Caged Heat (1974)

Caged Heat (1974) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Maggie (Erica Gavin) gets thrown into prison for committing a crime with her boyfriend. It doesn't take long for her to realize she's in for a long ride as the prison is being ran by a sadistic warden (Barbara Steele) as well as a crazy doctor (Warren Miller) who is doing bizarre experiments on the women.CAGED HEAT was the first film from director Jonathan Demme. Yes, that Jonathan Demme who would win a Best Director Oscar seventeen-years after this film with THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. By the time CAGED HEAT was released the women-in-prison genre was several years strong and by this time producer Roger Corman already had a formula down that he wanted followed. Of course you had to have a short running time and in that short time you had to have plenty of violence, action and of course nudity.Demme manages to deliver a pretty fast film, although there's no question that there's really nothing new on display here. He at least managed to turn in a fun exploitation picture that has all the elements needed for a "Corman picture" so to speak. The film has an attractive cast with Gavin fitting the lead role just fine and we've also got cult favorites Roberta Collins and Juanita Brown. Miller is good in the role of the crazy doctor and it's certainly fun and strange seeing Steele here. I thought the cult favorite was decent in the part but I'm not sure she seems too thrilled being in it.The film has plenty of nudity with a lot of beautiful women and of course there's the required shower sequences. The action is pretty good and for the most part there's really nothing overly bad here. As I said, the prison genre was already going strong for a few years so there's nothing new here but CAGED HEAT is fun.

Jonathan (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, PHILADELPHIA) Demme kicked off his directorial career under the tutelage of veteran schlock director, Roger Corman, with CAGED HEAT - a decent 70's WIP film that has a little more substance and a lot less sleaze and violence than some of the more notable WIP entries of the era.Jackie is busted during a drug deal gone sour, and is handed the pretty vague sentence of "no less than 10 and no more that 40" years in jail. Once inside, Jackie is exposed to gritty prison life and due to a few mishaps, gets on the wrong side of the cold-blooded female warden. Eventually, an opportunity for escape presents itself and Jackie and another prisoner fly the coop. But as anxious as they are to be on the outside again - the girls realize that they left many of their prison buddies in the hands of the ice-queen warden and her sleazy doctor crony. Soon a plan is hatched to go back and break their friends out...CAGED HEAT is entertaining for what it is - but lacks most of the "strong" content and sleaze that the WIP films are known for. If you're expecting strong violence, lesbo rape scenes, sadistic torture, and prolonged tits and bush shots...you'll want to look elsewhere. CAGED HEAT plays more as a watered-down parody of those types of films as opposed to being a sleazy smut film - and many viewers will appreciate it for that reason. Me...I'll take the sleazy smut. Worth checking out for 70's exploit fans - just don't expect anything very rough. 6.5/10

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

Ahhh... 'Caged Heat'! I get a big grin on my face just typing the title! Look, you either dig Women In Prison movies or you don't, and if you do 'Caged Heat' is the second best one ever made, in a tie with Jack Hill's 'The Bird Bird Cage'. (The best for me is still 'Chained Heat' starring Linda Blair and Tamara Dobson, made a few years after this genre is generally regarded as being at its peak). I think the only thing stopping it from being number one is the absence of Pam Grier. If she had played the character of Pandora instead of Ella Reid, 'Chained Heat' would be IT. Funnily enough, three of the major cast members (Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins and Rainbeaux Smith) had co-starred in various Grier vehicles ('Foxy Brown', 'The Big Doll House', and 'Drum' respectively). This is Jonathan Demme's directorial debut after serving his apprenticeship with Roger Corman as a writer and producer, and he really came up trumps. Demme manages to make a tough and tense W.I.P. movie and a playful, tongue in cheek parody of one simultaneously. He has made more accomplished and successful movies since this, but arguably none more entertaining. The cast is an impressive one, not just Brown, Collins, Smith and Reid, but Russ Meyer bitch goddess Erica Gavin ('Vixen!') and horror legend Barbara Steele ('Black Sunday', 'Pit And The Pendulum', 'Night Of The Doomed', 'Shivers',etc.). I also liked the perverted Dr. Randolph played by Warren Miller. 'Caged Heat' is first class trash, and a perfect example of 1960s/70s exploitation movies exemplified by the energetic and fun output of American International and New World Pictures. We will never see their likes again! Enjoy!