Red Heat (1985)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Linda Blair has stated that she was sold this film as a "female Midnight Express." Yes, it has elements of that. But it's more like an adult remake of Born Innocent. Linda's character even has the same name, Chris. Born Innocent represents Linda's best work as a juvenile. Her performance is better in Born Innocent than in The Exorcist. Red Heat may well be her best performance as an adult. Yet this is one of the most difficult Blair films to find. I don't think it ever got a proper theatrical release in the United States, although it may have played the grind house circuit. I first saw in on VHS year ago, and watched it recently again on YouTube. It's a wildly entertaining film that's face-paced and got it all - nudity, rape, cat fights, shower scenes, suicide, etc. You've seen it all before, but the setting in an East German prison before the wall came down (actually filmed in Hungary) adds a great deal to the mood and tone of the film. For Linda Blair fans, this film is essential. For fans of women in prison flicks, it's not to be missed.

One would think that putting Linda Blair (from "Chained Heat") and Sylvia Kristol (from "Emmanuelle") together in a women-in-prison flick would equal a great movie, or at least an entertaining heap of rubbish. Alas, no such luck. Blair plays the wrongfully-accused innocent well enough, and Kristol puts in a convincing performance as the prison's top bully, but both performances lack the necessary nuances - the good girl has to have an inner reserve of strength to help her survive the harsh prison, while the bully must occasionally show a seductive side. Absent those elements, what you get is an hour or so in which Kristol snarls and glowers and Blair whines. Even the obligatory cat-fight is botched, thanks to extremely poor lighting and ridiculously incompetent editing - apparently, someone believed that the spectacle of Blair and Kristol beating the crap out of each other was the LAST thing that anyone wanted to see.Of course, "Red Heat" has a bigger problem than the under-exploitation of its two main attractions: it's dreary as hell. There's the obligatory shower scenes and the lesbianism, but far more attention is paid to the less exciting indignities of life in an East German prison. True, it's more realistic, but does anyone really go to a women-in-prison movie to see realism?

Perky American tourist Christine Carlson (a winningly vibrant and charming performance by Linda Blair) gets arrested on false charges of espionage while vacationing in East Germany. Christine winds up incarcerated at a brutal women's penitentiary, where she runs afoul of vicious top con Sofia (ably played to the nasty hilt by Sylvia Kristel). Meanwhile, Christine's dedicated soldier fiancé Mike (a solid and likable portrayal by William Ostrander) does whatever he can to spring her from the joint. Director Robert Collector, who also co-wrote the tight and engrossing script with Gary Drucker, covers all the satisfyingly seamy babes-behind-bars bases: a handy helping of tasty female nudity, a group shower scene (yep, Linda does indeed show us her yummy stuff in said scene), lesbianism, rape, degradation, fierce catfights, and an exciting last reel breakout. This film further benefits from sound acting by a capable cast: Sue Kiel as fiery and dedicated political activist Hedda, Elisabeth Volkmann as stern warden Einbeck, Herb Andress as sadistic head guard Werner, Barbara Spitz as friendly and helpful English inmate Meg, and Kati Marothy as the meek and browbeaten Barbara. Moreover, the oppressive fascist regime setting is inspired and the potently brooding mood of pervasive gloom, despair, and utter hopelessness inside the prison works extremely well. Wolfgang Dickman's slick cinematography gives the picture an impressively stark and stylish look. The first-rate urgently propulsive score by Tangerine Dream does the stirring pulsating trick. Recommended viewing for fans of 80's exploitation sleaze.

Women-in-prison flick involving an innocent American tourist in West Germany who is mistaken for a spy, grilled until exhaustion sets in, and sent to jail without a word to her soldier-fiancé. After publicly nixing her hit "Chained Heat" on just about every talk show of the 1980s, it's amazing that star Linda Blair would even think of doing another jailhouse underachiever. This one, filmed in chilly blues and grays, is just as seedy and depressing. The roster comes complete with a decadently lascivious guard (gaunt, kinky Sylvia Kristel), a terrified blonde, a friendly butch, and lots of malicious broads. Blair manages (somehow) to keep her dignity and has a few strong scenes, including being interrogated and collapsing under pressure or standing up to the review board with a firm "F*** you!" The direction is fairly tight, and the movie is engrossing almost in spite of itself. *1/2 from ****