Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
WillSushyMedia
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Hulkeasexo
it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.
SeeQuant
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Woodyanders
Sweet young songtress Aggie (an appealing portrayal by the adorable Missy Crider) gets sent to a harsh women's prison after being found guilty of a murder she didn't commit. Will Aggie be able to prove her innocence and avoid being killed by a hit girl while serving time in the joint? Director John McNaughton, working from a blithely silly script by Samuel Fuller and Christa Long, relates the entertainingly ridiculous story at a zippy pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek campy tone throughout, and offers an affectionately broad evocation of the 50's Red Scare era. Moreover, it's acted with zest by an enthusiastic cast: Bahni Turpin as the friendly Melba, Ione Skye as sensitive writer Carol, Miguel Sandoval as shrewd tough cop Lucky, Tom Towles as slimy corrupt guard Norman Stoneface, Jon Polito as irascible music executive Boss Johnson, and Raymond O'Connor as smarmy disc jockey Mickey Maven. However, it's Anne Heche who easily steals the whole show with her deliciously wicked portrayal of ruthless bitch Jennifer (and, yes, Anne does indeed bare her nice breasts in a shower scene). Jean de Segonzac's snazzy cinematography gives the picture a cool stylized look. Hummie Mann's robust score hits the stirring melodramatic spot. A kitschy blast.
Robert J. Maxwell
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!"
Theo Robertson
A film doesn't have to be good to be entertaining and GIRLS IN PRISON is a case in point . The intelligence of the script starts and ends with a discussion of The Korean War " It's supposed to be a police action " " Yeah ? Then why the hell didn't they send cops " Which is dialogue that will be forever synonymous with Samuel Fuller who used the line in another film set around The Korean War . But after this exchange strange things start happening where we're shown live footage for the battlefront , something that didn't happen till 'Nam . The McCarthy witch hunts are alluded to but somehow feel overblown and false while someone refers to an ashtray that was given to him by " The King " . What in 1952 ? Maybe he meant the King of England ?I won't go into too much detail but in a contrived series of events a teenage girl called Aggie O'Hanlon finds herself serving a life sentence for a crime she didn't commit , and it's essential for anyone wanting to enjoy this TVM that they turn off their brain because there's plenty of things that don't make sense . For example a couple of inmates called Melba and Carol promise to protect Aggie . It's never revealed why they do this . Obviously being lesbian lovers it's very easy to jump to the conclusion that they want to involve the sweet and innocent Aggie in female love games but this isn't their motive at all because there is never any explanation for their motive , the audience just have to accept this without question . The audience have to accept a lot of things that defy credibility as the plot twists and turns but I have to confess I felt very involved in all this , yeah I know melodramatic and far fetched doesn't even begin to describe this movie but it is enjoyable thanks to the good looking cast ( Yes there is some T&A ) and some impressive pastal coloured cinematography from Jean De Segonzac
JOHN L. SCHINDEL
Don't let the appellation MADE FOR TV throw you off the scent. This movie was made for cable TV, and like any good 'girls in prison' movie, it has 2 really good shower scenes!Also, as it is set in the 1950's, Anne Heche gets to wear some clothes that would look right at home on Grace Kelly.