Customer Reviews

Bare Behind Bars (Uncut Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am not a fan of WIP (Women-In-Prison) movies. Generally I find them numbingly boring and falling far short of their sensationalistic claims. My preference in WIP movies is for hard and nasty scenes. Oswaldo De Oliveira's "Bare Behind Bars" goes the opposite route, highlighting camp and comedy. Given its limitations, it is still miles above the normal drivel. However, like other WIP movies, it doesn't live up top its promise of "brutal beatings, steamy showers, vicious violence and savage sexuality."

It is more laugh-out-loud funny than erotic. It is very tongue-in-cheek and doesn't take itself seriously for an instant. The acting is deliberately bad, over-the-top and cartoonish. And that is actually its saving grace, because it makes you laugh at the silliness of it all. Just sample the scene of the horny inmates using a makeshift pulley to slowly winch a dildo in between their cells at night. Or the wacky ether-addicted nurse who tries to take the Warden's blood pressure by wrapping the cuff around her neck. Or her buttock-grinding scene with her inmate lover which culminates with her introduction of the infamous pineapple dildo.

Thankfully the women in this prison are almost all deliciously hot and spend most of the time happily naked. And that includes the guards. My favorite here is the blond second-in-command. Sadly she doesn't have a sex scene of her own. To top it off, this version comes with hardcore elements fully integrated into the whole. On the downside, most of the scenes which should have been sleazy or degrading are here played only for laughs. The two "full-cavity searches" are more funny than erotic. The whipping scenes are so mechanical and perfunctory as to be devoid of any eroticism. The "steamy showers" are more like shower parties. The only violence of real standing are the two instances of sliced penises, one thrown to the dog, the other stuffed into its former owner's mouth. Now, that was worth watching.

The X-rating is justified. We are treated to blowjobs, dildo insertions, strapon action, amd full penetrative sex.

Blue Underground has done a beautiful restoration of this 25 year old film and presents it in its original widescreen aspect of 1.66:1 with anamorphic enhancement. Colors are rich, vibrant and accurate. The picture is sharp and richly detailed. Only an English-dub mono soundtrack has been provided. No other soundtracks are included although the actors are most likely speaking Portuguese and poor lip-synching is very evident throughout. Offering less than what was advertised and less than what I expected, it nevertheless was a fun and enjoyable romp. As a piece of camp cinema it's definitely worth at least a rental.

I'm very familiar with WIP flicks because I know Pam Grier has done a few of them herself. In no way have I heard of writer/director Oswaldo de Oliveira before. As the title would entail, Bare Behind Bars is a women's prison movie, but as it would further entail, it's also one of the smuttiest women's prison movies I've ever seen. Not satisfied with mere sexploitation, Bare Behind Bars goes so far as to make the occasional brief foray into hardcore porn. That alone should tell you that coherence of plot is not exactly this movie's strong suit. In fact, you probably won't notice that there's a plot at all except in retrospect, after it's all over.

For the most part "Bare Behind Bars" is just one long, constant parade of casual nudity, lesbianism, and sadistically sexualized degradation, with the occasional hardcore hetero coupling to break things up a little. It's also one long, constant parade of absurdities. Some of the latter are plainly both deliberate and parodic, as with practically every scene involving Nurse Barbara. Others just as obviously owe their existence to Oliveira's treatment of Bare Behind Bars as a porno movie; in the proud skin-flick tradition, nearly any interaction between two characters can turn sexual at any time, whether or not it makes the slightest bit of sense for it to do so. But by far the most entertaining are those times when the movie lapses into ridiculousness simply because Oliveira is apparently completely untroubled by either illogic or inanity.

