Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.0

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

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 30, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Severin's The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle release.

Kier-la Janisse gave film fans one of the most outstanding boxed sets of the last few years with All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, a late 2021 release that ended up making my Best of 2022 list. Janisse is back now with another gigantic boxed set, one that's even bigger than the folk horror compendium, and one that may appeal to a certain niche audience who may not have been especially interested in that earlier set. Those who may remember the rating system of days of yore will probably recall the "M" designation, which meant "for mature audiences only", and if I may be permitted an orthographic joke that is admittedly a bit arcane, some might argue that Emanuelle gave up one of her "m"'s in favor of three x's, at least with regard to some cuts of the many Black Emanuelle films. For those not conversant with the history of this perceived franchise, and who may be scratching their heads at my "joke" (what else is new?), Black Emanuelle was a pretty blatant attempt to cash in on Emmanuelle, and in order to avoid any potential legal hassles one of those original "m"'s in the title character's name got dropped. Furthermore, as supplements on many of the discs included in this set offer, there were hardcore XXX inserts (in more ways than one) that at least some of the Black Emanuelle productions offered. Joke explained, hopefully. Perhaps even more comedically than my fitful attempt at humor, the Black Emanuelle series ended up offering many more films than its perceived progenitor, and 24 of them (with additional cuts) are aggregated in this at times overwhelming collection. This is a collection where the quality of the films may be highly debatable, though it's salient to note that the supplements both overtly reference and are in and of themselves examples of perhaps unexpected critical scrutiny this franchise has engendered, and anyone interested in this kind of bizarre franchise mash up of what might be called porno, mondo and gonzo will most likely find this an amazing set to dive into.

This is one of a few titles that Severin itself has released previously on Blu-ray as a standalone offering. Those interested can read my Violence in a Women's Prison Blu-ray review of that version for plot details as well as a chance to compare screenshots. Parts of my original review are repeated below, as appropriate.

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. Severin's almost overwhelming book The Black Emanuelle Bible included with this set offers a brief description of the transfer, as follows:

Source: 2K scan of original camera negative newly prepared for this collection.

This presentation does not have the brightness and contrast differences that are noticeable between the two Severin versions of Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, and in fact the color timing in particular looks very similar if not downright identical to Severin's first release. Whatever additional work was done has arguably marginally improved detail levels, at least in some of the more brightly lit sequences, but there are still some of the same variances in clarity and especially grain structure that were noticeable in Severin's first release.

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

Unlike Severin's first release, which offered only the English language version, this new outing offers DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono options in either English or Italian. As I tend to do, I toggled between the tracks as I watched, and I noticed very little difference between the two tracks. There is still some evident sign of age related wear and tear running through the background of the track in both languages, but nothing overly problematic. Dialogue, effects and score are all well represented for the most part. Optional English subtitles are available.

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

• Archival Interview with Director Bruno Mattei (HD; 2:47) is subtitled in English.


• Brawl in Women's Block (HD; 29:03) is an interview with writers Claudio Fragasso and Rossella Drudi. Subtitled in English.


• Two for One (HD; 11:50) is an interview with producer Roberto di Girolamo. Subtitled in English.


• Radio Spot (HD; 00:31) plays to key art for Caged Women.


• Trailer (HD; 3:49)

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.