Amazon.com

This notorious Canadian sexploitation cult classic is one of the most sick and sadistic features ever released to a general audience, and the only film that producer David F. Friedman, the king of sleaze himself, was so ashamed of that he removed his name from it. Statuesque, buxom blonde Dyanne Thorne is Ilsa, the ruthless commandant of a Nazi medical camp who subjects her patients (mostly naked women) through the most painful and brutal tortures she can think of to prove the superiority of the female sex to Nazi high command. At night she goes through the male prisoners like boy toys to be discarded and castrated the next day ("Once a prisoner has slept with me, he'll never sleep with another woman!"), until she meets a man she can't conquer in bed. It proves to be her downfall. Vamping it up with a corny German growl, Thorne leers with gargoylish delight at her latest diabolical tortures: grotesque, gangrenous infections, exploding sex toys, boiling alive, and a dinner centerpiece involving a naked girl, a noose, and a melting block of ice that leaves her dangling by meal's end. Directed with an artless bluntness and a cold cynicism, it's a brutal, nasty film, utterly tasteless yet perversely fascinating. It was reportedly shot in a week on sets left over from the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, and proved so successful that it spawned two official and one unofficial sequels.

Anchor Bay's restored print is letterboxed and reportedly restored. The DVD edition also features commentary by Thorne, producer Friedman, and director Don Edmunds, moderated by humorist Martin Lewis. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (45)

Sleaze at it's best
Ilsa-She Wolf of The SS is by far one of the greatest sleaze flicks I have ever seen. It is damn near perfect. This movie has everything you would want in a sleaze/horror movie: Graphic Violence (and i do mean graphic), plenty of nudity, un-intentional comedy, and some extras on the dvd to boot. If you are looking for some of the most wicked depictions of torture ever seen on film, well here ya go. This is an extremely entertaining film in many different ways.

First of all, this is a well made film. (for the budget it had) And the acting isn't too bad. The violent scenes are outrageous and extremely entertaining. The transfer was even pretty good for such an old and low budget film.

The reviewers who gave this movie bad reviews clearly are not fans of this genre of movies. Don't get me wrong...if you are not looking for plenty of violence don't buy this one, but if you are a fan of this genre, then this is a buy or die situation. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Inlcuding some decent commentary by Dyanne Thorne, trailers and a cast bio, this one is a keeper. Best of the series. (although the other ilsas are pretty good too, but this one's the gem)

Heil Ilsa!!!!!
Ah, now here's a movie. Ilsa, She-Wolf of th SS. A crazy, exploitiong, horror and blood filled movie depicting a Nazi Concentration Camp and it's Commandant, Ilsa.

The camp has it's share of inmates both male and female. The men have two functions, manual labor and sexually gratifying Ilsa. Of course if you fail to satisfy Ilsa, you will never again be with another woman as she and her two hot blond nurses turn you into a 'half-man' with a snip of the steel. Women serve another purpose, medical experiments. Ilsa is a doctor of sorts trying to prove to the Third Reich Command that women are superior to men. They can withstand more pain which makes them more saveage killers.

Among the prisoners are two freaks, one male, one female. The male is an American (of all things) who was studying in Germany's University when the war began. He can control his body until Ilsa (and all her nurses) are satisfied. Because of this his manhood is spared and he becomes a nightly visitor to Ilsa's private quarters.

The woman can withstand any pain the Nazi's can dream up. And they can come up with some very perverted, painful, and unusual techniques, most of them involving private and sensitive areas.

Yes you can plainly see that this was filmed on the location of Hogan's Heros. Also look for the lesbian guard who likes to hang out with the soldiers and guards. She is popular among the guards by providing female prisoners. Then there is the fat male doctor who seems to have TB or something.

Well as always, the prisoners revolt and a decent gunfight ensues. It escalates until the regular German army comes in and blows the place to hell. All the Nazi's are killed, and poor Ilsa ends up tied naked to a bed and has her head blown off by a Nazi officer. That is so that the coming Americans will never know what happened.

Good points:

Ilsa is HOT, this chick has a killer bod and huge boobs. She even turns on her commanding officer who orders her to pee on him.

Ilsa's nurses are both blond and beautiful. Watch them whip two prisoners while they are topless. They beat their prisoners until they can't lift their arms.

The female prisoners are a hit or miss. Some are hot, some are cute, some are butt ugly.

Bad Points:

Watched this movie twenty times. Never found one.

Insensate and depraved
"Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is perhaps one of the better known exploitation films made in the last thirty years. The picture, directed by Don Edmonds and starring Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, is also one of the most disturbing. Oddly enough, I found this movie even more sickening the second time around. The first time I watched Ilsa do her stuff was on an old VHS tape about five years ago, and I didn't think the film was as horrific as many viewers made it out to be. Usually, the disgust factor works the other way around: the first viewing is the worst with the shock value wearing away on subsequent viewings. I should probably question the value of even watching "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" more than once, but I wanted to see what the picture looked like with a snappy new transfer to DVD. Moreover, I wanted to listen to the commentary track with Edmonds, Thorne, and producer David Friedman of "Blood Feast" fame (billed here as Herman Traeger). I wasn't disappointed; the picture quality of "Ilsa" is stunning for such a low budget piece of trash. The commentary track too makes this disc a must have for lovers of schlock cinema. Just don't pop this one in the DVD player when the relatives show up or as a substitute for taking your gal out on the town.

Set in the waning days of the Second World War, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" takes place in a special medical camp where the brutal camp commander Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) and her busty minions wreak havoc on a bevy of female prisoners. There are a few guys around too, mostly to act as boy toys for Ilsa's ravenous appetites. Ilsa's supposed to be conducting experiments on helpless prisoners that will benefit the German military effort, but she's got quite the disturbing side project going on as well. According to the She-Wolf, women possess certain biological characteristics that make them more resistant to pain then men. You can almost guess what happens next. Ilsa sets aside a hidden little laboratory in the basement of her office to test out her personal theories while the approved experiments take place in another building. Both sets of trials are excruciating to watch. The Germans test the effects of high pressure, boiling temperatures, and diseases on the female inmates of the prison. Down in the basement, Ilsa and her two blonde goons strip down to the waist in order to administer severe beatings to selected troublemakers. There's a lot more I could detail, but believe it or not these are the least offensive scenes in the movie. "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is sick, sick stuff.

A sort of hope fills the prisoners' hearts when Wolfe (George Knoph) enters the camp. The new inmate has a "special ability" that allows him to find a way into the frosty heart of the buxom camp commander. Behind the scenes, the prisoners plot to escape from the prison any way they can. It won't be easy, not when one faces Ilsa, her she-wolfettes, her male assistant, a pack of sadistic guards, and machine gun towers. In the meantime, the degradations continue unabated. Ilsa whips up a few special treats for a visiting general (Wolfgang Roehm) that truly turn the stomach as Wolfe, Mario (Tony Mumolo), and Kala (Nicolle Riddell) carefully map out there plan. Will the prisoners escape? Will Ilsa and her handmaidens receive their just desserts? Will the Allies arrive at the camp before everyone perishes at the hands of the Germans? Will tough chick Anna (Maria Marx) withstand Ilsa's experiments and thus prove the commander's theory? Will you be able to keep your lunch down during the hour and a half it takes to watch the movie? These questions, and many others, will find resolution by the time the final credits roll.

What won't find resolution is your utter disgust with the film. A gallon of mouthwash won't remove the bad taste this movie leaves behind in your mouth. I found myself inadvertently comparing Edmond's picture with "Schindler's List," another film dealing with German atrocities during the Second World War. Truth be told, "List" is much more harrowing in its depictions of the concentration camps and the horrible living conditions of those people enslaved by the Germans. What sets "Ilsa" apart, what makes it even worse than "Schindler's List," is that it's all done for cheap, value neutral kicks. Why else play up endless scenes of nudity in a movie about war crimes? Despite Thorne's amazingly campy performance, "Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS" is a ghastly film that should repulse more than it exhilarates. Even more disturbing is the admission on the commentary track that the movie sets come from the television show "Hogan's Heroes." You won't see LeBeau, Carter, Sergeant Schultz, or Colonel Klink in this movie! If you find anything remotely exhilarating about this picture, you've been falling behind on your electroshock therapy treatments again.

Dyanne Thorne does pull off her role with ease, coming across as a heartless, cold monster without an ounce of remorse in her bones. It's quite the contrast to listen to the commentary track and realize the actress seems like an intelligent, sunny personality with a good sense of humor. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your view), the commentary track, a trailer, and a few biographies are the only extras on the disc. If you feel up to it, after you watch Ilsa ham it up as a German camp commander, you can watch her in three other films reprising the character-with slight modifications-in the Middle East and in Siberia. These are classic movies, for sure, but they're upsetting ones as well.

sick sick sick!
How about turning the tables with a MEN in prison film? Set at an SS prison camp, this was probably one of the bloodiest and grosses films until Salo, Dead Alive and Nekromantik.
Though somewhat humorous, this film is essentially S&M and I would not recommend it to any newcomer to the exploitative prison film genre.
The DVD print supports 16:9 televisions and appears to have good clarity and color. Sound is monaural, but that was how the film was recorded.
If you want a good gross out film, check this out. If you are looking for something a little less sick but with more ladies and more humour, opt instead for ILSA: HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHEIKS.

Worst of the worst . . . ..
Anyone that gives this mess more than one star is sick in the head and needs medical attention. This is pure crap that should have never been made in the first place. Sick, sick, sick. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Director Jack Hill, a protégé of the originalschlockmeister, Roger Corman, knew his way around a low budget and ashocking subject. Women-in-prison films were nothing new in 1971, butThe Big Doll House had it all--sex, violence, nudity, a sadisticguard, and a sexually frustrated warden--and served it up with anabundance of cheapjack energy and tongue-in-cheek humor. The beauty ofHill's movies lay in the way they could appeal not only to the hordeswho would go see them at drive-ins but also to the true trash-cinemafans who could appreciate his offbeat sensibilities. The plot is ratherhoary, with a new inmate discovering the corruption of the prison setup,complete with a drugged-out psycho, a cellmate informer, and a guardwho delights in torturing the women with poisonous snakes. The girlsput their heads together and begin to devise a way out of theirtropical hellhole, but not before disrobing several times and having aknock-down, drag-out fight in the muddy rice paddy where they're forcedto toil all day. The Big Doll House, like some of Hill'sother movies, was shot in the Philippines, with the cast and crew making upplot elements and dialogue in near-guerrilla filmmaking. Though theislands were a cheap place to produce movies in the '70s, the workingconditions were boot camp-like. Where The Big Doll House reallysucceeds is in its mix of titillation and action, a fast-pacedcombination that makes it one heck of a fun exploitation movie towatch. It's also worth noting that this movie gave the great Pam Grierher first real starring role; she would become a Jack Hill regularbefore moving on to more substantial roles. --Jerry Renshaw ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Big Doll House equels Big Fun
Wow....I just finished watching this movie and it is a real jem. Ladies in prison flicks are cool but this one takes the cake as far as campy goes. Here are some of the things you will experience if you watch this flick.
1. Tons of 70's babes with tight skimpy outfits on.
2. More babes with skimpy outfits on.
3. Homosexual prison gaurds
4. Homosexual prison warden
5. A Philipino Revolution
6. More 70's babes with tight outfits on.
7. A woman hanging by her ponytail as punishment for trying to escape
8. Mud wrestling
9. Crazed women inmates imprisoned in an cage with other crazy wild women (they act like animals....funny!)
10. Inmates who want to be "raped" by men, because they haven't "had any sex in a very long time".
11. More sex starved female inmates in tight outfits.....especially one very "hot blond babe" who begs for sex!!
I must admit this is by far the funniest and sickest movie I have seen in a long time. The plot centers around this band of revolutionaries who want to take over thier country by force. They come up with the crazy idea of breaking into an all "womens prison" and freeing the women who will help them with the revolution.(This is the first time I have ever seen anyone break "into" a prison.) Not much of what goes on makes any sence but it sure makes for one hell of a laugh riot. Roger Corman impressed me again. I have only seen one other Roger Corman movie "Bucket of Blood" and I have to admit that this film is stranger and funnier than "Bucket". As I was watching this film I kept asking myself "Is Roger Corman for real?... is he trying to be serious or trying to be funny?"....the script is a zany hoot and the film kept my attention all the way through. I recieved the VHS version and there was 2 spots where the audio did not sync up to the film, this error actually added to the wierdness of the flick. The entire movie had that "made for T.V" feel to it. There is some nudity and bad launguage but the contentnt is so bizzare and offbeat that it deserved a "R" rating. I highly recommned this film for the cinema nut who thinks he has seen it all. You will not be dissapointed!.....the highlight of the film is when halfway thru the movie you find out the prison guards and warden prefer men sexually over women...gay prison guards!!!!.....this twist in the scipt is just TOO FUNNY!!........buy it today....you will thank me!!

