Plot: What’s it about?
The tropical jungles should be a place to enjoy the sights & sounds of nature, but instead this one harbors one of the most brutal prisons to be found. The prisoners are all female and are ruled with an iron hand by the authorities who overlook them at all times. As fate would have it, all the women are beautiful and endowed with large breasts, which makes them a target of the sadistic and horny guards. It seems like every corner there is a guard trying to grab a feel on the love melons, or taste the nectar, so why doesn’t the warden end it? The warden here could give a shit less about these women and their problems, that’s why. So as they endure torture after torture, they have no little to no hope of ever being able to leave this hell hole. But when the prison’s doctor has seen enough of the abuse and finally eases off the hard liquor for a while, he and the girls plan an escape from the prison. Will this escape prove to be fruitful, or will the girls just end up being punished even harder for their actions?
There’s just something about a good “women in prison” movie, isn’t there? No matter how bad the storyline and acting might be, there’s just some draw in seeing female revolts against tyranny. No wait, that’s not really why these type of flicks are so cool, now is it? Heck no, these movies are cool because they show some heavy flesh and make a nice addition to any exploitation fan’s collection. Escape From Hell showcases all the elements we’ve come to expect from the genre such as the wicked guards, well endowed female prisoners, and of course a main course of frequent nudity, so no fans of these films will be disappointed with this one. You won’t see much in terms of innovation, but I think this movie did influence many later pictures to tackle the genre. The jungle setting adds some spice as opposed to the typical prison locations, but this is basically all the best things about the genre rolled into one flick. If you’re looking for anything more than nudity and exploitation thrills though, this simply isn’t your disc. This disc isn’t as loaded as the normal Troma releases, but it is still worth a look for fans of the film and genre.
This film was directed by Edward G. Muller (Edoardo Mulargia), whose resume is stacked with flicks about chicks stuck in a hellish jungle prison. That might seem a little too narrow for some folks, but I say when you’ve discovered your talents, why stray from the path? Muller did of course direct other projects, but I think his several films about female jungle prisons are his best, as well as most famous works. This one is as a good as a “women in prison” movie can be, with all the elements needed to concoct the visions we all want to see. Muller loads the cast with ample beauties and other strange folks, all of whom play their roles well. The visuals are pretty basic in design, but by no means is that a bad thing. When you’re trying to focus on naked chicks, the last thing you need is the camera swinging around, right? If you want to see more of Muller’s flicks I recommend Savage Island, Hotel Paradiso, A Man Called Django!, and Lesbo. The women in the film seem desperate to leave the prison, which is all you can ask them for, aside from taking their clothes off a few dozen times. The cruel guards seem like desperate folks themselves, though for different reasons.
Video: How does it look?
Escape From Hell is presented in a full frame transfer, which seems to be an acceptable aspect ratio. I found no evident pan & scan, but I am unsure what the original aspect ratio is in this case. The image? Looks like you’d expect a 70s exploitation flick to look, which is not that good, but still good enough in the end. I’ve seen this movie look much worse than this, so I am awarding some bonus cookies in this department. There’s only so much you can do improve a low budget older flick, and Troma has done a nice treatment here. The colors seem a little faded, but contrast is strong throughout. I found no traces of compression errors, even though this is a single layered disc. Is this a great transfer? No, but for this movie it is a very good one.
Audio: How does it sound?
Who cares, really? You don’t watch this movie to worry about dynamic sound, do you? No, but I will still give a rundown on what to expect from this audio track. This disc sports one of the worst, yet greatest dubbed tracks I’ve ever heard. The lips never match and the voice actors suck, but it seems like a perfect match for this film. Purists will want the original language of course, but I’m just pleased to have this flick out on DVD, so I won’t complain. This track is more than adequate and while no surround use is to be found, who needs it?
Supplements: What are the extras?
No specific features for this film were included, but some bonus trailers and a biography for Lloyd Kaufman can be found on the disc.
