Womens Prison Massacre (1983)

Womens Prison Massacre (1983) - Emanuelle fuga dall' inferno is the original Italian title. The film starts with a play performed in the women's prison, a personal piece of depth and a deep understanding of the human condition. Okay maybe not but it is an attempt. It is intended to show Emanuelle as a strong influential writer and to establish that the prison is not going to tolerate her style of entertainment. It effectively brings the character of Emanualle to the forefront as well as her tomato throwing rival Albina. Then the establishment as a non tolerant group of controllers. Emmanuelle (the lovely Laura Gemser) is a reporter framed for smuggling drugs even as she closes in on the government official involved. She is now in a women prison where she is not the most liked prisoner. The official District attorney Vincent Robinson (Jacques Stany) wants to make sure she never gets her story out. He enlists the aide of the Warden (Lorraine De Selle) who in turn tries to have tough prisoner Albina (Ursula Flores) do her dirty work. Emanuelle and her friends Laura (Maria Romano) and Irene (Antonella Giacomini) are out numbered in the prison so although they are tough the guards still manage to give them significant problems. Albina does not fair well against the smart and strong Emanuelle and even after being armed with a knife only manages to have the knife stabbed into her own leg. This is what you think the film is going to be about. Emanuelle fighting against the odds to beat out the prison establishment and then to publish her story and expose the crooked district attorney. No though that is not it at all!
  Early on is a sub plot about four convicted murders, men who must be temporarily housed at the women's prison. Brett O'Hara (Robert Mura), Victor "Geronimo" Brain (Raul Cabrera), Helmut "Blade" von Bauer (Pierangelo Pozzato), and mastermind Crazy Boy Henderson (Gabriele Tinti) are on their way and the results will be explosive. They have something to do with the smuggling ring Emanuelle was investigating but that is nothing. During transport some fake cops try to spring them and would have succeeded if not for Lawman Harrison (Carlo De Mejo) who manages to fight off the attempt and deliver the prisoners. It seems it was just a reason to have a car chase really.
  In the prison they manage to overpower the guards, the lawman and the warden and take the whole prison hostage. Of course they want a car to the airport, a plane at the airport and 5 million dollars. Strange enough the negotiator they are dealing with is none other than District Attorney Robinson. Leaving the wounded lawman with Emanuelle the convicts threaten the lives of everyone in the prison if they do not get what they want. The 3 hour time limit seems serious.

  Brett gets a chance to be alone with the warden. He makes her strip off her clothes with a little violent persuasion. Blade and Geronimo  head down to the women's ward where the women will love a man. The Warden strips but this film is a bit tame as far as skin, some boobs and a garter belt. Brett seems more into humiliate her than to rape her. Geronimo gets it on with Albina in the medical ward and she is equally into it. There is some simulated sex in that scene. Blade seems happy to stand at the bars of the women cage and be felt up. In all the sexy 70's music you hear in porn is playing and the film cuts between the different locations. After finishing in Albina she gets a surprise when he chloroforms her before heading back out to meet the others. There is implied rape of the warden but nothing on the screen. This is an exploitation film but like I said it is more about making you believe what happened as opposed to seeing such horrors. This at least until Crazy Boy gets mad at Emanuelle for pleading for the cops life. To show her he slaps her around and then rapes her, she is clear this is not her wish.

 Blade in with Laura and Irene seems like a crazy fuck himself. He makes them dance with the blow up doll but seems to get as much pleasure pulling their hair and scaring them with his crazy eyes as he does in deflating it. At least while this is going on Blade loses his razor blade and Laura end up with it.
While this silliness is going on outside Robinson is setting up to send in commandos. Inside the convicts want to know what is going on. The Commando unfortunately come in the window just as Albina wakes and she goes straight to Crazy Boy to talk deal for her info. So when the commandos make their move it is a fair gun battle. They fail even though Brett is killed in the process. Crazy boy does a payoff to Albina by killing Irene for her. Then he makes Emanuelle and Albina play Russain Roulette. Laura was hiding when Irene was killed and she gets a strange idea harkening back to the play she performed in the beginning of the movie. The mantis hides the razor blade in her vagina and lays nude waiting for Blade to take her. She recites her silly lines and he goes for he beautiful body only to get the suprise of his life. he chokes her out as he takes her the blade slicing into his member as she dies. He struggles out of the cell looking for help from the women in the cages but all they do is attack him when he gets close. Now a man without a penis he is no longer desirable.  These scenes are cut with the game of Roulette that ends with a gory outcome splashed across Crazy Boy's face.

  Down to Crazy and Geronimo they take the Warden, the injured Lawman and Emanuelle as hostages when their demand have been mad. The fast paced organ music pumps with a background drumbeat as Robinson sees Emanuelle alive again. He wants the cops to shoot them all and takes the first shot at her, missing but hitting Geronimo and the Warden. Crazy Boy shoots him in the chest giving Emanuelle her revenge.
Off they go in the car apparently in days before there were LoJack and helicopters. When the car stalls Crazy Boy gets pissed at the double cross and is wounded by the cop driver as he kills him. Off he runs with wounded officer Lawman in pursuit to take him out. The film ends with Emanuelle returning to her prison cell to serve out her undeserved term but with the knowledge that the corrupt Robinson got his.
Overall the film executes the goods of a exploitation film. It wanders in unexpected places but overall closes out all the threads that were started. It is always good when the exploiters get theirs in the end. Because the depth of the characters as so flat with only Gemser getting any depth at all, this film can't be good. It is exactly what it was intended to be and does not get my recommendation. Now if you like exploitation it is just mildly boring with no big surprises or skin so you will probably be disappointed.
Rating (4.5) 5.0 and up are recommended, some just more or less than others.