Michael_Elliott The Concrete Jungle (1982) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Elizabeth (Tracey Bregman) is the sweetest and most innocent thing you'd ever want to meet but her sleazy, no-good boyfriend plants some drugs on her and when she enters the U.S. she is arrested for trafficing. The poor woman is sentenced to a prison ran by Warden Fletcher (Jill St. John) who has some illegal doings happening with Cat (BarBara Luna) who just happens to be the toughest and dirtiest woman there.Tom DeSimone's THE CONCRETE JUNGLE is a rather interesting women-in-prison flick just like his HELL NIGHT is an interesting slasher. What's so interesting about both movies is the fact that both of them try to cash in on a certain genre yet they also want to do their own thing. With HELL NIGHT, it was released during the slasher craze but it was more a Gothic horror film without the brutal slashings. With THE CONCRETE JUNGLE, yes it's a women-in-prison flick but it doesn't go for a lot of the trappings that you might expect.Those trappings include the lead female getting naked, a manditory shower scene or a bunch of rough lesbian scenes. There's minor stuff throughout the picture but it's clear that director DeSimone wanted to deliver something more that a sleaze feast and to his credit he's actually done that. THE CONCRETE JUNGLE is a pretty entertaining movie thanks to a nice cast and a pretty good story. The prison life story has been told countless times and the story here isn't ground-breaking but it's interesting enough to keep you glued to what you're watching.Another plus are the performers who do a nice job with their characters. Bregman is wonderful in the lead role because you really do buy her as the character. St. John and Luna are great villains and both of them add a lot of entertainment. The sleaziest moment in the film happens when Camille Keaton from I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE gets raped by one of the guards. You've also got porn legend Carol Connors showing up in a brief role.While THE CONCRETE JUNGLE isn't the most graphic or violent women-in-prison film you're going to see, it's at least entertaining for what it is and fans should enjoy it.

Jerry (Nglas) Before 1983's Chained Heat, there was The Concrete Jungle. TCJ does what Chained Heat attempts to do, yet fails, despite its cast of beloved cult stars. What TCJ has that Chain Heat does not is a solid script, solid acting, and characters that you actually want to see prevail. In fact, it is the characters of TCJ that make the movie such a treat. From the innocent Cherry (played by daytime legend Tracey Bregman) to the sexy, but compelling top dog Cat (played by Star Trek and another daytime vet Barbara Luna), these characters take the viewer on a journey of life inside a women's prison. From her harsh arrival to her ultimate release, Cherry guides the viewers on the story of an innocent girl set up by her boyfriend to carry drugs into the county and end up in a prison where the guards are just as bad as the cons. And speaking of authority, Jill St. John portrays Warden Fletcher and what a fantastic character! Brutal rapes, a charming friendship, an obsessed lesbian who happens to be the prison top dog, and a corrupt warden who is running a lucrative drug business with the help of the prisoners, TCJ is a great film and one you will enjoy watching. And what makes it so special is that you will remember watching it and want to watch it again.

sheila-hall60 I liked the film Concrete Jungle it reminded me of the Australian TV series shown here in the UK Prisoner Cell Block H. Concrete Jungle had a good storyline, perhaps too much swearing in it, but in this day and age this is nothing to crow about. The swearing in the film would not stop me from watching it again and again The acting was very good from everyone in the film and I was routed to the spot watching the film, I just had to see how the film ended and if everyone got their just deserts. I am a great admirer of the actor Peter Brown and it was great to see him in the part of Mr Bad Guy for a change, although I still prefer him in westerns and Mr Nice Guy.

Aussie Stud Regardless of what anyone says, I still feel this movie should be classified as "comedy". Just about everything that goes on in this women's prison is hilarious.The title of the film, "The Concrete Jungle" refers to the women's prison where the main character, Elizabeth Demming, is sent to after she is found guilty of smuggling cocaine that was planted in her snow skis (thanks to her scumbag of a husband). Of course, her character being written as 'naive', her husband conjoles her through the prison glass windows via the conversation phone that he is doing his best to get her out of there, but she has to "remain strong" while he sorts this mess out. It doesn't take a genius to see through his guise that he's gonna let her take the fall and then let her rot in the slammer.Needless to say, we cut to scene 2 and she's in the slammer whereupon she meets a variety of stereotyped characters. There's the jittery crackhead mean sistah, "Icy", the gone-cold-turkey-yet-sweet chick, "Sweets". The evil head honcho, "Cat", the ex-evil-head-honcho, "Margo", and then there's the prison warden Fletcher who knows all the evil going-ons within the concrete jungle yet doesn't care and is as corrupt as about every other prison warden in film history. There's a bunch of other hilarious characters with stupid names such as "Eyes" and "Breaker". They just add to the backdrop.When our heroine, Elizabeth Demming, moves into the concrete jungle, Cat immediately takes a shine to her and brands her with the name, "Cherry". From thereon in, Cherry learns the horrors of rape, drugs and lesbianism from within the walls of the prison. Cat is running a drug operation within the prison and uses her lapdogs, Sweets and Icy, to make sure everything runs smoothly. Apparently, in this prison, drugs will get you anything, if not everything. We never get to find out where Cat gets these drug contacts in the outside world from, but hey, this movie stopped making sense from the opening credits!In the meantime, we see the obligatory lesbian sex scenes in the dormitory, chicks getting high on crack and rape scenes committed by the sadistic prison guard.Scooting forward, Cherry learns the ropes and in a final showdown between her and Cat for the crown of the prison, she pushes her onto an electrical fuse box where she does a happy dance and dies. Warden Fletcher's schemes are exposed and there are no points for guessing what happens to her (oh the irony of the situation!). Cherry's boyfriend is busted by the FEDS for drug smuggling and Cherry is finally released from prison, a much brighter and smarter girl (one would hope).Some hilarious things to look out for in the movie:-The toilet door behind Cat reads, "LATRINE" (!!!!!)Icy blurting out, "Sure thing... Cherry!"Warden Fletcher assuring, "Are you sure Margo?!?!"Cat's happy dance when she gets pushed onto the electrical fuse box! (This scene is timeless!!!)Anyway, that's my review of The Concrete Jungle. This is a pretty obscure run-of-the-mill early 80's women's prison exploitation flick. You'd be lucky if you found it at your local video store. Thank God I own a copy of this!Enjoy!