This film is at its most childish whenever the scene shifts to the exercise yard and if you pay attention to the extras in the background. You'll swear you're watching recess at a girls' school for the mentally handicapped-- I'd love to have been there to hear the direction Oliveira gave to all those young women running around in circles and wordlessly squealing at the top of their lungs without pause or apparent pattern. The several shower scenes are mostly similar in character, except there the girls are naked and eventually lay off the splashing and gamboling in favor of pawing each other and rolling around together on the filthy floor. Note that they don't stop squealing, however. It's a wonder the staff manages to settle them down for the Carnival mass! The final phase of the movie is by far the most shocking, for in marked contrast to the norm in such films, I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. One naturally hesitates to attribute any sort of editorial agenda to a women's prison movie, let alone one that is not just resolutely pornographic, but occasionally even hardcore about it. But throughout Bare Behind Bars, Oswaldo Oliveira makes it perfectly plain that he's sending up the genre by carrying it several steps beyond its logical extreme

Other then that this film could have used more focus but it's a rare treat to stumble upon a movie that can be so vapidly sleazy and so unsettlingly mean-spirited at the same time. Recommended highly to those who are interested in WIP flicks.

Okay, let's start with first principles, what do you want from a women in prison film? No, not the plot, that's always the same even in real horrible ones, good girl(s) gets unjustly imprisioned, good guys/girls work hard on the outside and eventually prevail over evil warden/guards and/or the inmates escape, blah blah blah, who cares. I'm talking sleaze points here. First, we need an entry scene where the good girl gets stripped, examined and abused, if we're lucky, maybe hosed down, something like that. Second, she's introduced to the population and gets lezzed out or abused. Third, she meets the evil guard/warden and gets lezzed out or abused, preferably both, like first abused after refusing to lez out. Fourth, she breaks the rules and gets abused, preferably whipped. Oh yeah, and shower scenes, with multiple girls and plenty of soapy skin. Did I forget anything? Maybe a bonus extra, like the amazing "pins" scene in "Wicked Warden" if we're extra lucky.

So, how does this really awful film by any other measure (with absurd music) stack up on the five sleaze essentials? Well, it's a little out of order, because we have no entry scene, but we got a multiple hosing scene where the flimsy shifts they're wearing get partially peeled off by the water; a partially dressed beating scene (short) combined with some kind of nude water torture; a nude dead body; warden lezzing out in office (short, topless only); a nude rinse the carpet scene; a nude cavity search followed by doctor in office dual nude lez and plastic porker scene (R rated); cell mates lez out; a bouncing soapy shower scene with leering guards including shower lez; another nude exam scene with the lez doctor; a second bouncy batch of inmates in the shower; inmate lezzing with plastic, soft x this time, but brief; nude outdoor gymnastics; throw the nude inmate in the hole scene; warden checks out nude inmate in office followed by intense lezzing; more inmate lezzing . . . and it goes on and on, it even gets x rated briefly during the escape/retribution stuff in the last half hour.

Only complaint? Too much lez, not enough brutality (very little whipping), but still, you have to give it five sleaze stars, especially for the NTRL factor added on (nudity to total running length). Best women in prison flick yet, with some striped backs it could have topped the genre for all time. But there's still room for a really nasty one with whippings, hangings, everything. And maybe even the bad guys win!

I agree with the previous reviewer - this is the best WIP flick ever released. It has everything you have come to expect in the genre -but multiply that 3 times! Heavy doses of lez activity - all of it bare of course. Really, can there ever be TOO much lez action in these types of films? I think not. Yes, Bare Behind Bars.....but also Bare Everywhere (behind bars, in the nurses office, in the warden's office, in the prison courtyard, and of course in the multiple shower scenes). Some WIP films promise but don't produce.....this one produces and doesn't stop.

