Year: 1986
Duration: 01:25:08
Directed by: Godfrey Ho, Chester Yang
Actors: Juliet Chan, Bernard Tsui, Catharine Lau, Yvonne Wang, Celia Kong, Nancy Man, Keith Yang, Harold Wang
Language: Cantonese (English subtitles)
Country: Hong Kong
Also known as: Concentrational Camp for Girls, La prison des tortures, Women’s Prison, Aufstand im Frauenlager
Description: Once the women have finally escaped, the film kicks into a high gear of sorts with various shoot-outs, double-crosses, and even an utterly illogical attack by evil, unexplained man-eating trees. Of particular note is the section where one of the women is shot in the backside during a gunfight, culminating with the graphic campfire-side removal of the bullet with a hunting knife by her comrades. (Before you get excited, no, there is no nudity whatsoever and yes, it really is quite discomforting to watch.)
The showdown on the beach, which (SPOILERS) kicks off with yet another double-cross and ultimately leaves every character in the film bar one dead, is unquestionably the highlight, but by the time it finally arrives you’d likely find yourself wondering wether it was really worth the time getting there. At the very least, the huge bloody explosion which wraps things up is memorable, and the sight of several characters getting suddenly shot or stabbed, only to get up and continue fighting, is fairly amusing.
Exploitation-wise, there are some appropriately bloody gunshots, and several catfights in the prison, but the action choreography is below par, the dialogue is mostly flat, and there is no nudity to speak of (one attempted rape scene early in the film appears to have been censored).
Ultimately, this film probably isn’t worth the hassle to track down, and even if you can find it, your only apparent option for viewing is a dreary, dubbed, pan-and-scanned VHS copy from the late 80s. Besides, even if the things described above sound titillating, they are badly handled, and the film as a whole is lethargic and unmemorable. See it only if “women in prison” flicks are your thing and you’ve exhausted every other possible option.
One of the more obscure WIP movies is this Hong Kong-made entry into female prison movies – a sort-of remake of Bamboo House of Dolls.
As ever, the plots of these things is beside the point, and here’s no exception – some stuff about top-secret microfilm or something. A group of the inmates eventually decide to escape, but it becomes apparent that one of them’s a traitor…
But, that’s not the reason why we watch these movies, and here, you’ll find a satisfactory amount of abuse and torment going on – women are machine-gunned, burned, cut, forced to eat from dog-bowls, run through with swords, blown to pieces, whipped, hunted, abused, etc. And in one bizarre scene, attacked by vicious trees (a nod to EVIL DEAD?).
That is, when the inmates aren’t knocking shit out of each other.
As far as I know, this only came out in France and Greece on VHS – this upload represents the English-language Greek release.
Contrary to some reference sites, this is NOT a re-titling of WAR VICTIMS (a 1983 Indonesian WIP entry).
Screenshots:
Trailer:
[flashvideo filename=/wp-content/uploads/Video/Commando_Fury_1986.flv /]
Download:
