6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 1.5 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
Emanuelle, a reporter, comes just a little too close to exposing a corrupt official, and is sent to prison on trumped-up charges. In the prison, the inmates are constantly humiliated and tortured by the prison staff. Overly affectionate prisoners are forced underwater, while others are obliged to look on. Emanuelle finds an enemy in the deranged Albina, who "runs the prison." For the pleasure of the warden, Emanuelle and Albina are forced to fight each other with knives. Bad becomes worse when four men awaiting execution escape and take over the prison. Gore flows like water.
Starring: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Ursula Flores, Maria Romano, Antonella GiacominiErotic | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 1.5 |
There’s a moment in the early going in Women’s Prison Massacre, not all that shining but, yes, rather brief, where it appears that schlockmeister Bruno Mattei may actually be attempting to make, well, Art, or at least something a rung above the exploitation fare that Mattei typically trafficked in over the course of his long if not especially august career. As the credits play out interstitially, Mattei introduces a trio of inmates at a women’s prison who are evidently engaging in a bit of “theater therapy” by trumpeting their supposed personae to the assembled multitudes at what is a convenient small stage that this particular prison evidently comes equipped with. The performers have weird bifurcated face make-up, perhaps indicative of the schisms within their souls which have led to their predicaments and incarceration, and they give little monologues that play somewhere between the blandishments of the “Cell Block Tango” of Chicago fame and (to cite another improbable musical referent) the first person offerings that comprise a lot of A Chorus Line. It’s silly, it’s florid, but it has a bit of unexpected emotional impact, especially when another inmate shows up to critique the performance, capping her “thumbs down” with a tomato thrown heartily at the face of one of the actresses. It’s at this point that any pretensions toward “seriousness” are left by the wayside, and Women’s Prison Massacre simply tips over into a hyperbolic morass.
Women's Prison Massacre is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Given an understanding of the lo-fi ambience of the film, this is a decent if never overwhelmingly great looking presentation. Elements have scattered age related issues, including some noticeable fade that tends to deplete the film's sometimes garish palette from ever popping as fully as it might have. Contrast is a little on the anemic side as well, giving a kind of hazy look to several of the dimly lit interior scenes. Things are typically fairly soft looking throughout the film, with detail not popping especially well even in close-ups. Grain is perhaps a bit less evident than might be expected, though there are no egregious signs of over aggressive filtering having been applied.
Women's Prison Massacre features a decent DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track, one which supports the actually kind of enjoyable score by Luigi Ceccarelli while pointing out the shoddiness of much of the post-looping. It's obvious that many if not all of the actors spoke their native languages on the set and were later dubbed into English, but even those who were speaking English appear to have been dubbed at well, leading to some undeniable sync issues with regard to lip movements and actual dialogue. That distraction aside, fidelity is very good within the lo-fi confines of the film, and there's no actual age related damage to report.
This is the rare Scream Factory release without a glut of newly produced supplements, and in fact there are no supplements of any kind included on this Blu-ray disc.
Women's Prison Massacre is pretty smarmy material, not even graced by the winking self awareness that sometimes informs some craptastic outings. Gemser is certainly an arresting presence (no pun intended, given the setting of the film), but she's given very little to do here other than react to unseemly goings on. Technical merits are so-so for those considering a purchase.
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Sexy Erotic Love
1980
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Unleashed Perversions of Emanuelle
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1975
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1981
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The Real Emanuelle
1974
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Black Emanuelle White Emanuelle / Velluto nero
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2013