Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Leofwine_draca This is a Bruno Mattei take on the women-in-prison genre. The director of the infamous ZOMBIE CREEPING FLESH, Mattei is much derided by fans of Italian trash because of his inability to direct a decent movie. This is pretty poor stuff, but actually better than some I've seen, so any film that shows Mattei in a good light has to have something going for it. As well as being a stand alone WIP/exploitation movie in itself, Mattei ties this into the BLACK EMANUELLE saga by casting Laura Gemser and her real-life lover Gabriele Tinti as the flick's two main stars.For the most part, this is business as usual, and it's notable that the stars are more attractive than you'll find in a film like this. Gemser is sent to a hellhole of a prison, but wait, there's a twist: she's actually working undercover for Amnesty International to look at prison standards. The usual elements are here, rather undistinguished: there's a sympathetic prison doctor; rape scenes; a sadistic warden; butch inmates; plenty of lesbianism; and an inevitable jail break come the climax. Mattei is no stranger to sleaze and the nude shenanigans are what you'd expect from this particular genre. Gemser is great value for money, as is Gabriele Tinti, but there's nothing or no one else here who stands out from the crowd. Cat fights, torture, nudity, sex and violence (although not as much of the latter as you'd expect from the title) and there you have it.

BA_Harrison Violence in a Women's Prison (AKA Emanuelle in Hell) sees Italian trashmeister Bruno Mattei (as Vincent Dawn, just one of many silly aliases the guy operated under) tackling the WIP genre with the same lack of subtlety, skill and style that he applied to most of his work; in other words, the film is an inept but gloriously cheesy slice of exploitative garbage that offers lots of misogynistic action, cartoonish violence, and unintentional hilarity, interspersed by moments of extreme drudgery and sheer tedium.Laura Gemser, she of the dusky skin and perky breasts, once again stars as intrepid reporter Emanuelle, who this time around poses as a hooker and drug pusher to go undercover in a women's correctional facility and, with the help of Doctor Moran (Gabriele Tinti) and some friendly inmates, expose the depravity and corruption that goes on within. This flimsy plot is all the excuse Mattei needs to give fans of such dubious fare (myself included) over an hour and a half of poorly acted, badly directed sleaze, including the obligatory lesbian action from big breasted bimbos, assorted scraps, a rat attack, a touch of rape, a smidgen of buggery, a little drug abuse, some torture, and best of all, a scat-fight (that's a cat fight that takes place in human feces). It's not art, but it is fun (some of the time).I give Violence in a Women's Prison 5.5 out of 10, happily rounded up to 6 for Lorraine De Selle's unmissable performance as the prison's nasty head warden, who parades around in black stockings and sussies, forces Doctor Moran to have sex with her (the poor man), and watches on with glee as a virginal female prisoner is raped by two leering inmates borrowed from the neighbouring men's prison.

Woodyanders Gutsy reporter Emanuelle (luscious Laura Gemser) goes undercover as an inmate in a women's prison to expose the corruption and brutality going on inside the place. When her identity is revealed, she incurs the vicious wrath of the sadistic staff. Veteran Italian trashmeister Bruno Mattei, working from a suitably seamy script by Olivier Lefait and Ambrogio Molteni, scrupulously covers all the spot-on essential slimy bases: abundant tasty distaff nudity, lurid lesbianism, sizzling soft-core sex scenes, ferocious rape, rough'n'tumble fisticuffs, mean and cruel guards, a grimy location, an exciting last reel break-out, a few lively catfights, a dark and gritty tone, and a simply fantastic sequence with Emanuelle being attacked by nasty red-eyed rats after she's placed in solitary confinement all add up ton provide a quite sleazy and hence most enjoyable piece of low-grade schlock. The sturdy cast of familiar Italian exploitation cinema regulars helps a lot, with stand-out contributions by Gabriele Tinti as the kindly, humane Dr. Moran, Lorainne De Selle as the wicked and depraved warden, Ursula Flores as the fragile Consuelo, Maria Romano as the snippy Kitty, Francoise Perrot as ruthless and predatory snitch Hertha, Jacques Stany as the crooked chief inspector, and Leila Durante as wise old felon Pilar. Luigi Ciccarese's polished cinematography makes all the filthy goings-on look slicker than they probably deserve. Luigi Ceccarelli's bluesy'n'jazzy pounding rock score hits the right-on groovy pulsating spot. Worthwhile viewing for babes-behind-bars buffs.

Coventry Ugh...this is only my second Black Emanuelle experience (after the even more infamous "Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals") and I'm already bored senseless with the character. "Violence in a Women's Prison" is a textbook example of the temporarily popular Euro-exploitation culture. These WIP-movies are notorious for their many vicious-sounding alternate titles and their supposedly controversial substance but, if you actually take the effort of seeing one, you'll agree that they're in fact very dull and far too inept to be taken serious. The ambitious reporter Emanuelle sets up a fake criminal record and goes undercover in a feared women's prison with the purpose of exposing the inhuman barbarities that take place inside the penitentiary's walls. She soon finds out that it was a lousy career move as she ends up in hell itself! All the inevitable sleaze-tricks to stuff up a typical exploitation flick with are exaggeratedly present: sadistic lesbian guards, humiliation, girl-on-girl action, rapes & beatings and a seemly endless amount of cat-fights. Everything the avid cult-fanatics adore, in other words, but I suppose that even they can't get passed the awful dialogues or the completely irrational plot-twists. The film isn't gory or shocking at all (apart from that one sequence in which our heroine is almost entirely devoured by red-eyed rats) and the uninspired overload of nudity becomes boring pretty quick. Slightly positive aspects are the neat musical score and the surprisingly well-handled directing by Bruno Mattei (or Vincent Dawn, as he likes to call himself here). The success of "Violence in a Women's Prison" – as well as of the entire Black Emanuelle series – entirely depends on the gorgeous Laura Gemser. She sure is one of the most beautiful women who ever lived...but she hasn't got the slightest bit of acting skills. If you browse around IMDb regularly, you'll notice that there are many WIP-movies on the market. Jess Franco made a lot of them, of course, like "99 Women" and "Barbed Wire Dolls", but even the more respected filmmakers like Jack Hill (Big Dolls House) and even Jonathan Demme (Caged Heat) have them on their repertoires. You can either do like everybody else and avoid them because they are "naughty" or watch one and see for yourself that's it's a whole lot of fuss about nothing.