DVD Review: SEX HELL: TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN IN JAIL (1975)

 
 
SEX HELL:  TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN IN JAIL
Directed by Kôyû Ohara
Distributed by  Impulse Pictures

 I am a big fan of the exploitation genre, and the women-in-prison (wip) sub genre has always been a personal favorite of mine.  I have seen most all the common American wip flicks, and the more common Spanish films, but I don't believe I have ever seen a Japanese wip flick.  The filmmakers did a great job with this film and made a movie that is right up there with the more commonly known wip flicks.  For those like me who were not familiar with this film, here is the basic plot synopsis from the Impulse Pictures website:

A group of young women is thrown into a horrible juvenile hall, due to their illegal acts. They soon wish they were back on the outside, as a gang of inmates subjects this “fresh meat” to the horrors of being locked up. Mayumi, a new inmate with a mysterious past, stands up for herself and fights back! NO ONE is going to push her around, and she hatches an escape plan to seek revenge on the person who had her incarcerated.

 This film has everything you would expect from a typical wip film, including plenty of cat fights among the inmates and the typical female prison shower scenes.  This film in particular, though, contains some much gorier and disturbing violence than other wip flicks I have seen.  Japanese movie makers always seem to outdo their American counterparts when it comes to these types of movies and other horror films, which is why I am such a big fan of Japanese cinema.

 The film is shot very well and the DVD quality looks amazing considering this is a film from 1975.
SEX HELL is available now on DVD and includes newly translated removable English subtitles and liner notes from from Japanese film scholar Jasper Sharp.  I would highly suggest this film for anyone that likes wip films.


CLICK HERE to purchase the DVD