Scott LeBrun "Women in Cages" is a pretty standard Women In Prison flick, with all of the trappings of the genre. It's got lesbianism, wild catfights, nudity, the obligatory shower scenes, and sadism aplenty. Its main drawing card, however, lies in its casting. Instead of playing one of the inmates, the inimitable Pam Grier dominates the proceedings as a brutal head matron.Otherwise, this is familiar enough stuff. Jennifer Gan plays Carol "Jeff" Jeffries, the fresh fish in a Filipino prison who was set up by her no-good drug smuggling boyfriend. She soon makes friends with cellmates Theresa (Sofia Moran), Sandy (Judith Brown), and "Stoke" (Roberta Collins), a gal with a serious drug problem. After enduring the barbarism of the guards (who maintain a torture room they call the "play pen"), they decide that they won't tolerate any more and formulate plans for escape.As directed by the prolific Gerry De Leon, this Roger Corman production is appropriately dingy, gritty, and oppressive. That said, it's not without style: some late scenes take place in silhouette and are quite striking. The ladies are mighty fine looking and throw themselves into their roles, although Gans' co-stars tend to out-act her at every turn. Collins, a mainstay in many Corman productions of this time, is particularly good. However, the chance to see the statuesque Pam Grier as a guard is irresistible, and she makes the most out of the situation. Adding to the midnight movie appeal of "Women in Cages" is the atmospheric music supervised by Tito Arevalo.Among the stand out scenes are those in the "play pen" and those in "the hole", one of those cramped quarters one can often find in films such as this. The climactic prison escape and subsequent chase sequences are fun, and there are some surprises in store for characters and viewers alike. While this can't compare to the best in the genre, it's still certain to keep trash enthusiasts fairly satisfied.Seven out of 10.

Ben Larson If I recall correctly, Pam Grier appears in about four women-in-prison films on both sides of the bars. In this film, she is the Chief Matron, and not a nice person at all.This was one of the last films for director Gerardo de Leon, the most- awarded director in the history of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Science.It also features Judith Brown and Roberta Collins, who both appeared in several women-in-prison films.In an uncredited role, you see Sofia Moran, a Philippine action star, who became their 13th President.Torture, showers, crawling through the sewer (Yech!) and boobage.

Woodyanders Naive and innocent Carol Jeffries (a solid and appealing portrayal by the attractive Jennifer Gan) gets framed by her dope dealer boyfriend and winds up incarcerated in a brutal female prison located in the Filipino jungle where the sadistic head matron Alabama (fiercely played with lip-smacking wicked relish by Pam Grier in a rare full-blown villainous role) treats the inmates with appalling cruelty and inhumanity. Director Gerry De Leon, working from an appropriately sordid script by James H. Watkins and David B. Osterhout, relates the harsh story at a constant swift pace and maintains a suitably hard and gritty tone throughout. All the pleasingly seedy grindhouse bases are well covered here: copious gratuitous female nudity, demeaning strip searches, a group shower scene, a ferocious catfight, lesbianism, torture, prostitution, drug use, and a thrilling breakout. Sturdy distaff veteran drive-in flick favorites Judy Brown as the sarcastic, hard-boiled Sandy and Roberta Collins as the resilient, but treacherous strung-out smack addict Stoke both excel in their juicy parts. Moreover, there's a pervasively rough, grimy, and sweaty quality to this picture which greatly enhances the overall supremely seamy atmosphere. Felipe Sacdalan's fairly polished and dynamic cinematography does the trick. The funky syncopated score likewise hits the get-down groovy spot. Recommended viewing for fans of down'n'dirty 70's exploitation cinema.

lost-in-limbo Jeff is sent to a woman prison, after being caught carrying heroine that belonged to her crime figure boyfriend Rudy. He asks her to keep her mouth shut and would try his best to get her out, but unknowingly to her he has other plans. When she arrives at the prison to do her time, she must face a tyrant of a head warden, Alabama who has a thing against American woman and a sadistic torture chamber of the dark ages called "the playpen" for certain troublemakers.We all know the formula by now for cheap drive-in WIP features, I take it? Wrongly accused woman. Hard labourers work in the fields. Out-of-control cat-fights. Mass showering. Suffering at the hands of the head warden. Harsh terrain surrounding the prison to make it hard to escape. A gusty prison break. And finally those corrupted individuals get their up and comings. So basically the heat is on in the banana republic."Woman In Cages" is another quick, cheaply done Corman production, but this time Jack Hill didn't hold the helm. Instead Gerry De Leon was in the director's chair and he brought to the table a real mean-spirited and quite gloomy Philippine WIP affair. His conventional direction might lack style and cracking energy, but it's balanced out by its intrusive grittiness. The story by James H. Watkins and David R. Osterhout is rather straightforward with little lead way in its same-old-same-old actions and plodding moments, but plenty of sour and quite outlandish moments do occur. The moral card of injustice that leaks its way in comes off as quite silly and lazy. While, there's some slight wit evident, it just seems to get derailed. It mainly concentrates on the unpleasantness and sleazy nature that's drilled in constantly. In the long run these scenes might be effectively crude, but personality does lose out to this rough shtick that really does dry up proceedings. The characters don't feel as dominating; say in "The Big Doll House". Some of the actresses of that film do turn up here. Pam Grier plays the nihilistic lesbian head prison guard with such venom, but this hard-boiled devil woman glow does take away from her energetic persona. The crackling stunner Roberta Collins is in fine form as the on edge drug addict and the gorgeously biting Judith M. Brown also appears. Jennifer Gan was decent in the lead role of the glassily clueless Jeff. Music director Tito Arevalo provides a smoking; on-the-ball soundtrack and Felipe Sacdalan's cinematography methods are unsparingly grounded.Not one of the best of the sub-genre, but well worth a look for the fans for some glorified badass whipping in this mostly dour WIP outing.