Judith Brown & Pam Grier!
What a combo. 'Ladies in Prison' movies is the best idea next to breast implants, and we all know Pammy don't need those. Nudity, violence, one liners, sex, and the great cat-fights. Pam is the star, but Judith don't take no back seat! When farmer man wants to feel Pam's melons through the bars, he get's more than what he bargained for. Talk about plowing. All these characters pop up again and again in the 'Pam Prison' series. SOmetimes she the prisoner, sometimes the warden, and sometimes the revolutionist. Why does every 'woman in prison' film have to have a revolution anyway??? Well no matter, Pam and Judith like I said are a pair that can't be beat!

Scantily Clad...and Behind Bars..!
A CLASSIC. Pam Grier is sublime.

A Fast-paced Exploitation Classic
While not the first or last of the so-called "women in prison" movies, The Big Doll House is certainly one of the best.

A fast-paced exploitation classic from the Lord of the Schlockmeisters, i.e., Roger Corman, The Big Doll House stars Judy Brown, who is taken to a remote island prison and meets fellow jailbirds Pam Grier (!), Brooke Mills and Roberta Collins; Grier and Collins seem to run the entire prison themselves, while Mills plays Harrad, a psycho junkie who makes an art out of hallucinating. Sid Haig is the dominating warden who uses poisonous local snakes to torture the inmates.

All in all, a tongue-in-cheek blend of sex, comedy and violence from a more creative time in American cinema.

The Big Bird Cage was next.

Pam Grier stars in a "Women in Prison" action film.
While any movie starring Pam Grier is worth watching, the Big Doll House is a particularly entertaining entry in the "Women in Prison" film genre. Produced by the great Roger Corman and filmed in the Philippines, this movie features all the violence, mayhem, and nudity one expects in a 70's "Girls Behind Bars" flick. It also has the added bonus of a great scene where Pam Grier and another woman fight it out in the mud of the rice fields (where the women are forced to toil). Don't miss it! ... Read more

Reviews (299)

Violence as a media event
"Natural Born Killers" is not about glorifying violence; it's a chilling parody of the American fascination with violence. The quick changes from color to black and white and back again, interspersed with animated sequences, point up the satiric nature of the movie. Mickey and Mallory, very well played by Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, are two killing machines without heart or soul or conscience; their only redeeming virtues are their love for each other. They aren't meant to be sympathetic characters and they're not, but Oliver Stone's direction makes them pale in depravity besides some of the other characters -- the sadistic warden, the despicable detective and his morbid fascination with Mallory, Mallory's nauseating, sexually abusive father, and above all, Robert Downey's superb characterization of the media pimp who feeds off blood and gore. The last scene in the movie, of Mickey and Mallory on the road with their two children, and Mallory about to deliver a third at any minute, underscores the whole message of the film; violence feeds on itself and begets yet more violence. Those viewers who were most upset by the movie missed its message. "Natural Born Killers" is a brilliant, disturbing depiction of the shallowness of American culture at the end of the 20th century.

Wow. Truly brilliant film making.
When i first saw this movie i thought it sucked. but i watched it again a few years later and saw how amazing it was. Oliver Stone is a brilliant director. this film is one of the top 5 most well directed films of all time. lots of different camera tricks and stuff make this film great on a visual level. This is a satire on the media and it works brilliantly. it shows how the media cant be trusted and exploits people like Mickey and Mallory to make money by presenting them as heroes. lots of good scenes illustrate this. i love the scene where they are walking down the corridor to escape from the riot. also this film is actually kind off funny in a weird way sort of like " A Clockwork Orange" was kind of funny. dark humor but still funny. Great performances especially Tommy Lee Jones who really was impressive and funny in his role as the psycotic warden. dont judge this movie unless you actually watch it!

