Product: Chain Gang Woman
Rating: 3.0
2 1/2 Stars - Not as good as the title may suggest
Disclaimer: This film is included in Mill Creek'sBig Screen Bombshells: 12 Movie Collection, which is the version I saw. As such, I cannot comment on the value of the item offered on this product page. My review concerns the entertainment value of the film only.Well, excuse me for expecting this film to be about women in a chain gang.While the idea of watching a film about women in a chain might turn off more discerning viewers, it was included in the box set I had already bought, so I decided to give into my prurient interests, kick back with my popcorn, and watch a low-grade women's prison exploitation film. Too bad that isn't what showed up. Instead we get a film about chain-gang MEN, who eventually make a break for it. The first woman we see in the film appears at the 40:57 mark on the DVD timer - in a film that is only 85 minutes long.Look, this film is what it is, but don't buy it waiting for the salacious female shower scenes or the catfights between cell blocks or any other thing of that nature, because there just aren't any. The first third of the film is dedicated to the set-up: a small-time pot dealer, Harris, is transferred to a work farm for the last six months of his sentence. He's paired up with a killer named Weed, and when Weed overpowers a guard, Harris is forced by the chains that connect them to run too. Turns out Harris' girl lives in the area, so the two hightail it to her place and try and come up with a plan that'll get them out of the county, maybe all the way to Atlanta.Actually, this flick is pretty enjoyable for the first two-thirds - once the sociopath Weed gets around women, the action takes on a grimmer and grimier tone than I'm usually comfortable with. I don't know how realistic the portrayal of the work farm is, but it seems logical, and the use of semi-professional actors lends it a documentary feel. That all goes out the window after the break-out though, as director Lee Frost engages in some camera manipulation that looks like Ang Lee's source material for his work on 'Hulk' a few years ago. This is the second Lee Frost/Wes Bishop venture I've seen, the first beingPolicewomen, and their catalog reads like a virtual must see for viewers interested in '60's and '70's exploitation cinema. This one ends up going perhaps just a bit farther in that direction than I like to go though, as once the two escapees decide to hole up and outwait the roadblocks, they end up invading the home of a older man and his young wife. Weed eventually has his way with the young wife, who then reveals that she would rather trade for a life on the lam with Weed and Harris than stay with her husband on their farm. But both the police and the husband prove more resiliant than Weed would give them credit for, and the movie ends like a good exploitation cocktail - on the rocks with a bit of a twist.Out of the eight films I've watched in the 'Bombshell' collection so far, this one has the worst image, with all sorts of artifacts and abrasion marks in the image, and of the eight, it is also the only one in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Considering this Rhino release is listed at 1.33:1 and at 85 minutes (which is what the 'Bombshell' version times out to), then viewers interested in this film may be just as well off to seek out the box set as it comes cheaper than the individual film. Frankly, this film works as good as it is going to in the condition it is - or at least, I doubt any amount of remastering or reformatting this film is going to add too terribly much to it's overall quality. 2 1/2 stars, rounded up this time as the directors turn in a fun movie for the most part, a few fun soundtrack songs, and for the respect of finding actors who actually sound like they are from Georgia to play Georgians.