The story line for this movie is a good basic erotic fiction theme. The mild BDSM is good. Some of the activiteis of the girls at the end of the movie is a bit gross, but is in keeping with the theme of the movie. The pace of the movie is ok and shows key scenes in a good manner. If you like naked female prisoners you will like this movie.

i dont know about art but i know what i like and i like this movie in the first hour there is full nudity about every three minutes tons of nude women then the plot kicks in and the nudity slows down pound for pound this women in prison has more nudity than any other women in prison movie ive ever seen and ive seen lots if you are looking for a good plot there are better chicks i the slamer movies but if you want lots of naked girls get this movie

Okay, let's start with first principles, what do you want from a women in prison film? No, not the plot, that's always the same even in real horrible ones, good girl(s) gets unjustly imprisoned, good guys/girls work hard on the outside and eventually prevail over evil warden/guards and/or the inmates escape, blah blah blah, who cares. I'm talking sleaze points here. First, we need an entry scene where the good girl gets stripped, examined and abused, if we're lucky, maybe hosed down, something like that. Second, she's introduced to the population and gets lezzed out or abused. Third, she meets the evil guard/warden and gets lezzed out or abused, preferably both, like first abused after refusing to lez out. Fourth, she breaks the rules and gets abused, preferably whipped. Oh yeah, and shower scenes, with multiple girls and plenty of soapy skin. Did I forget anything? Maybe a bonus extra, like the amazing "pins" scene in "Wicked Warden" if we're extra lucky.

So, how does this really awful film by any other measure (with absurd music) stack up on the five sleaze essentials? Well, it's a little out of order, because we have no entry scene, but we got a multiple hosing scene where the flimsy shifts they're wearing get partially peeled off by the water; a partially dressed beating scene (short) combined with some kind of nude water torture; a nude dead body; warden lezzing out in office (short, topless only); a nude rinse the carpet scene; a nude cavity search followed by doctor in office dual nude lez and plastic porker scene (R rated); cell mates lez out; a bouncing soapy shower scene with leering guards including shower lez; another nude exam scene with the lez doctor; a second bouncy batch of inmates in the shower; inmate lezzing with plastic, soft x this time, but brief; nude outdoor gymnastics; throw the nude inmate in the hole scene; warden checks out nude inmate in office followed by intense lezzing; more inmate lezzing . . . and it goes on and on, it even gets x rated briefly during the escape/retribution stuff in the last half hour.

Only complaint? Too much lez, not enough brutality (very little whipping), but still, you have to give it five sleaze stars, especially for the NTRL factor added on (nudity to total running length). Best women in prison flick yet, with some striped backs it could have topped the genre for all time. But there's still room for a really nasty one with whippings, hangings, everything. And maybe even the bad guys win!

I've reviewed this before, so there's no point doing so again, except that I note this is said to be the "uncut" version. That's interesting, it probably means the version I posted a review for was the "cut" version, referring to the film rather than the members that probably distinguish the two versions.

In fact, I was reviewing from seeing the uncut version, and therefore I'm guessing the difference is a couple of X rated hardcore scenes during the escape/revenge plot time that occur near the end of the film. If so, you can ignore this version if you already have the old, because the sex really adds nothing of interest for sleaze fans. Who needs to see more of that, considering that 100 such scenes, far superior in quality, are posted on the alt.binaries.erotica newsgroup alone . . . each day??

I guess back in 1980 this one was groundbreaking, but today it comes across as a very so-so women-in-prison film. The scenes involving women with other women are disappointing and not at all erotic. Yes, there's some nudity, but not much else. There's a lot of violence, but it's mostly stupid stuff that is supposed to look real but looks pathetic instead.

There's one interesting scene near the beginning where the female warden entertains a wealthy woman, showing her a pretty female inmate she can purchase for her own pleasure. A great idea, but later, once she actually owns the girl, their scenes together are bland and unimaginative. And finally, after the girl has tried to run away one too many times, she drowns her in a really fakey scene on the beach. Like I said, unerotic and pathetic.

This movie starts out excellent (lots of naked women all the time) but loses a lot of steam when the escape planning starts. Guys especially won't like what happens after the lead women escape. So as not to spoil things, let's just say that guys' "members" don't get treated very well. But the part before the escape is very watchable and enjoyable, with lots and lots of naked women all over the place and plenty of girl-on-girl sex. I enjoyed this movie a lot, up till the escape. Definitely worth getting for solo watching pleasure.