Escape from Hell (1980) Poster

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6/10
Enjoyable action flick
kevin-16710 September 1999
Naked helpless babes trapped on an island where they are brutalized and used by the powers that be. What more could an exploitation fan ask for? It's just a notch above your average babes in prison movie since the characters are believable in their desire to get out. Also, When the setting says tropical island they are not kidding. The island our beauties are stranded on looks about as tropical and steamy as you can get. Not for the squeamish!
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6/10
Sweaty hothouse WIP Eurotrash
Eegah Guy27 November 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I have yet to see the re-edited version known as SAVAGE ISLAND with Linda Blair but this original version was OK. All the girls look sweaty, stinky & dirty as they work, fight and make out with each other. That's about it for plot until they do escape and most of them get killed. Europeans love those downbeat endings. It's always nice to see Peter Lorre lookalike Luciano Pigozzi in another piece of low-rent Eurotrash like this.
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6/10
Trashy WIP exploitation
Ky-D8 April 2005
For my money, this the best WIP flick I've come across. Or at least the most watchable. Being a WIP flick, however, means it's a trashy exorcise in sleazy cinema.

The story...well...gee whiz, there isn't much of one. In an all women prison camp located in the steamiest jungle on earth, guards regularly abuse the poor inmates. They decide to do something about it. Can you guess what? It's a prison movie...it's called "Escape from Hell"...do the math.

It's nice to see lost 'gems' like this can still turn up in the age of the PC movement. The goings on are what would be expected: gang rape by guards, lesbian hook ups by inmates, sadistic wardens, a sympathetic doctor, violent revolt, etc. What made this work for me was the setting, it really seems like a plain nasty place to be stuck. Seeing where they are, it's no wonder guards and inmates alike are hostile toward each other.

As far as the violence goes, it's bloody, but not excessively so. The sex, on the other hand, is really graphic. In several of the encounters it is clear as day that the action is not simulated. One rape scene in particular features a guard obviously performing actual oral sex on an inmate. There are no 'hard-core' shots however, for better or worse.

The picture is really grainy and often so dark as to obstruct the action. Also, the sound is pretty poor with some laughter inducing dubs. But, again, it's about what would be expected.

If one is thinking about watching this, then they should already know what they are getting into. Otherwise, this probably won't be your cup of tea.

6/10
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Jungle prison has topless prisoners - it gets hot there
Dr. Gore13 December 2002
Warning: Spoilers
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

Women's prison in the jungle brings out the worst in the prison guards. They beat and rape the prisoners on a daily basis. Finally the girls have had enough. They ask the drunk doctor to put down the booze and help them. Escape plans are hatched and violence soon follows.

Like any good women's prison movie, this had scenes of torture and cheap thrills which strings together the flimsy plot. I especially enjoyed the mass prisoner shower scene. Every women's prison flick should have it and this one delivers the naked goods. Also the touching lesbian sex scene between the new girl and the boss of her cell was good. There were violent scenes of torture and whipping but nothing too outrageous. The rape scenes were the harshest. Mostly there were breasts. Lots of breasts. Topless prisoners as far as the eye could see. Oh yeah.

Good women's prison flick. Had all the right elements.
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2/10
Sloppy and unpleasant
gridoon12 May 2007
"Escape from Hell" is not made with enough artistry to disguise what it is: crass exploitation. The direction and writing are both sloppy: for example, the camera-work during the fight between Cintia Lodetti and Ajita Wilson is so bad that you can barely make out what's happening; also, if the alcoholic-but-kind-hearted doctor hadn't killed the warden, the guards would never have followed him and the girls after their escape - the "fake plague" plan had worked fine until then but he just had to ruin it. I would have given this film a 4 out of 10 (the sweaty lesbian scene is not bad and Christina Lai has an amazingly beautiful face and body), but a particularly disgusting scene of abuse forced me to cut 2 more points. Of course some sickos will take that as a recommendation. After all, one thing even more disturbing than this film is that some people actually gave it positive reviews!
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4/10
Sleazy Italo Spanish woman in prison effort
Leofwine_draca29 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
One of the sleazier entries in the women-in-prison sub-genre of exploitation flicks, this obscurity is a Spanish-Italian co-production that boasts realistic-looking sweaty jungle locales – indeed the realism of the surroundings is the film's high point. The low budget nature of the production and the grim, dirty look of the actors (none of the Hollywood white teeth nonsense here!) make it seem also like a documentary, so it taps into the could-be-real buzz of similar jungle flicks like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. The emphasis in this film is very much on sex, with many near-hardcore moments inserted periodically into the proceedings to pad out the slim plot and offer titillation to the male viewer.

Sadly, watching ugly men committing sexual acts on unwilling women is not my idea of fun, so I fast-forwarded these moments. There's not much to say about them really, other than the women are unsurprisingly attractive and the guys all have those sleazy '70s porno moustaches. The exception is Anthony Steffen, a one-time successful spaghetti western actor who must wonder what the hell he's doing here. Playing a washed-up alcoholic doctor, when I saw Steffen performing apparently unsimulated oral sex on one of the actresses, I wondered how close the 'alcoholic' label was to the truth. Steffen's good value for money, even here, but it's sad to see how the once mighty have fallen (reminds me of Cameron Mitchell's turns in schlocky '80s horror flicks).

Anyone who's seen any prison flicks will know what to expect from this one. There are gun-toting guards, happy to shoot anyone who steps out of line; tortures for those committing forbidden acts; a corrupt governor (this one played with customary gleeful relish by Italy's Peter Lorre, Luciano Pigozzi); lesbian acts (ever-present is transsexual star Ajita Wilson, who has a weird nude dance seemingly inserted into the jungle footage near the climax) and finally a mass escape. There really any violence or gore in the film until the last twenty minutes, where things finally pick up and the film turns into a halfway decent action flick. Somebody gets covered in leeches, innocent people are shot and Steffen has a shoot-out with the bad guy guards, blowing holes through their bodies with his shotgun in some surprisingly realistic special effects shots. Things culminate in an ending which is unusually poignant, considering what's come before. Director Edoardo Mulargia is another one who saw better days with his '60s-made spaghetti westerns, and he finished his career with the double bill of this and ORINOCO: PRISON OF SEX; a similar flick which shared locations and actors. Trashy days!
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5/10
Grimy jungle "spaghetti" ..........
merklekranz28 January 2020
Anthony Steffen trades in his Western poncho for a whiskey bottle in this sleazy Italian W.I.P. film. He plays a drunk Doctor in a jungle prison for women only. This leads to all sorts of depravity by the male guards. Everything is as you would expect, with rape, torture, lesbian groping, and of course that old standby implied bestiality. The movie is grainy, dark, and the acting marginal high school caliber. You have to ask yourself this question, why would anyone want to sit through this train wreck of a film? The dubbing alone is so atrocious that lips are moving before and after the over dub, but none of that matters because the intended audience will be totally fixated on the grimy writhing screen images. One other thing, I just hope no snakes or leeches were harmed during filming? - MERK
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6/10
Very sweaty, very sleazy
christopher-underwood11 January 2007
Confusing this because it seems Mr Mulargia made two versions of this with the same cast and given the same title. This one has an alternative title of Hell Prison (UK video) and the other is sometimes known as Hotel Paradiso (and Hell Prison!!). The other film has a notable scene where an inmate is kissing a warden and bites off his tongue, whereas this one has Adjita Wilson suspended spread eagle from a platform and lots of leeches in the swamps. Anyway, to the matter in hand and it's not a pretty sight. Very sweaty, very sleazy jungle set W I P with lots of sex and violence. If, however you feel the outrageous and degrading violence becomes torturous for the viewer during the first half hour just wait for the drawn out and torturous escape through the jungle in the last half hour. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood but despite the presence of Ms Wilson and a spirited performance from Antonio De Teffe as the alcoholic doctor this seemed all rather tedious if graphic standard fare.
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5/10
Poor acting. Typical women in prison film.
Mando692 August 2000
This is about your typical "women in prison" type scenario. The women are incarcerated, try to escape, get raped in the process etc.etc. There is a lesbian scene towards the end but, the rest of the movie was quite boring. I found myself pressing the fast-foward button most of the time. I would say forget about it but, the love scene in the cell was eye catching and is probably the only reason I would recommend this film.
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6/10
"Bottom of a porn theater seat" scum of a movie- not bad.
ericdetrick200229 January 2005
I must not have done my research or just forgot that I was about to watch a 1980 Italian "women in prison" flick because my jaw dropped upon seeing some of the sex scenes in this. I am wondering if there is an X-rated version floating around out there because it was obvious that there was some real oral sex going on in this movie.

Another reviewer mentioned they thought this was Troma's worst film in their library. You must not have seen all of the Troma films because Troma has some real stinkers. But I wouldn't call this a Troma library film, but a Troma sponsored re-release. There are Troma films and then there are films that Lloyd Kaufman buys the rights to so he can make more cash on them by packaging them and releasing them. This is one of those. I guess if Troma was going to re-release a "women in prison' flick this is fits the Troma standard- trashy.
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1/10
Single worst film in the Troma library.
Reverend Chaos19 June 2001
OK,I've seen over 100 Troma films, and some of them are pretty bad. "Sizzle Beach U.S.A." was horrible, and "I Was A Teenage TV Terrorist" was unwatchable, but this is THE WORST FILM IN THE TROMA LIBRARY!