"In the media circus of life, they were the main attraction"
This true masterpiece directed by acclaimed director and writer, Oliver Stone, is avant-garde filmaking at its breaking point. The whole theme of Natural Born Killers is that the media is obsessive over violence and brutality; therefore, the extreme violence in the movie is used as a satire, not as entertainment. Definitely one of the most controversial movies ever released, especially in the 1990s when the Simpson trial, Rodney King, and the Menendez brothers became celebrity darlings because of the mass media and not because of anything credible. The acting by all the leads, especially Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, is amazing. Their true love is another theme that proves vital in Natural Born Killers. It is the one and only thing that can hold people together when faced with such things as violence and a tormented childhood. The actual violence portrayed is not even that graphic after one viewing. It is the break-neck pacing and high-speed cuts that give the movie its violent intensity. If not Woody Harrelson, then definitely Juliette Lewis should have received some sort of Academy nomination, such as an Emmy, if not an Oscar.

Oliver Stone beats one in the face with this media spectacle that boasts every type of film style imaginable. Everything from 36 mm to black and white to animation to a video camera to color tinting to fast and slow motion is used in abundance with fascinating success. Roger Ebert said, "Seeing this movie once is not enough," and he is right! A must see.

Brilliant Filmaking!

Sheer Chaos But An Important Message Within.
A film that didn't turn out as I expected. Ok I knew there was going to be violence just from its title but all the killing, the swearing and the chaos never stopped. I didn't particulary enjoy this film yet it for some reason it kept me interested, I wanted to see if fate played for or against Mickey and Mallory, two of the most twisted characters ever to come to a movie screen.

There's nothing gratifying in Natural Born Killers but there is an important message on how the media nowadays glorifies violence, creating cult followers for mass murderers - what Oliver Stone manages to do is portray the negative in the 90's, particularly American pseudo-culture. You have Rodney King, O.J Simpson, Tonya Harding, The Menendez Brothers... and all these things are linked by a single medium - 90's television.

Definitely not one of my favourites, but I do appreciate why people respect this movie so much, it's well made, just not to my liking as such. What would have been interesting to see was original script writer Quentin Tarentino's version, apparently much altered from the film. As it is though, its worth a viewing.

A MONUMENTAL MASTERWORK!
NATURAL BORN KILLERS is an aggressive, in-your-face, timeless bloodsoaked masterpiece. Man, this movie NEVER gets old! The power it has the first time you see it is EXACTLY the same power you'll feel when you see it for the eight or ninth time. This is one of those movies like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM that is just ridiculously AMAZING! It's hard to believe a filmmaker who's just a regular human being like everyone else could succeed so perfectly and astonishingly in capturing and showing every single message and critique he wanted to put in the forefront. Though it's sharp, audacious, angry, unapologetic, eye-opening satirical attack on the greedy and souless disgrace that is mainstream media, and the awe-striking way in which it constantly shows in so many different ways why the media is such a lying fear-promoting monster, is what makes it such a MONUMENTALLY important film, it would be brilliant filmmaking even without it. Stone has always been one of the most energetic, ambitious, and visually creative filmmakers in America, and he uses those skills to the max in this, the standout of his amazing career. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis couldn't have nailed the psycho persona, and all the different emotional and psychological wreckage that comes with it, more DEAD-ON! But the real acting standout of this film is the wonderful Robert Downey Jr.'s remarkable, raw, unforgiving, explosively hysterical turn as media scumbag Wayne Gale. He may have a Robin Leach-like accent, but don't be fooled: There is no doubt that this is motherf**king Geraldo Rivera IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY! I'm surprised Rivera wasn't throwing the same disgraceful, disgusting, and shamefully self-righteous hizzy fit that the pathetic John Grisham threw, since the film captures (with a depressingly small amount of exaggeration) everything that makes Geraldo such reprehensible media vermin. To all the people who said this film was responsible for inciting violence: SHAME ON YOU! Isn't it funny that the vicious and dangerous moral and PC police always targets the best films? Like DOGMA, BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, this is one of the most socially conscious AND socially valuable films of it's time. And, like REQUIEM, it is a film that puts most filmmaking to shame and transcends the power of it's medium, thus becoming not just a great film but a terrific human achievment. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Kurt Russell reprises his role as Snake Plissken, of the near-future thriller Escape from New York, in this reworking of that film's basic premise.Instead of New York being a maximum-security prison, this time it's L.A., which through the agency of earthquakes has become an island of the damned.This penal colony is where the film's future rulers, something very like the Moral Majority, send those deemed guilty of "moral crimes."But something has gone wrong in this new moral order, because the President's daughter has absconded to L.A. with a detonation device, and Snake is commandeered to retrieve it.The film's dark dystopia, with its satrical elements taking aim at our dwindling freedoms, and the eclipsing of democracy by narrow interests, are more the subject this time. As a result the action suffers, and the plot devices are sometimes weak and predictable.But just below the surface there is a coiled Snake ready to strike.Steve Buscemi's performance as a weasely hawker of L.A. tour maps is a standout, and the presence of Peter Fonda and Pam Grier adds to the fun. In fact, just the sight of Fonda surfing down the flooded corridor of Sunset Boulevard is reason enough to check this movie out. --Jim Gay ... Read more

