Woodyanders Sweet young innocent Jenny Williams (a perky and appealing performance by Linda Carol) finds herself incarcerated at a harsh juvenile detention facility where she runs afoul of both the vicious staff and predatory inmates alike. Writer/director Tom DeSimone relates the entertainingly trashy story at a zippy pace, maintains a perfectly campy and over-the-top tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and makes the most out of the blithely outrageous lowbrow humor by providing a wealth of hilarious lines and suitably grotesque caricatures. Moreover, it's acted with gusto by the enthusiastic cast: Legendary punk rocker Wendy O. Williams makes a strong impression with her sensationally snarly portrayal of formidable top con Charlie Chambliss, Pat Ast deliciously hams it up as monstrous head matron Edna, and Sybil Danning has a ball as the strict bible-quoting Warden Sutter, plus there are sturdy contributions from Sherri Stoner as timid and fragile teen runaway Lisa, Charlotte McGinnis as the compassionate Dr. Norton, Tiffany Helm as mean flunky Andrea 'Fish' Eldridge, Laurie Schwartz as the sarcastic Nicky, and Darcy DeMoss as the sassy Karen 'Knox' Charmin. Better still, DeSimone ably covers all the pleasingly sleazy babes-behind-bars bases: Tasty gratuitous female nudity, ferocious catfights, a sizzling group shower set piece (look fast for an uncredited Michelle Bauer in said shower scene), hot gals slinking about in skimpy lingerie, and a rousing climactic riot with the definite astounding highlight being when O. Williams commandeers a bus and stands on its roof as it speeds towards a watchtower. Both Howard Wexler's slick cinematography and Dan Siegel's robust melodramatic score are up to par. The cool rocking soundtrack likewise seriously smokes, with several of the songs sneered out by O. Williams (the theme song in particular is simply fantastic). An absolute wacky'n'tacky hoot.

BloodTheTelepathicDog I had heard that this film was a parody of women-in-prison films, so when I rented it I was expecting to laugh, as well as see the usual exploitation elements--hopefully lampooned--but they weren't. This isn't a parody, though it tries for laughs in some places (who can forget the stomping-of-the-cat scene?), which makes it essentially just another women-in-prison flick.Here we have misunderstood blonde Linda Carol taken to a reform school run by Sybil Danning and her obese henchwoman Pat Ast. Linda takes mousy Sherri Stoner under her wing, but when she runs afoul of butch reform school veteran--and Pat Ast's main squeeze--she puts a target on her back that remains there throughout the film. Linda tries to keep her weak-willed friend from harm while also trying to keep Wendy O. Williams from branding her backside. Reform school shrink Charlotte McGinnis is trying to get Danning fired for running a suspect reformation camp but she needs the help of Linda Carol in doing so. Linda finds it hard to help with trips to solitary, beatings in the bathroom and failed escape attempts.STORY: $$ (This would have been better had DeSimone went with the parody angle. We have all the WIP stereotypes here but he fails to make fun of them. Rather than a parody, we are treated to a by-the-numbers Caged Heat clone).ACTING: $$$ (Not too bad. Linda Carol is fine in the lead role. her beauty helps a great deal but the lady can act too. Pat Ast is terrific as the Warden's sinister right-hand. Wendy O. Williams doesn't give the greatest line reads but she was right for the role. Sybil Danning fans will be disappointed because she has little to do here, other than issue midnight scripture readings over the PA system).NUDITY: $$$$ (Like most WIP films, there is plenty of it to go around. Linda Carol is nude several times--she has an extraordinary body. There are a couple shower scenes, which would have been a great opportunity to parody, but it is missed. Rough-looking Wendy O.Williams is topless in the shower, as is about every other woman in this film. Sybil Danning, however, keeps her clothes on throughout the movie).

burbs82 Our fellow travellers at New World Pictures released many a b-classic in their day, such as 'Vamp', 'House', and 'Heathers' to name but a few, but with 'Reform School Girls' they really go all out. They've taken the old "women's prison" cliché and essentially perfected it with this parody-homage hybrid.Linda Carol plays Jenny, a hot teen shipped off by the state to a deteriorating (is there any other kind?) reform school, headed by Ilsa-like Warden Sutter (Sybil Danning) and watched over by the hilariously evil and over-the-top matron, Edna (Pat Ast), who does a terrific job making you absolutely despise her. A state-appointed psychologist (Charlotte McGinnis) becomes concerned by Edna's treatment of the girls, not to mention the occasional "suicide" this treatment produces. As the doctor struggles to get the ever-impotent state to step in, the girls take matters into their own hands and the film culminates in a violent, bloody, punk rock showdown between the broads and the guards.The cast is excellent. You have the usual prison inmate clichés (neccesary for any great women's prison flick) but the actresses are all top notch. Late-great Wendy O. Williams (of punk band The Plasmatics) is AWESOME as 'Charlie', the sadistic cellblock sister with her own gang (beautiful 'Friday the 13th' series alumns Tiffany Helm and Darcy DeMoss), but she is SO wired, SO bad-ass, SO insane, and SO rarely wearing much clothing, that she adds a whole new dimension to an otherwise predictable character. Not to mention the fact that, although she looks great, she's well past reform school age (don't suffer the delusion that this wasn't intentional).Also, Sherri Stoner creates a very sympathetic character as 'Lisa', a sweet, innocent, naive, but also traumatized and neurotic girl who's been shipped from place to place and suffers the most abuse from Edna. You can predict poor Lisa cracking pretty much from the opening credits, but director Tom DeSimone does a GREAT job of building it up and he doesn't cop out. Kitten and stuffed animal lovers beware.Some great 80's punk tracks fuel the reform school fights and riots. There are several shower sequences (and lotsa' boobies), some great b-movie humor, good cinematography and DeSimone keeps it all going at a quick pace... If you're not picking your jaw up off the floor after watching Wendy, in a rage, smash her face through the windshield of speeding truck, then climb onto the top of it to do a brief, spastic, punk rock grease dance, and THEN jump off before it hits its target, consult a physician immediately.Anyway, I give this a ten because not only is it a great, hella-entertaining film by itself, but I'd put it at the number one spot in the women's prison sub-genre (even though it TECHNICALLY does not take place in a women's prison).

Coventry Myself and a mate promptly decided to watch "Reform School Girls" upon seeing the trailer that advised all intellectual viewers – and I quote – to keep their criticism for themselves...or else we'll nail your tongues to the floor. Subsequently the trailer showed a lot of footage of attractive girls showering and guaranteed there was plenty more where that came from. And they're right, too! This greatest trailer ever also perfectly captures the tone of the film, as it's a demented tongue-in-cheek bad girls penitentiary exploitation flick that definitely shouldn't be taken too seriously. My best guess would be that writer/director Tom DeSimone is a pleasantly deranged and sleaze-obsessed guy that single-handedly wanted to bring homage to all "Women in Prison" movies at once. The lead warden (played by no one less than Sybil Danning) looks an awful lot like Dyanne Thorne when she gave image to Ilsa, the She Wolf of the SS and several of the other supportive characters appear to be pure stereotypes as well. There's the sadistic, corpulent and massively lesbian guard, the kinky S&M leader of the dorm (that looks about three times as old as the other inmates), the vulnerable who shouldn't be there and – of course – the tough black chicks. There's only one man popping up in the film and naturally he's a legitimate bastard. Tons of nudity and outrageous cat-fights make this a very textbook example of politically incorrect 80's exploitation, but it sure it a lot of fun to watch. Only the Italian directors deliver movies of this kind that are even better.