A bunch of women are kept in a prison and tortured as they try to escape.

This is really terrible. Even as exploitation films go. Doris Wishman and Hershall Gordon Lewis would probably kill the director if they saw this poor excuse for an cult film. Avoid this movie at all costs.
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8/10
A prime putrid piece of deliciously rancid sleaze
Woodyanders14 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
The lovely female inmates incarcerated at a remote prison camp located in a tropical rain forest are severely mistreated by the brutal staff. Several convicts who include the sassy Zaira (statuequse stunner Ajita Wilson), feisty new fish Vivienne (fetching Cristina Lay), and tough top con Katie (luscious Cintia Lodetti) enlist the assistance of the boozy, yet humane Dr. Farrell (well played by the always reliable Anthony Steffen) to break out of this unbearable hellhole. Director/co-writer Edoardo Mulargia goes out of his way to really deliver the graphic'n'greasy goods in a very stark and unflinching manner: we've got excessive leering nudity, raunchy semi-pornographic sex, an eye-popping miles of naked distaff flesh group shower scene, torture, whipping, no-holds-barred catfights, savage rape, forced sodomy, and, naturally, sizzling hot lesbianism. After the girls escape, they face such horrible perils as snakes, leeches, and quicksand. Better still, the potently rendered fetid, sweaty and uncomfortable atmosphere and harsh, gritty, nihilistic tone give this picture an extra mean and jolting in-your-face edge. The villains are a memorably nasty bunch: Luciano Pigozzi as the cruel, pitiless neat freak warden, Serafino Profumo as sadistic guard Martinez, and Yael Forti as cocky trustee inmate guard Marika. Of course, this flick overall sizes up as a thoroughly base, disgusting and morally reprehensible serving of pure repulsive trash. In other word, it's the absolute scuzzy bomb, baby!
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2/10
Welcome to the Jungle. Instead of fun and games, we have filth and boredom!
Coventry29 December 2022
In the wondrous world of cult and exploitation cinema, there are two sub genres that always look tremendously spectacular and authentically shocking, but in fact, these are exactly the two sub genres that feature the absolute worst, dullest, and frustratingly tame movies. I'm referring to Naziploitation flicks and Women-in-Prison movies. Sure, they always look twisted and perverse, but rest assured they are the most boring, substantially void, and anti-erotic movies you'll ever watch. Most adult porno films I have watched are more sophisticated, elegant, and professional than these. And they treat the female cast members better as well.

"Escape from Hell" is just as described here above. The "hell" from the title is a female prison camp located somewhere deep in the Brazilian rainforest. The women are scantily dressed and must work hard all day in the burning sun, while their sleazy male guards sit in the shadows. Whenever a poor girl tries to escape, the guards hunt her down, rape and kill her, and they put into a report that she was killed by a jaguar. Yes, that sort of prison. The women eventually team up and persuade the alcoholic camp doctor to stage their great escape.

Feel free to skip this one; - either you have seen it all before, or you don't want to see it. Anthony Steffen was never a great actor (he usually played in spaghetti westerns when better actors like Franco Nero weren't available for the lead roles), but this is the definite low point of his career. I'd say the same for Luciano Pigozzi, but he specialized in playing creeps and pervs, and poor screenplay quality was never a barrier for him.
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Best Costume Drama Ever
duffyy11 January 2004
A film so good they made it twice (they shot the equally lurid `Hotel Paradise' at the same time), and even released a scratch mix version called `Savage Island' with Linda Blair which wasn't so good. We all know by now that the plot involves a couple of dozen half naked women being terrorised by the brutal guards in a jungle prison camp. It also has a host of titillating titles which translate as `The Torture Camp of the Dear Witches', `The Dear Witches of the Rio Cannibale' `Escapees from the Love Camp' and `Infernal Women', although that was the original. In Britain it was called `Hell Prison' and back in 1980 when I saw it the cover was enough to get me interested, probably a bit too interested. I've seen it twice since and might even buy the DVD one day.

On the cast, everyone seems to know about the late Ajita Wilson, but have you noticed that Christina Lai (Vivien) appears in Moonraker for all of two seconds (credited there as Christina Hui)? So 1979 was a big year for her. All of which set me to thinking who she really was, and what was her real name. Well, she was Miss Italy 1978 (then known as Loren Cristina Mai). Further `research' reveals that Zaira Zoccheddu, who plays `Lucy' was a Miss World contestant in 1974, but she finished nowhere. Don't you just love the internet?