Reviews (75)

A good B-movie ride while it lasts
15 years after crafting the low budget comic cult classic Escape From New York, director John Carpenter finally got the budget he needed in this sequel/reworking of the original film. Kurt Russell reprises his role as one eyed badass Snake Plisskin as he is dropped into the island of Los Angeles to seek out the president's daughter. Parts of the film seem more aimed to make a social satire of our dwindling freedom, but sometimes the action gets too incoherent and parts of the film seem uneven. Not to mention that there are times when the film feels rushed, like Carpenter just wanted to get the film over with. Either way though, Escape From L.A. is still a fun B-movie ride with a great comic flair, and the great supporting cast which includes Steve Buscemi, Pam Grier, Peter Fonda, Stacy Keach, Cliff Robertson, and B-movie icon Bruce "Evil Dead" Campbell make this one of Carpenter's more decent films of late.

Rebirth of a classic
Kurt Russell collaborates with John Carpenter to bring snake back in our homes, and I know far too many people that feel that it never should of happened, but I disagree. Accept this movie for what it is, the Escape from New York "Special Edition" with a totally reworked yet incredibly similar plot line. And not just incredibly similar. To this day, I still laugh at Snake sitting in the lawn chair out front of Eddie's place just like he did when he was next to the plane crash in New York. Every single subtle plot point of New York is somehow included into the L.A. storyline. But, if you let your mind enjoy it, and let yourself be captivated by the gritty, downright scary conception of our future and one man dealing with it, it's the same successful movie that New York was, but with 90's movie technology. Steve Buscemi shines in this as "Map to the stars" Eddie, and Bruce Campbell is extremely entertaining for all of the five minutes he's in the film.

As far as the DVD is concerned, this is just one more in my collection of DVD's that frustrates me everytime I look at it. No commentary, no making of featurette (which I saw on HBO, and was interesting), and the transfer is actually not the greatest.

The movie's worth it. Just a dissapointing DVD. Give it a shot and enjoy.

"Escape From L.A." is more of the same!
This sequel to Carpenter's 1980 cult classic "Escape From New York" is more or less a bigger budget retelling of the same story. Russell is back as Snake Plitsken, the one-eyed outlaw hero who once again will be offered a full pardon if he goes into a criminal-infested prison that used to be a major American city. This time, he has to confiscate a "doomsday device" from a sadistic terrorist who is using it to blackmail the United States. Despite the more than fifteen years that seperate the two films, this one really doesn't offer much on "New York" aside from a cool underwater sequence involving a certain Universal Studios attraction and a couple of cool special effects scenes. Russell is still great as the over-the-top anti-hero and the addition of some cool character actors keeps it from being a total waste of time but this script is seriously lacking. This one has "retread" written all over it. There is about as much of a difference in the stories as there is in the titles.

