Easily one of the best-made examples of its kind, this women-in-prison tale is the debut feature from future cinema legend Jonathan Demme.
Thrown into the penal hell of Connorville, petty criminal Jacqueline (Erica Gavin) fights against the ruthless inmates, a cruel warden (Barbara Steele) and her depraved staff. She forms an uneasy friendship with two hardened inmates; when these three unite, they seek escape, money and revenge.
By this time, Demme had already teamed with cinematographer / future collaborator Tak Fujimoto, who would later revolutionize the look of horror with SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Composer John Cale (formerly of the Velvet Underground!) also offers a stark, experimental blues-inflected score that sounds at times like Ry Cooder — and the story takes a number of odd turns including several strikingly surreal fantasy sequences, with Steele getting the best moment in a stylish cabaret number.
