Skip to content

Women's Prison Massacre

Women's Prison Massacre is a 1983 film from Italy and France, directed by Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso, running 89 minutes. reelscum files it under women in prison.

Poster for Women's Prison Massacre
Compare 6 versions
Year
1983 · 1980s films
Country
Italy · France
Runtime
89 min
Director
Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso
Updated
29 Oct 2026
Obscurity
cult (41/100)
Also known as
Emanuelle in Prison · Emanuelle Escapes from Hell · Blade Violent

Defined in the glossary: Women in prison

Late Italian entry. Laura Gemser, and a body count instead of a plot.

A late Italian entry in the cycle, and a fairly ruthless one. Laura Gemser, of the Black Emanuelle films, is a journalist imprisoned on trumped-up charges who gets caught up in a hostage crisis when male convicts take over the block. The plot is thin and the body count is the point.

Bruno Mattei directs it with his usual disregard for restraint, and it delivers the exploitation goods with little of the wit the American films occasionally showed. It is grim, cheap and to the point.

Bottom-shelf WIP, of interest mainly to those charting the cycle's decline.

Something else

The numbers

Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.

Your call

Where to watch

Legal options in UK (nearest we have)

Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 8 Nov 2026. All options ↗

Discuss with AI

Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.

On these lists

  • Women in prison: the essentials

    Roger Corman worked out you could film the whole genre in the Philippines for nothing, and everyone spent the next decade reshooting his shower scene.

Filed alongside

Poster for Black Mama White Mama

Black Mama White Mama

1973 · USA · 87m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

The Defiant Ones with Pam Grier, shot in the Philippines by a Filipino who actually knew the terrain.

Poster for 99 Women

99 Women

1969 · West Germany/Italy · 108m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

Franco doing the formula early, with Mercedes McCambridge as the warden.

Poster for Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion

Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion

1972 · Japan · 87m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

Sold as a women-in-prison quickie. Shot like an art film. Meiko Kaji barely blinks.

Poster for Barbed Wire Dolls

Barbed Wire Dolls

1976 · Switzerland · 90m
Obscurity: cult

Jess Franco's contribution to the cycle. Cheap, delirious and utterly shameless, even for him.

Poster for The Big Doll House

The Big Doll House

1971 · USA · 95m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

Jack Hill and Pam Grier invent the modern formula in the Philippines.

Poster for Chained Heat

Chained Heat

1983 · USA/West Germany · 95m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

Linda Blair goes to prison. A sleazy 80s update of the formula, with a corrupt warden and a hot tub.

Poster for Reform School Girls

Reform School Girls

1986 · USA · 94m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

The women-in-prison film as its own punchline, fronted by the lead singer of the Plasmatics.

Poster for Caged Heat

Caged Heat

1974 · USA · 70m
Obscurity: known. watchable legally

Jonathan Demme's debut, and it is visibly a Jonathan Demme film.

Poster for Love Camp 7

Love Camp 7

1969 · USA · 94m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally. banned somewhere

The film that invented nazisploitation six years before Ilsa made it a genre.

Poster for The Big Bird Cage

The Big Bird Cage

1972 · USA · 88m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legally

Funnier and better than the first. Sid Haig is having an excellent time.