A Joke?
When I first saw this film in the theaters, I really didn't like it. In fact, I was pretty let down! I had grown up with Escape From New York, and to my horror, John Carpenter remade his own film! I'm not kidding, REMADE it. Right down to Snake getting shot in the leg and limping for the last half of the film. Years later I revaluated my opinion. You can't make a film as corny as this on accident, especially if you're a veteran director like John Carpenter; It had to be done on purpose. I've read numerous interviews over the years and have found out two things, and I think these two things are the reason this film ended up the way it did. First, John Carpenter hates sequels. He never wanted to make sequels to his films. He never wanted a sequel to Halloween(let alone six! That's why he produced Halloween 3 which people hated so much, coz he was trying to take this series in a different direction and not retread the whole Michael Myers thing). I also understand that both Carpenter and Kurt Russell were under alot of studio pressure to make this film. I don't know what kind of favor Carpenter owed the studio, but he made this film. And my theory is that he made this film intentionally bad to say to the studio, "There, I made the stinking sequel you wanted, don't ask me to do it again!" I mean really, if he had wanted to make a sequel to Escape From New York, don't you think he would have struck while the iron was hot and made it at the height of the first film's success instead of waiting 15 years? Think about it. When I consider this scenario, I can watch Escape From L.A and have a good laugh thinking that John Carpenter may have played a big joke on the Hollywood studios. Really, there's no way Carpenter included that surfing scene with the intention of it being taken seriously. The film is just way too overblown, way too cheesy and obviously a carbon copy of the original to be anything other than a joke. Kurt may be older now, but he's actually still able to play Snake Plissken like it's 1980. The performance is great, it's just the film surrounding Kurt that's silly. Try watching it again and see what you think.

escape from new york on acid
Escape from new york is a classic.It is a dark and moody action adventure with an 1980s feel,with a modest budget.Escape from l.a. is a big budget pumped up roller coaster ride that goes for broke and explodes with a wave of energy and the coolness of snake plissken.This follow up does tell the same story as the first,but guess what! thats what they had in mind.I hope they make a third. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Quite possibly one of the best
The poetry and hidden beauty of Penitentiary are not simple yet astounding. Badja Djola's (Half-Dead) expressionism of the violence of prison life, and Lion Isaac Kenneday's portrayal of Too Sweet as the hero struggling against all to prevail make this movie this instant classic it is. The amazing fight scenes that depict the sole outlet for these oppression and violence of the unfortuate inmates brings to the fore the struggles of the nation itself in the 70s. Deep, thoughtful, and above all entertaining, one of the best!

A low-budget classic!
The quality of the movie is poor, but if you want a good movie, with black actors, get this classic.

I've loved this movie since i was 15. It's crazy and funny.
Even though it is a B movie, it was great. The fight scenes were just nutty. The characters in this movie are wild. The gay guys at the matches were great. When the women pentitiary came over to watch the matches then things really got crazy. It was tooo funny. I watch it over and over.

A long lost blacksploitation Gem!
Suprise, suprise blaxpo fans the movie that started off the penitentiary trend is available. No, it's not the one with Mr. T (penitentiary II) or that horrible one with the midget. (penintiary III) This is the one with the original too sweet, half dead and seldom seen. The movie is low budget and cheap, try to find the boom mike in some scenes, but that's not what impresses me. It's the fact it transends the usual blacksploitation stereotypes. They are still there but also there is also a lot of truth within it. The seldom seen character is no characture he's a real. (He play's too sweet trainer.) I was amazed at how realistic his portrayal of an institutionalized convict was. We really get to understan him and why he does what he does. Another interesting thing about this movie is the the character half dead (Badja Djola) was hilarious. (You want some Mr. goodbar) You might remember him from the dozens of movies afterward (a rage in harlem, mississippi burning and other films) I also liked the fact that this was funny(mostly) but it also was serious at times. If you are any kind of fan of blacksploitation movies, or cult movies in general I urge you to buy or rent if you can find this video. Trust me it's HARD to find! ... Read more