Women In Cellblock 9 — Women In Cellblock 9 (DVD)
The film was part of a big crop of sleazy-feasts Franco made with Swiss producer Erwin C. Dietrich in the 1970’s. Its original German title was Frauen für Zellenblock 9 but was known as Tropical Inferno in the US. The film follows the plight & degradation of four female spies who are snatched from a truck in an unnamed South American country. They are led into a bleak cell, chained naked by the neck, then tortured one by one by Dr. Milton(Vernon), with help of his perverse middle aged femme fatale.
Torture wise we get a women been put on an inverted metal tipped hobby horse, nude & foaming mouth electrocution, animal horn torture(where Vernon utters 'Most of the men I've done this to are now homosexuals'), and a hamster fed internally. It’s all kept fairly low-key & softcore, with the action suggested or going on off screen- though it still makes one flinch!.
The whole film rather lacks Franco’s more quirky & bizarre ways of filming- so you get none of the trademark zoom focus, uneven dreamy like pacing, etc. And really it’s quite a formally well shot & composed film- with some interesting shots, for example, the film opens of a bedraggled & stubble Vernon smoking a roll-up. Or much later we get a nice shot of the nude women at the side of a body of water, with their figures perfectly reflecting. Though as expected most of the film takes place inside, and for the most part the rooms & architecture chosen are a little bland- so no garnish 70’s interiors, or more flamboyant room design/features.
Acting wise Vernon is certainly the highlight here, as he plays the depraved doctor with great perverse glee, with his black rubber gloves & cases full of torture interments. As one of the four captured women we have Susan Hemingway, who a year early turned up as the lead in Franco’s more known Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, and she gives a fair performance here. Aside from her as one of the prisoners we have the blond & busty Karine Gambier, who later appeared in Erwin C. Dietrich’s Caged Women, and Come Play with Me 2- she gets fair more lines, is fairly convincing, & is a little more memorable than the other two prisoners. But hell, you’re not really watching this type of film for the acting!
The new remastering is good enough, with only the English dub of this original German language film available. Other extras wise you get the original German trailer for the film, Franco trailer reel, and a forty minute audio interview with Franco in French with English subtitles. The disc is region free, so can be watched anywhere in the world.
While not the most distinctive, or typical of Jess Franco films, or even a truly great WIP film Women In Cellblock 9 is an enjoyable enough slice of sleaze. So if you have a penchant for either Jess Franco films or 70’s sleazy exploitation, in general, give this a go.