5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Planning to expose the corrupt practices of a woman's prison, Emanuelle goes undercover as an inmate. She is shocked by the guard's brutal treatment of the inmates, but she never gets a chance to report these horrors. When her actual identity is revealed, she finds herself on the receiving end of even worse.
Starring: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Maria Romano, Ursula Flores, Antonella GiacominiForeign | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
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.)
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 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.
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.
Emanuelle e gli ultimi cannibali
1977
1977
The Dirty Seven / La belva dalla calda pelle
1982
La Mujer de la Tierra Caliente
1978
La via della prostituzione
1978
Inferno rosso: Joe D'Amato sulla via dell'eccesso
2021
The Real Emanuelle
1974
Gola Profonda Nera
1977
Suor Emanuelle
1977
Emanuelle e le porno notti nel mondo n. 2
1978
Notti porno nel mondo
1977
Unleashed Perversions of Emanuelle
1983
Black Cobra Woman / Eva nera
1976
Emanuelle nera: Orient reportage
1976
1983
Le notti porno nel mondo nº 2
1978
Emanuelle nera nº 2 / The New Black Emanuelle
1976
Sex Merchants / Ópalo de fuego: Mercaderes del sexo
1980
Love Camp / Die Todesgöttin Des Liebescamps
1981
Voglia di guardare
1986