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Director Jack Hill (COFFY, SPIDER BABY) launched both a cycle of women-in-prison films and the stardom of Pam Grier with this sexy, funny, thrilling exploitation classic. At a prison farm in the Philippines, new girl Collier (Judy Brown) is locked up with bitter lesbian Grear (Grier), rebel girl Bodine (Pat Woodell), tough blonde Alcott (Roberta Collins), and Harad (Brooke Mills), a strung-out junkie. The girls race cockroaches, fight in the mud, shower, and get it on while the sadistic head guard (Kathryn Loder) conducts nightly torture sessions for the pleasure of the mysterious Colonel Mendoza. Eventually the girls escape, and all hell breaks loose as they race to join the rebels, their machine guns blazing a path through the jungles. Hill keeps a nice pro-feminist stance in this tongue-in-cheek picture, with strong characters and witty dialogue nicely counterbalancing the more perverse elements. All the women are sexy and excellent, especially Grier in her first major role. She even sings the soulful title song, "Longtime Woman." This film was a huge success, spawning many imitations. Producer Roger Corman had Hill and Grier follow it up with an immediate sequel, THE BIG BIRD CAGE.
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