Penitentiary III (1987)

Penitentiary III (1987) * 1/2 (out of 4) Too Sweet (Leon Isaac Kennedy) is in the boxing ring when he goes crazy and beats the other boxer to death. He's sentenced to three years in prison and sure enough he gets there just in time to join a boxing competition put on by the warden and one of the most powerful inmates there.The final film in Jamaa Fanaka's trilogy appears to have a bigger budget than the first two and it's certainly much more polished but at the same time there's no question that it's the weakest of the lot. Cannon produced and released this third film and it's hard to believe that you could ever say that they made the "best looking" film of a series but I think this is part of the problem.The film just look too good for its own good. The less-than-stellar quality of the first two films made them perfect exploitation movies. This film here doesn't reach the same levels of camp and it just comes across as a rather bland "C" movie without too many memorable scenes. The highlight is a scene early on when Too Sweet must battle an almost demonic character that turns out to be a midget! This fighting scene is good and certainly the best thing about the picture.The performances are much better this time around and as I said there's no question that this film looks a lot more professional. Sadly, the story itself is nothing original and there's really just nothing all that entertaining here. It's really too bad because the first two films are so awful that you can't help but love them. This third film just doesn't have the same charm.

As far as B movies go this is one of the best. I laughed at the funny parts. The Action was great. Its definitely a Quentin Tarintino like film. All 3 are worth catching, this one is the best though. Mr.T makes an appearance in part 2 which is pretty good as well. The Midget smoking crack and kicking some a@@ rules. If you like Oz on HBO, this was the precursor. The prison footage is real raw and nasty. Definitely one to own, not just rent. This movie is probably more for guys than girls. Its one to break out around your friends who probably missed it the first time around. You get pretty pumped up during the fight scenes as well. I guess some of the acting could be better, but you could say the same thing about the Rocky movies.

This film is one of the greatest human achievements ever. A boxer, "Too Sweet," framed for murder, is sent to prison where he must fight a crack smoking, inmate raping, kung fu midget called the "Midnight Thud." At first "Midnight" is a snarling beast, the willing retainer of another homosexual inmate - Serengetti - and his tranny 'girlfriend' and does nothing but smoke crack in his dungeon (yes, there is a dungeon) beneath the prison and snarl. Episodically he is released by his handlers (prison guards wearing welding suits and masks!) to discipline various inmates. In fact, his mere existence seems to threaten the manhood of the entire prison. There is evidently a LOT of crack smoking going on down there, since the floor of the dungeon is knee high in billowing crack smoke. Also, there are no women in this film, only transexuals. Even Too Sweets 'conjugal visit' near the end was clearly not a (biological) woman.Later we discover 'Thud' is a great martial arts trainer and enjoys smoking expensive tobacco from fancy pipes (as well as crack), and he eventually trains Too Sweet - in a Rocky style montage episode - to win the prison boxing match. Wouldn't you win too if a three foot crack addict was yelling "ENEMA TOO SWEET!" in YOUR corner?The absurdity of this movie isn't a slow burn but a head scratching, perfectly ballistic sustained crescendo; it never lets up, escalating into a jaw dropping finale. Bravo!

How can you go wrong with a plot like "A man is framed for murder and sent to prison. He is beaten and tortured, then forced to fight the prison's worst killer, a martial-arts fighting midget called Thud." ??This is a B-grade pen movie but it is so bad that it's actually a lot of laughs. I saw this movie ten years ago when I was 16 but I bet I'd enjoy it again if I were to watch it now.7/10