Thus far VIP's Erwin Dietrich DVD line has been extremely generous to cult film fans. Presenting some ultra sleazy delectables for our consumption, Jess Franco's Women in Cell Block 9 only stands to continue the trend. It's pretty standard women in prison fare, but has a few standout elements to make it easily recommendable to fans of the genre.

A jeep load of female freedom fighters(?) is commandeered at a checkpoint in the middle of the South American Jungle. A few of the ladies are suspected members of an organization that simply doesn't agree with a feisty female prison warden and her suckling sidekick, the prison doctor (played by Howard Vernon). The three suspects are chained and brought to a makeshift women's prison in the middle of the jungle (what is it with all of these jungle prisons anyway?). The women are stripped, humiliated, chained and ultimately brought one by one to the doctor's torture table as he attempts to extract information from them, the only way he knows how.

Each woman is put through her paces in a fairly grisly manner. In a stroke of genius, after their torture sessions and they are re-chained a plan is hatched among the ladies. The three women are now four as they have befriended an unjustly sentenced student. Our four heroes proceed to "make it" with one another as a leering guard looks on, for you see it is a clever trap they have devised. The guard gives in and the four women over come him and manage an escape. Naked and vulnerable, they must make a speedy exit in order to outrun the warden and the good doctor.

Formulaic is the word of the hour here, there's really nothing new to be found behind these prison walls. The vicious warden (who needs to see a dentist, and fast) takes advantage of her position and the inmates (quite often this comes down to favors of a sexual kind - so what else is new). Why is it so important that these women don't get away? So they won't divulge the secrets behind the prison walls of course! (Once again, what else is new) While quite graphic at times, please excuse me when I say that it may still not be quite graphic enough. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of nudity and at one point the warden forces a prisoner to go down on her. Still a lot of the torture scenes consist of shrieking sounds and reaction shots. Am I going to hell for wanting more? Probably, yes. These scenes are still sickly disturbing; consiting of a sharp ended dildo, elctro shock therapy and in one instance, a very lucky hamster and a tube (you do the math).

Through it all this is still pretty much a Franco film all the way. Out of focus shots, a sometimes inappropriate jazz score (yet still funky fun) and scenes that look like they could have been taken out of a perverted travelogue. Performances are all about average as well, at least what's to be left of them through the atrocious dub job. However, the shining star here is without a doubt Howard Vernon. I will watch anything that this man is in, he simply fascinates me. He's as nutty as ever with his wild and crazy facial expressions and his off the wall portrayal of the doctor is pure magic. There's no doubt that he's a little too anxious for his sessions of torture, pretty disturbing stuff Howard, you da man.

The technical quality of this DVD is through the fucking roof (pardon my French). As with most of the other releases in the VIP line, there is really no evidence of print damage (grain is minimal) and colors are bold and sharp. There's simply no reason for this film to look as good as it does here. The mono audio track is equally as impressive with no background noise or interference to speak of.

Extras include a shitload of trailers (about 15, many are repeats from previous releases in the VIP line), a 20-minute piece on Dietrich, stills and a few cast/crew bios. Overall impressive in quality, but a fairly sub par women in prison flick. Still, this disc will be enjoyed and cherished by many a sleazy film fan, so no apologies are necessary. This disc sure as hell wasn't designed for the Best Buy crowd, so fuck 'em. It's nothing new, but it still delivers the goods - add to this the outstanding technical quality of the disc along with the cool extras, you've definitely got a winner.

Purchase this disc at xploitedcinema.com