The Italian sexploitation flick Femmine Infernali, which premiered in Italy today in 1980, is another women-in-prison effort, and because we already knew it was cobbled together from footage concurrently shot with the same cast and sets as Orinoco: Prigioniere del sesso, we didn’t feel a burning need to see it. But the art on the above poster is pretty nice. It was painted by Carlo Alessandrini, who signed his work as Aller. It’s been a long while since we’ve looked at his output. You can see some interesting examples of his style here, here, here, and here.
Femmine Infernali starred Ajita Wilson, and was retitled for its English release to Escape from Hell. As with any b-level sub-genre, women-in-prison movies are generally terrible. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. At their best—and we use that term advisedly—they offer this: veiled social commentary, proto-feminist themes couched deep within their inherently sexist overarch, occasional tender depictions of lesbianism, and action featuring women who can kick ass.
This was not Wilson’s first or even second tango in women’s prison, as we noted above. We also discussed her turn in 1976’s Perverse oltre le sbarre, and she was in Sadomania – Hölle der Lust, so she earned at least a superfecta. In today’s spin through WIP purgatory she’s again installed in a hellhole jungle prison with abusive guards and little hope, and once again decides to escape or die trying. In the end, does the movie have any of the four WIP characteristics we mentioned above? Not enough to matter. This random quote should demonstrate its basic quality: “Decency is one of the rules in our regulations.” You see? Our advice: if you watch it, tell nobody you did.
Angela the sunbear: I liked the movie. It spoke to me because, here at Hangzhou Zoo, I too am illusorily free but in reality imprisoned and watched over by cruel keepers.
