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Women in Cages • Member Bonus · The Next Reel Film Podcast

• 0:11
  Pete Wright: I'm Pete Wright.
• 0:12
  Andy Nelson: And I'm Andy Nelson.
• 0:14
  Pete Wright: Welcome to the next reel. When the movie ends
• 0:16
  Andy Nelson: Our conversation begins.
• 0:18
  Pete Wright: Women in cages is over. This game is called survival. Let's see how well you can play it. I was strung out behind smack at 10 and worked the streets when I was 12. You've got long way to go.
• 0:32
  Trailer: Meet the dirty dolls of Devil's Island. Women in cages, the sensational new motion picture that rips the veil off the dirtiest racket ever conceived by the minds of vicious men.
• 0:46
  No one escapes from my prison. No one.
• 1:08
  Women in cages, starring Judy Brown, Pam Grier, Roberta Collins, Jennifer Gann, and many, many others. Innocent young girls held in cruel bondage. You will meet them all in women in cages in color rated r.
• 1:26
  Pete Wright: Alright. I'd like to know exactly who voted for me to watch this movie. Because why we need to
• 1:32
  Andy Nelson: have Probably you.
• 1:33
  Pete Wright: Probably you I may I may be on that list. I'm not above it.
• 1:40
  Andy Nelson: I I always find it interesting. You come I swear, you come into each of these so hot, like you're offended that somebody picked a Roger Corman movie for you to watch.
• 1:52
  Pete Wright: Goddamn it. Goddamn it. That's where we are. This is we're gonna talk about women in cages, which is a film that asks an important question. What if we took all of the worst parts of human suffering and made them aggressively boring?
• 2:07
  This is a terrible movie. It's worse than Rush. Wow. I haven't I haven't brought up Rush in a long time.
• 2:15
  Andy Nelson: Yeah. And I'd say you're wrong. I liked this movie quite a bit.
• 2:19
  Pete Wright: I know. I read your review stronger than I expected, he said. I could not believe it, but I'm so glad we agree on the substance. You didn't hear that part, dear listener. Just a minute ago, we watched the substance, and I I watched it, and I love it.
• 2:33
  So so we're not Andy and I We're not talking about the
• 2:35
  Andy Nelson: substance of the film.
• 2:36
  Pete Wright: We're talking about the film. The movie substance. And we're still friends, but I hate this movie. I hate this movie. Okay.
• 2:43
  Where would you like to start?
• 2:44
  Andy Nelson: I just I I just have to say. It's so funny. I feel like you have I I I guess I just don't understand your expectations in a series where, you know, we decided we're gonna we're gonna celebrate Roger Corman for a year, and we're gonna discuss the variety of films that he has directed or produced or executive produced. Uh-huh. And it seems like every time, you are bothered by that.
• 3:12
  Like, you didn't like the western that he was a part of. You didn't like the fact that his Poe was, not gruesome enough for you. Yeah. Funny enough. You wanted a a gruesome movie.
• 3:23
  I I feel like you only like Corman when he's kind of goofy silly horror. Like, my boy. Yeah. Shop of horrors. I feel like that's what you want from Corman.
• 3:35
  I have a feeling if we put Dinocroc on this list, you'd probably hate that too.
• 3:39
  Pete Wright: No. You're absolute you you know me better than that. I would love that movie.
• 3:44
  Andy Nelson: Well, and therein lies the
• 3:46
  Pete Wright: problem. I need a I need a palate cleanser. Can we put Dinocruk on the movie? Oh my goodness. Okay.
• 3:55
  Alright. So well welcome to Women in Cages. You know, we're we're making now I these exploitation these just aren't for me. Right? These these sexploitation women in prison movies, they're just not for me.
• 4:08
  I think they're just they're just too dumb. I feel like I feel like the movie starts. We start with Jeff, our protagonist. A woman who is so extraordinarily naive that she's framed by her drug dealing boyfriend because I I don't know. It's like the only thing worse than dating a drug dealing boyfriend is being dumb enough not to notice that you're dating a drug dealing boyfriend.
• 4:39
  There's nothing likable about our dear protagonist, and that makes it really hard for me to feel sympathy for her. She's too dumb. And so the movie starts as dumb, and it just goes dumb from there.
• 4:51
  Andy Nelson: But but, Pete, Pete, may I again remind you, we're watching a Roger Corman movie. Were you expecting something more? I mean, it's exactly what is on the tin.
• 5:02
  Pete Wright: It's on the tin. Mean,
• 5:03
  Andy Nelson: that's what we're getting.
• 5:04
  Pete Wright: This it's it's
• 5:05
  Andy Nelson: not a movie.
