Somewhere in the South American Jungle, Yana runs a woman's prison that,
since it also houses some revolutionaries among the other prisoners, has
a fine selection of instruments of torture & sadistic Doctor Costas
(Howard Vernon), who relishes in using them.
Among the revolutionaries
imprisoned here is Karin (Karin Gambier), who is, with 2 other girls,
kept naked in cellblock 9, forced to stand up straight all the time due
to a chain around her neck. Costas' ways of torturing her soon break
her, & after being penetrated violently by a horn first, then being
threatened with having a mouse inserted in her vagina via a pipe, she
tells him the names of all her associates. Back in the cell, where she
& her 2 cellmates Aida & Barbara are joined by young Maria
(Susan Hemingway), the foursome decides to seduce the guard in order to
break out - & they actually succeed, doing some naked running
through the jungle. In the end though, they are caught & executed by
the violent powers that be ...
In the universe of Jess Franco realism never played a big role, it is
filled with off-beat characters, sex for sex' sake & a strong dose
of sadism. & while the same can be said of a lot of sexploitation
dirtectors, what makes Franco's films outstanding is the genuine
obsession he has for these subjects, plus his very own, triplike
cinematic language, consisting of many zoom-ins & zoom-outs (often
during the same shot), his unusual camera angles & extended use of
close-ups. But though all those trademarks are apparent in this movie,
it just doesn't work all that well here - mainly because the story is
just a little too weak to incise any involvement & most of the
characters aren't fleshed out at all, making this movie rather a pretty
(& pretty sleazy) surface with little else to offer. Howard Vernon
though gives a creepy & off-beat performance.
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