ChainedHeat

Chained Heat (1983)

Linda Blair plays a character named Carol that is locked up for killing someone with her car. She ends up in a prison run by a sleazy warden with a hot tub in his office and cameras setup everywhere so he can tape his “encounters” with the female prisoners. And he is the nice guy! His 2nd in command is running a prostitution and drug business out of the prison, and one of her guards likes to rape women in a special cell! Eventually Carol and the others have enough of this and start a riot to get some payback and expose what has been happening behind the bars of their prison.

Women in prison (WIP from here on out) movies aren’t for everyone. This is especially so of the really good ones and Chained Heat is one of the best. The story is straightforward and sleazy as hell. You have the lovely women locked up behind bars, some girl on girl stuff, lots of gratuitous nudity, some assaults, and nasty prison guards. These are the staple of the WIP movie and Chained Heat delivers the goods. This package makes for a quick paced and exciting movie. There is always something interesting happening on the screen, especially if you are a fan of this kind of flick. In spite of clocking in at over 90 minutes I spent the whole time watching the screen and not once did I glance at the clock. Hell when it was over I wanted more! That is a sign of a good movie.

For a sleazy little movie like this it has a great cast. This was Linda Blair’s 1st grown up role and I think the first time she showed off her “assets” on screen. I’m not a huge Blair fan, but Roller Boogie does rule! Also in the movie are the legendary Sybil Danning, Henry Silva, and Stella Stevens. They all give great performances. I was even very pleased to see a personal favorite of mine in one of her last roles and that was the late great Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones is one of the most underappreciated Blaxsploitation movies ever!). Finally I have to mention the great John Vernon, who is awesomely sleazy as the warden. This is the kind of cast that just makes the movie better.

Again this kind of movie isn’t’ for everyone, but I do dig something like this now and again. When it comes to WIP movies other then maybe the Big Bird Cage, which is more comedy and less serious, it just doesn’t get any better then Chained Heat. Now is a perfect time to pick it up on DVD since a new uncut version was just released by Synapse under the Panik House Entertainment label. It is a triple pack with a couple of other movies, but the Chained Heat is worth the price of the set alone. For more information on it check them out at http://synapse-films.com/dvds/women-in-prison-triple-pack-chained-heat-red-heat-jungle-warriors/

3 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer