99 Women

Surprisingly tame (at least in the version I saw, titled "Island of Despair"), boring schlock from Jess Franco, whose direction is, once again, pretty terrible (example: we get a flashback regarding the events that led a VERY MINOR supporting character to prison - and Franco inexplicably keeps it going for about 20 minutes!). Luciana Paluzzi's role is little more than a cameo. (*)

This flick was made a year after the notorious "Love Camp 7", and it ain't as nasty as that and compared to Jess Franco later WIP sickies like "Sadomania" - "99 Women" is kinda tame but there's plenty of cheap thrills, groovy broads and Herbert (Mark Of The Devil) Lom in top form! It's also a wellmade film with a fun (yet dated) soundtrack. The infamous UK censors cut over 30 min. of the running time, so get the uncut version! A must for Francophiles!

Surprisingly effective and well made WIP with Maria Schell and Herbert Lom as well as many of the usual good looking suspects. Not as violent as some of Franco's later efforts, this is in fact pretty sensual and always good looking and would slot alongside 'Eugenie….' and 'Venus in Furs' from the same period better than one would imagine. Good performances all round including a peculiarly effective one from a certain Mercedes Cambridge, who was apparently in 'Johnny Guitar'! Enjoyable and this just shows how well the old guy could direct if he put his mind to it or wasn't too restrained by others. Also he possibly refrained from indulging himself too much here because of his esteemed cast. Good score too from Bruno Nicolai.

Maria has been sent to a prison on an remote island where the warden is giving kickbacks to the warden of the mens' prison on the other side of the island via his choice of girl inmates. Naturally he has his eye on fresh meat Maria. The government gets a whiff of the corruption and sends a plant in to investigate the abuses. For a WIP flick I was surprised how tame it was, for a Franco flick i was very surprised how tame it was. The only thing that keeps one falling asleep is the horribly inserted * inserts that don't fit well into the film in the least. What's laughable is that Franco fans (yea hard to believe they're people out there who are) actually got angry that Franco's name is even on this version. Yea, we can't have his sterling image as an ingenious competent visionary be sullied *snicker* My Grade: D X-rated version DVD Extras: Nothing at all

99 Women is a women in prison film with a high calibre cast including Oscar winner Mercedes McCambridge as well as distinguished thespians Herbert Lom and Maria Schell. These type of films have a mix of soft core sex action, lesbianism, some torture, even violent torture and a lots of campiness. 99 Women has decent production values, good acting but is dull as dishwater. The soft * will send you to sleep. The story is just plain bad and the dubbing is nonsensical. The English dubbing just reverts to French at random moments. It is bad and boring.

99 Women (1969) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Director's Cut One of the first WIP (Women in Prison) films deals with an innocent girl (Maria Rohm) being sent to prison where she has run ins with the wicked warden (Mercedes McCambridge) as well as a woman (Maria Schell) out to make the prison a better place. This was directed by Jess Franco who was still in his serious film-making days where he was actually producing higher budgeted, better looking films. The movie is decent enough but I prefer Franco's later, more sleazier efforts like Barbed Wire Dolls, Women in Cellblock 9 and Sadomania.