Violence in a Women’s Prison Blu Ray Review (Severin Films)

Violence in a Women’s Prison (aKa Emanuelle in Hell, Caged Women, Violenza da un Carcere Femminile, & Emanuelle Escapes from Hell) is a 1982 women in prison film directed by Bruno Mattei (Zombi 3, The Other Hell, Rats: Night of Terror, Hell of the Living Dead, & Shocking Dark) under the name “Vincent Dawn”. It was filmed back to back with Women’s Prison Massacre using the same cast, crew, & sets. Bruno Mattei did both films in only 5 weeks. Claudio Fragasso (Troll 2, Monster Dog, Zombie 4: After Death, & Beyond Darkness) was an assistant director on this. Emanuelle (played by: Laura Gemser from Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Black Emanuelle, Emmanuelle and the Deadly Black Cobra, & Women’s Prison Massacre) goes undercover as Laura Kendall at the Santa Catarina Women’s Penitentiary under drugs & prostitution charges. She meets the sadistic Warden (played by: Lorraine De Selle from Cannibal Ferox, House on the Edge of the Park, & Women’s Camp 119) who plans on making her experience worse than she can ever imagine.

The Warden uses her influence on everyone including Doctor Moran (played by: Gabriele Tinti from Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Contamination .7, Return of Django, Cut and Run, & Love Camp). The Warden’s top guard Rescaut (played by: Franca Stoppi from The Other Hell, Beyond the Darkness, & Women’s Prison Massacre) carries out all her dirty work. Emanuelle is reporting for Amnesty International & she’s going through hell to find out the truth. She’s trying to protect their human rights in this unprotected situation. She goes through a nightmare of vicious guards, uncontrollable lesbians, rat attacks, & feces fights after her true identity is exposed. She tries to stop the corruption inside the brutal prison walls.

Bruno Mattei was the master at ripping something off & somehow making it sleazier. Personally, I am a big fan of his work & Violence in a Women’s Prison did not disappoint. It delivered all the goods that you would want from a women in prison film. Lots of nudity, violence, & lesbian love in this. It also features a brutal attack of rats & a hilarious poop fight. It was very sleazy & it had some real memorable characters from the prison. Most of them are unlikable so you are rooting for something bad to happen to them. It’s good to see more Black Emanuelle & Laura Gemser films get upgraded to blu ray especially something like this. I would suggest pairing this with Women’s Prison Massacre for an AMAZING double feature full of madness!!!! This is one of my favorite sub-genres, pure entertainment!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Severin Films. This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer comes from a 2k scan from an uncensored inter-positive. It has some minor print damage to it but it’s a major improvement over the previous 2002’s Shriek Show & 2008’s Shock-O-Rama DVD releases. The DTS-HD Master 2.0 mono audio track is the familiar English dub. It has some minor background noises but nothing that will distract you from the film. The score from Luigi Ceccarelli (Massacre, After the Condor, Strike Commando, & The Fishmen and Their Queen) is the true highlight on the track & it sounds GREAT! It also includes English subtitles.

Let’s discuss the special features from Severin Films  on this release. The 29 minute “Brawl in Women’s Block” is a interview with assistant director & co-writer Claudio Fragasso & co-writer Rossella Drudi. If you know Italian cinema then you realize these two have done some great work together over the years. They talk about how they got into the film business. They chat about their experience on collaborating with Bruno Mattei. They bring up how Women’s Prison Massacre was made at the same time as this. They discuss how cast members kinda got tricked into doing more they what they thought they would with 2 films at once. Claudio says he re-wrote for the script for Violence in a Women’s Prison because the original version from a french guy was awful. He said he actually was the one that directed Blade Violent also known as Women’s Prison Massacre while Bruno directed this.

This is a very controversial subject because Bruno Mattei’s name is on Women’s Prison Massacre & he is considered the director for it. For a long time now, I’ve seen several rumors & claims Claudio Fragasso ghost directed a few credited Mattei’s projects. I am very curious to know more about this. Rossella Drudi brings up how she was uncredited for a decent amount of films she worked on including this. They also talk about the cast in this. Their cat pretty much joins them for the whole interview which is kinda funny. There’s an almost 3 minute archival interview with the late great director Bruno Mattei. It’s from the original Shriek Show release, he discusses his work on this production. Both of these extras are in Italian with English subtitles. Last not least, it’s listed as a “Trailer” but it’s really a “Radio Spot” for the film. Severin Films provided some awesome reversible artwork for this blu ray. Laura Gemser? Bruno Mattei? Women in Prison? Those 3 things alone should sell you on this blu ray, I’ll add the final dagger by HIGHLY RECOMMENDING this sleazefest. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!