Bare Behind Bars [DVD] [1980]

More a comedy prison romp than a nasty WIP movie... Good DVD transfer from Blue Underground
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...

Must I even call this a film?
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...

Fast forward review
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...

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