The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

You must watch Caged Heat (1974) at least to realize that a person who directed The Silence of the Lambs (1991) could also direct THIS.

A young woman (Erica Gavin) is arrested for helping two men in a bank holdup. She's thrown into a prison run by a sadistic warden (Barbara Steele). There the guards treat the prisoners like dirt and the prison doctor regularly gives them lobotomies or electroshock therapy. With another prisoner (Juanita Browne) Gavin plans a break out...but is it possible? Jonathan Demme's directorial debut has been highly praised over the years. Critics loved it and it has a cult following. There's plenty of action, likable characters, moves fairly quick, has great acting by Gavin and Steele and a GREAT ending. Still it also has laughable dialogue, some REALLY bizarre dream sequences that add nothing to the story, bad acting and truly sick moments seeing how badly the women are being treated. So it is well-done and all but extremely unpleasant.

This flashy turkey came out about the same time as Corman's great sleaze trio-- Crazy Mama (1975), Big Bad Mama (1974), and Jackson County Jail (1976). Of course, those had cast principals who could act plus writers who could tell a story. Unfortunately, this Corman production has neither (except for an under-used Steele).Now, I have nothing against naked women, machine guns, or cartoon violence, but they should at least be woven into some kind of coherent narrative. Here instead, we get a jumble of rapid-fire events, aimlessly tied together, with precious little dialog or anything like character development. The result is close to a kinetic mess. Reviewer bheyer overstates the case, but he does have a point.This is Demme's maiden try as both director and screenwriter and— thank goodness-- quickly got the arty flash out of his system, especially the Fellini (the fantasy segments). That's because his second try, Crazy Mama, is clearly superior, owing perhaps to the coherent screenplay from Robert Thom that disciplined him.One note of interest— it's a crudely feminist movie. The men are uniformly obnoxious and exploitative, while the women convicts are all attractive and gutsy, finally turning on the system that victimizes them. Demme may not develop the themes, but he does have a point of view. If the movie proves anything, it's that sleaze alone is not enough, not by a long shot or even a medium shot.

After being sent to prison for no less then 10 nor more then 40 years for being busted with drugs and refusing to give up her accomplishes, Jackie (Erica Gavin of Russ Meyer's "Vixen" and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", in her last film role) has to get accustomed to life in the big 'doll' house, or at least try to, in this early film by Jonathan Demme. Due to it's tawdry nature and sheer watchability, I would also rank this as one of his best films, right below "Silence of the Lambs" and "Stop Making Sense", but so far above any of his other movies. This minor classic is just campy, sleazy, and fun enough to be an amazingly good guilty pleasure and thankfully never once goes overboard into all out parody of the Women In Prison genre. It ALMOST washed out the rancid bad taste of the ludicrously preachy "Philidelphia" from my mouth. However, the film is not without it's downfalls (the 'un'talent show is a HUGE chore to sit through and goes on far too long, Barbera Steele is sadly wasted, among other small things) But don't let those gripes stop you from watching an otherwise enjoyable movie.My Grade: B- DVD Extras: 5 minute Roger Corman interview; Cast & crew Bios; Original Trailer; and Trailers for "Candy Stripe Nurses" (with nudity), "Big Bad Mama 2", "Big Doll House" (with nudity), & "Crazy Mama" Eye Candy: Juanita Brown, Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, Erica Gavin, Roberta Collins, Ella Reid, Lynda Gold, and some others all show skin