Jennifer, Carol and Lisa are new inmates at an island prison called the ‘home of the lost souls’ where humiliation, rape and torture are a daily occurrence until the women plot an escape during a sex and drugs orgy.
“Bruno Mattei, one of my favorite exploitation directors, made some crazy productions. From the glory years of the 80s when he cranked out horror, action, nunsploitation and Women In Prison films through the sex and softcore 90s you just couldn’t stop him. After a lay off of a few years, Mattei returned to the directors chair in the 00s with a lot of help from Gianni Paolucci, making another genre hopping 15 films. Yes indeed, cannibals and sex and explosive action with cannibals AND commandos going head to head-all fodder for Bruno. And with his passing he left behind some films done late in his life that were as berserk and over the top as anything he had done. Taking the zombie craze and using his flair for action, he practically stepped back in time to when he shot Shocking Dark and Robowar to again strip mine the action favorites and move them in to a horror / science fiction story with Zombies The Beginning and Island of the Living Dead.
But his final Women in Prison film, again starring his lady of choice, Yvette Yzon, THE JAIL has been very very elusive. With Japanese releases of these final films, especially the nasty Cannibal Holocaust:The Beginning, I figured that this must be more like the rather sad sack THE TOMB than the better and nastier films like Cannibal Holocaust:The Beginning.
Was I ever wrong… THE JAIL is probably the sleaziest throwback film of them all. Not only did Mattei dig in to the Women In Prison films he was very good at making for one final go, but he added lots of surprises-nasty gore and twisted sadistic characters abound. If you like Women in Prison films OR Bruno Mattei’s career as a whole, this film will satisfy.
While I will take Land of Death / Cannibals Vs. Commandos (as the Japanese so wonderfully titled it) as my favorite of the late Mattei films, THE JAIL is the sleaziest and trashiest of a trashy bunch!
And I’m still scratching my head at the awesome “Musical Commentary by Bruno Mattei” credit.
To quote the film…’Hurry…TO THE SHOWERS!!!!!!!'”