Also Anna Maria Panaro (aka Annamaria Pace) appeared in a couple of `Sword and Sandal' epics in the 60s and then seems to have disappeared until she turned up in an episode of Sex and the City. Here she plays `Marie Antoinette' who pretends to be mad and has an affair with a dog to keep the guards off her case, smart move.

Handsome Serafino Profumo (`Martinez') has a scary list of film credits, though I think the IMDB has missed at least one of those icky Italian Nazi-sex epics of the 70s. And Brazilian born Anthony Steffen did a lot of spaghetti westerns before landing his greatest role here as the alcoholic doctor.

Wow, there's certainly more to this skin-fest than meets the eye. I'm going to write a thesis on this movie. Or maybe start a fan club which is long overdue. Help me out and I guarantee a million hits.

Whoever has the rights should be informed that some of us are crying out for the director's cut. Or maybe we could arrange a 25th anniversary reunion somewhere in Italy.
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3/10
Babinos in the Clink
arfdawg-115 March 2024
Within four minutes the clothes are getting ripped off and men are having their way with the women. A slightly different take from "Singing in the Rain," I guess.

The consummate cat-fight, with more clothes being ripped off, happens literally 90 seconds later! WTF? The substitute Camp Commander is a drunk and doesn't care what happens to anyone. Even if they are eaten by a jaguar.

Oh, and that girl who wants to be very close friends, shall we say, with that dog....

What kind of movie is this? I can't believe I missed this one all these years. It doesn't even show up in compilation movies of woman's prison flicks. Maybe because it's in Italian with subtitles.

Anyway, it's a while ride with more than its share of nudity and abuse. And quite a lot of it is very, very sick.
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10/10
"I'll also need some alcohol to disinfect my hands", "Too bad it disinfects only the surface."
somethingtotallyoriginal2 December 2005
This is a state of the art Girls-In-Jungle-Prison-Camp movie. It is loaded with nudity and all kinds of abuse. No wonder the good handsome doctor is a drunk. But there's only so much a decent person can absorb before they stand up and snap back. The doctor is their only chance of survival from the notorious warden and guards.

There is a death scene that has to be one of the worst, most frightening I've ever seen. I've seen a million ways to die on screen, but I have never seen this one before.

A fool could say this only happens in movies... but I'm sure similar events happen all the time around the world. And yes... even to girls! They could be taken advantage easier.

Lets remember the inmates are all criminals to be there, but what goes on in the remote jungle miles from civilization is an unseen, unspeakable hell where people who are supposed to represent authority and teach correction just turn into criminals themselves. The moral of the story; two wrongs don't make a right and good always prevails.

A superbly crafted intense, dramatic, romantic film that is both meaningful and immensely entertaining. Escape!
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9/10
Sleaze Galore... The W-I-P Film at its Trashy Best
thelegendarywd7 June 2003
Great family entertainment! OK, maybe not.... But, man, what an excellent piece of sleaze. Great sex scenes (in the first sex scene you can see that the girl is actually performing REAL oral sex on the male guard),the stand-out being the sweaty lesbian scene in the jail cell... very steamy. The rape scenes are a little too rough and suprisingly realistic (one guard holds the lead actress while the other gropes and performs REAL oral sex her) but my guess is that the cast is probably of the hardcore background due to the scenes they perform in this film. It may not have the wit of Caged Heat or the originality of The Big Bird Cage but it sure does know the right parts to imitate. While this may not be the "watch with the girlfriend" type movie it's a great guilty pleasure... and one hell of a Sleazy/Trashy/Morally devoid piece of filth!!! GOD, I LOVE IT! 9/10.
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10/10
Wow. A must see babes in prison flick.
brimsregim31 July 2001
Lot's of naked women being abused in every way. This is a must see flick for any fans of this type of movie. Set on a tropicl island, this prison reminds one more of DEVILS ISLAND for women. The head guard reguarley beats, tortures & rapes his female charges with such glee that the new sensitive doctor helps a couple of them escape. The chase through the jungle that follows is exciting & well done. Seek this one out, Make some popcorn & enjoy.
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10/10
VERY SENSUAL WIP CLASSIC!
danielalmeida-841215 October 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Christina Lay as "Vivienne" scorches the screen in this shocking WIP sexploitation film. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart. Woman are imprisoned in a jungle hell prison camp and the evil and sadistic wardens enjoy using and whipping them. The alcoholic doctor is their only hope of escape. This contains everything sexploitation demands, and a lot of sweaty nudity. Highly recommended. I have seen similar films with Laura Gemser in this Italian genre favorite. Lots of Sappho love scenes, as well as bad acting and naked cat fights. The scenes inside the cells must be seen to be believed, as males and females alike demand Vivienne's love.
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