Mondo Macabro // 1983 // 70 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // February 27th, 2009
Their bodies were caged, but not their desires.
Mondo Macabro, renowned for unleashing international oddities on the world, coughs up a startling dose of Japanese debauchery. Fun for the whole family!
Masayo (Mina Asami) is the new fish in the all-female prison and she can't quite control her libido. Whether it's secluding herself in the nurse's station and exploring her...er...femininity, or blackmailing the prison guard to let her boink her boyfriend in the visitor's room, Masayo is looking to turn her prison sentence into the sexiest time of her life. But the good times don't last. Following repeated escape attempts as well as other assorted shenanigans, Masayo is subjected to a series of humiliations and carnal violations at the hands of the prison guards, the uptight matronly warden, and a priest!
You want to know what's funny in a not-funny and hugely disturbing way? That sequence where Masayo and her boyfriend make sweet love was purposely pixilated because of the Japanese erotic film rules of the day: no pubic hair or images of genitals and their surround acreage. The funny part is we're spared a clear view of some anonymous Japanese guy's rear end, but you'll be subjected to multiple rape scenes, a forced gang bang, the dispensing of all manner of bodily fluids, and a construction worker orgy.
There's not much of a story here. Masayo wants to get out and meet up with her boyfriend and meanwhile everyone is a jerk. There's no penetrating analysis of the effects incarceration has on the female psyche, how absolute power corrupts and forces humans to treat each other like livestock, or what the yearning for freedom will forced people to do. Nope, this is all about packing as much trash into 70 minutes as possible.
Director Masaru Konuma busts out of the gate with that mission on his mind, dwelling on the first of many female autoerotic scenes and transitioning into sexual assaults, shower scenes, more masturbation, bondage, forced foot sucking, more assaults, that outdoor construction worker sex picnic, priest-on-prison-guard sex, and a bunch of other stuff I'm pretty sure I've already forced deep within my subconscious. If women-in-prison grindhouse filth is your bag, then I suppose Female Prisoner: Caged! will grab you. It certainly out-trashes any other women-in-prison movies I've seen.
Typical Mondo Macabro release. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is clean -- probably a whole lot better than the movie deserves -- and the Japanese audio track is solid. Extras: A well-done and interesting documentary on Japanese erotic cinema, an interview with film historian Jasper Sharp and trailers for some really @#$%$#%-up stuff.
Fans of the women-in-prison genre will have their urge for exploitation satiated, but that's about the only use for this perverted offering from the Land of the Rising Sun.
Guilty on all counts of violating decency, good taste, and coherence. But, as far as the sleaze factor goes, the accused scores off the charts.
Review content copyright © 2009 David Johnson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2012 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 90
Audio: 80
Extras: 80
Acting: 70
Story: 60
Judgment: 60
Perp Profile
Studio: Mondo Macabro
Video Formats:
* 1.85:1 Anamorphic
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Japanese)
Subtitles:
* English
Running Time: 70 Minutes
Release Year: 1983
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Featurette
* Interview
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0930864/combined