• 5:08
  Pete Wright: I'll tell you the I'll tell you the problem that I have. The problem that I have is that people have hung their hats on the fact that Tarantino likes this film. And at no point does Tarantino's review say anything about the fact that our protagonist is the human equivalent of a paper towel. Like, the it's just one shot at the end of the movie. And I feel like that gives this movie a false reputation of importance that it does not deserve.
• 5:41
  Andy Nelson: Well, I I don't, I mean, I I can see your point. Let me just say, I understand what you're saying. I mean, it's not a great film. The writing isn't great. The performances aren't great.
• 5:53
  I mean, but we're getting exactly what they gave as the expectations of the film. Right? It's just what I think that they were doing. I mean, yeah. No.
• 6:02
  I I I think that, Jennifer Gan, who plays Jeff or Carol Jeffries as our protagonist, she is not necessarily giving a great performance here. It is kind of bland and flat, but I wasn't really expecting more than that. I like, it's about what I walked in expecting with a film like this. It's just setting us up for a chance to have a variety of different women in this prison, which, I don't know, some Latin American country, even though they shot it in The Philippines, but we'll talk about that. Yeah.
• 6:38
  She's she's dumb. She has a thing for Rudy who sets her up, and she has no clue that, like, not only is he a big drug dealer, but he also runs a ship full of prostitutes. The the Zulu queen, is that what the ship was?
• 6:56
  Pete Wright: Yeah. I think it is. Yeah.
• 6:57
  Andy Nelson: Like, so he has this this he's like this major major player, and she has zero clue that he's involved in any of this. And then, yeah, he sets her up to take the fall with the drugs when he, realizes the cops are on his tail. And that sets us up. That puts her in prison. That sets up some tension between the inmates because one of the inmates is a heroin addict, addicted by Rudy's people, who now have said, we'll give you your next hit, but you have to kill Jeff.
• 7:31
  You have to, you know, kill her because we don't want her to be swayed and testify. Meanwhile, the cops talk to, Sandy, I believe, and say, get to know her because we want her to testify. So you've got these two different forces coming in trying to sway Jeff, or one of them is trying to sway Jeff. One of them is trying to kill Jeff. Meanwhile, you have Pam Greer, who is an American who's decided to get out of racist America and go go go to whatever country this is and become a a prison guard, where she's like the head matron of this facility, and is a pretty sadistic, angry person who is ready to torture them at the slightest the slightest moment, the slightest thing that bothers her.
• 8:19
  And so, you know, we're setting up some interesting characters, I think. It's again, I'm not saying, like, when I say things like that, I'm not putting it up to, like, lords of Arabia levels or something like that. I'm just saying in the scope of what they're giving me and what my expectations are, they they set up an interesting enough story. I enjoy what the characters are doing, and I still say that this film took some of the things, especially, like, as we get get to that last shot, which you mentioned Tarantino calling out as, you know, one that he found powerful. Like I said, it's one of devastating despair.
• 8:56
  It is. It's a great final shot that really kind of sells you on the trap that many innocent people likely fall into in this film or in real life. And this holds true in the seventies. This holds true today. People fall fall for somebody who puts them into a way of life that then they can no longer get out of, whether it's prostitution, drug addiction, all of the above.
• 9:21
  And I I think that this is don't know. It painted an interesting picture for me of some realities, some pretty terrifying and harsh realities in this sort of situation. Alright, my dear listeners. You have just heard a taste of the heated debate between Pete and me about Jerry De Leon's provocative film, Women in Cages. While Pete found the movie dull and unable to break free from its exploitative chains, I appreciated what it achieved within the confines of its genre.
• 9:55
  If our lively discussion has left you yearning for more and you're eager to hear the full unabridged conversation, consider busting out of your everyday routine and joining the next real family at truestory.fm/join. As a member, you'll gain access to the complete ad free version of the women in cages episode along with a treasure trove of bonus content across all our film podcasts. The next real, the film board, sitting in the dark, movies we like, and CinemaScope. Each month, you'll have the power to influence the direction of our bonus episodes with your votes in our vibrant Discord community. It's a space where film enthusiasts like you gather to delve into the art and craft of cinema.
• 10:31
  And as a member, your voice will be a key player in shaping the conversation. You'll also unlock exclusive pre and post show content that takes you even deeper into the films we discuss. From behind the scenes secrets to thought provoking analysis, you'll be part of a community that loves to explore the hidden depths and broader context of the movies we watch. So if you're ready to join Pete and me on this wild cinematic prison break and uncover all of our thoughts on Women in Cages, head over to truestory.fm/join and become part of our film loving gang. That's trust0ry.fm/join.
• 11:05
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