyone coming to Violence in a Women’s Prison who doesn’t have at least some semblance of what’s in store for them given the film’s very title may not have had much experience with what became a fairly smarmy subgenre especially from the 1970s on. In some ways, though, Violence in a Women’s Prison attempts to be relatively chaste, at least for a while, with mysterious new prisoner Emanuelle (Laura Gemser) being fairly rudely introduced into the daily life of an isolated rural prison. Those introductions include an unexpected male, Dr. Moran (Gabriele Tinti), who (maybe I spoke too soon on that chaste part) requires Emanuelle to strip naked for her medical exam almost as soon as she arrives. In one of the film’s nicer reveals, Dr. Moran turns out to be an inmate himself, and in fact part of this film could have quite accurately been entitled Violence in a Men’s Prison.

There are, of course, the sort of hyperbolically salacious scenes that tend to typify this era’s women in prison outings, including the harridan warden (Lorraine De Selle), who literally gets of watching the prisoners get off. There’s quite a bit of lesbian sex sprinkled throughout this offering, none of which may strike the more sensitive viewer as being particularly erotic. There’s also a kind of wonderfully funny denouement in terms of who Emanuelle is, which, if certainly rote in terms of “secret” identities in prison like settings (think of Shock Corridor if you want to have a clue as to what I’m hinting at), is at least rather fanciful in terms of who Emanuelle’s employer supposedly is.

Violence in a Women’s Prison will probably be enjoyed as a solid “4.0” by lovers of this particular subgenre, which is not to say even those fans would probably argue very forcefully about how ham handed much of the acting is, and how downright hilarious a lot of the dialogue is. The film goes for the gusto presentationally, especially once the general relationships are set up, with a number of lascivious sex scenes interspersed with scenes of graphic violence. That said, the entire film plays out kind of like a slightly pornographic live action Looney Tunes effort, making it hard to take anything very seriously.

Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Violence in a Women's Prison is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The back cover of this release states this features "a 2K scan from an uncensored inter-positive". For the most part, Violence in a Women's Prison looks surprisingly good in high definition, at least with an understanding that there are some relatively minor signs of age, including flecks, specks, and occasional scratches, as well as some density fluctuations which can affect the warmness of the palette. There seem to be a couple of missing frames, including one which affects just a snippet of the closing theme song. The long day for night sequence toward the end is pretty blue looking, with some deficits in shadow detail. Grain tends to be more noticeable against darker backgrounds or in darker sequences, but encounters no major resolution issues. One of the odder things, one that isn't overly problematic since it's brief and really before the actual story gets started, is how the first shot of the film seems to be anamorphically squeezed (see screenshots 18 and 19).

Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Violence in a Women's Prison features an English dub presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track. While there's not anything here that I'd personally call a deal killer, there's a surprising amount of damage that can be heard, including pops, cracks and a couple of loud scuffs that are actually kind of startling. The score sounds slightly boxy and muffled at times, but dialogue, while extremely loose in terms of lip movements, sounds fine. As mentioned above, a couple of missing frames seem to be evidence, and that can affect the soundtrack.

Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Brawl in Women's Block: Interview with Co-Director / Co-Writer Claudio Fragasso and Co-Writer Rossella Drudi (1080p; 29:03) is a really fun piece with the pair just sitting on a couch and reminiscing about their careers together. Fragasso is credited on screen as "Director" and Drudi as "Screenwriter" for those keeping score.


• Archive Interview with Director Bruno Mattei (1080i; 2:47) is a brief piece with Mattei mentioning aspects live having created the property especially for Gemser and how well it all turned out.


• Trailer (1080i; 00:31) actually seems to be more of a radio spot, which plays out under a still of a poster.

Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you're a fan of women in prison films, especially their Italian iteration, you'll probably love Violence in a Women's Prison. It has virtually all of the major elements lovers of this weird and wacky subgenre tend to favor, and it even has a major male presence, which can be a bit unusual in films of this type. Severin has provided a disc with decent if occasionally problematic technical merits, and a really fun interview with Fragasso and Drudi.