Girls in Prison (1994)

I don't know why I bought this DVD, possibly because it was inexpensive, but, having bought it, I felt compelled to see it through. Well, come to think of it, maybe I bought it see Anne Heche take a nude shower. Everyone needs reassurance from time to time that he's not a person of the opposite sex trapped in the wrong body, although, admittedly, any judgment made on the basis of a response to Anne Heche in the nude is problematic.I can't imagine which audience this was aimed at. There are a couple of shots that are actually in jokes. Every time one of our heroines is sentenced to a prison term there is a whirling newspaper that finally stops and tells us things like, MELBA GETS LIFE IN PRISON! Okay, that is some retro stuff and elicits a smile from the viewer who's familiar with old movie techniques. The problem is that the people who "get" the joke will have a really difficult time sitting through the rest of this seriocomic garbage. And the sorts of minds that enjoy the story of imprisoned girls screaming and rioting are unlikely to be familiar with spinning newspapers from the old black-and-white movies of the 1930s.You want a hint of what passes for the plot? Aggie -- Melissa Lahlita Crider -- is framed for the murder of a pop music entrepreneur and imprisoned for life. The music man was, in fact, stabbed sixteen times by Heche, who made off with Aggie's sure-fire pop music hit, "Endless Sleep." Aggie acquires a private eye to locate the real killer, not knowing that Heche is the miscreant. Heche hires a "hit girl" to off Aggie in prison. When that fails, Heche disguises herself and arranges for a short term in the same slams, so she can eliminate the noisome Aggie herself. It all goes wrong for Heche. Aggie is released and returns to the prison later to sing "Endless Sleep" for the cheering inmates, while the viewer shakes off that urge to snooze.It was written, evidently, by Sam Fuller and there's no question that the movie has the kind of zip we associate with his name. The performances are deliberate parodies of real performances although sometimes, as in the case of Melissa Lahlita Crider, it's hard to tell because only the rudiments of a performance are on display. Heche certainly knows what she's doing but I'm not sure about the rest, except for Nestor Serrano as a crime figure who is pure prosciutto. It's a marvelous experience, watching him run off at the hands.This brief assessment may be a little confusing, so I'll end with one example of what you might expect to see. Melba, played by Bahni Turpin, as in "Where do they get these names?", is a nice girl who is driven mad by a newscaster on television. She runs to the studio, is introduced to the man while on the air, produces a hidden hammer and whacks him repeatedly on the skull. The studio erupts. And a nameless woman rushes up to the camera, her palms against her cheeks, and screams directly into the lens for a long time. We can practically hear Edvard Munch moaning in his casket, "I didn't mean to do it!"

May contain slight spoilersThe cop tells Melba "You have five seconds to drop your weapon and live", Carol's father stares with wide eyes and repeats "are you a communist?" afer being attacked by a mob of morons, and when the private detective offers to help the innocent girl, he states "I'll strip her naked, tie her up, take her to the woods, then starve her until she confeses." There was nothing wrong with script, but only Anne Heche seemed to realize that this movie should be played for laughs. I might have been able to not take this movie seriously if everyone involved had giving a good example. Instead, this was one of the longest 82 minutes I have sat through in quite some time. Do not believe the back of the case, which boast of great bad girl performances and steamy shower scenes, there are no bad girls and the shower scenes appear to have been filmed by a blind, fourteen year old boy. The girls are very nice to look at, but only Anne Heche distinguishes herself. She is surprisingly attractive with long black hair and she gives a pleasantly off performance.

With the usual plot twists that keep you interested. An added bonus is Ann Heche (and many other actresses) in some graphic shower scenes. I liked it, for some light entertainment. It was good enough to keep me from changing the channel, but I don't feel compelled to watch it every time it comes on.

Funny how people see the same things in such different ways. Although the movie is classified as action/drama I have to say I laughed so hard I almost fell off the chair. This movie would have been a greater success if it had been classified as comedy. The characters are so stereotype that the movie seems to make fun of the kind of genre it is actually supposed to represent. The problem is, that it takes itself serious, otherwise I think I would have liked it. I am not quite sure whether it is just a bad movie or if it is really bad enough to be interesting. In any case - I am still amused about it. (Besides, Anne Heche is hilarious as the bad girl).