Lust for Freedom (1987)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

LUST FOR FREEDOM is a surprisingly enjoyable low rent women-in-prison movie put out by Troma and a lot better than the usual quality of their independent releases. This one was shot on a tiny budget in Nevada and involves a female cop who is drugged by a corrupt sheriff and sent to a female prison rife with corruption.The first half is slow but mildly engaging, whereas the second half descends into prison brawls, lesbian make out scenes, a whole host of nudity, and some last-reel violence as the inmates stage a revolt. Don't go in expecting any name stars or much in the way of originality here; nonetheless, as a film it still works quite well at times and is never slow.

A film that sums up the eighties more than this, it would be hard to find. Pulsing synthesiser soundtrack, non-stop, screaming rock and roll, no-plot, aimless violence, total lack of any decent characters, and yes…very few real actors. It's a cheap, low-budget, sensationalistic thrill-ride, set in a woman's correctional facility. It's a Troma movie, the hallmark of absolute garbage, and yes, it's a well-earned reputation. This is a terrible, tacky work of zero-budget sexploitation, only with very little in the way of interest.The story drags its' heels over just under ninety minutes, with Melanie Coll as a policewoman who gets captured by a crooked cop of an even more crooked city of flesh-peddlers, and generally unpleasant characters. However, things are surprisingly dull; it's not exactly the "Hell on Earth" that it could have been. Coll just sits about in prison for most of the entire film, looking at other people having a hard time. Her dull, gaping performance is nothing special, yet the voice-over she provides manages to make a really bad film seem even worse, along the lines of Harrison Ford's drudge-like tones pasted on top of Scott's "Blade Runner". To be fair, unlike budget-eating Ridley Scott, most of this is because the entire movie has been shot silently to save money, with most of the dialogue added in in post-production, often in totally no relation to their lip-movements.The other stylistically rather irritating thing about this film is, it has been hacked-about considerably – this 82-minute version has endless jumps in in it, which, when you're watching a piece of very unsubtle exploitation, is frustrating, because you end up with all the dull bits, without any of the cheap thrills. However, there's still a couple of rather memorable moments, mainly a very lovingly filmed lesbian sex scene between "Crystal Breeze" and Michelle Bauer, and a disconcertingly well-choreographed wrestling scene between Dee "Queen Kong" Booher, and Elizabeth Carlisle. Worth a mention, definitely, is Elizabeth Carlisle's performance as the feisty bad-girl, Vicky, who gives a decent account of herself, in a rather over-the-top fashion, which is nonetheless entertaining.Equally over the top, is Judi Trevor's "Miss Pusker", a fierce faced prison warden, who is referred to at one point as being "Like something from a bad movie?" Do I hear anyone disagree with this? Nah. Her interrogation scenes with Amy Lyndon, are something of a highlight, and some of the few scenes which don't appear to be too heavily cut about.Main baddie Jud, a big Native American, is physically impressive as a creepy nutcase, but to be honest, in a Troma movie, it isn't hard to act like this. In fact, there's a car chase scene in this which seems to have come straight from Tarrantino's "Death Proof". In fact, I'm sure Mr. Q T would love this kind of movie, the sort of thing which "Death Proof" is a tribute to in the first place.The ending is a ridiculous confusion of shouting, and people being shot, but to be fair, we've all kind of given up by this point, crushed under the weight of that god-awful theme song, as well as the "Rock You to Death", theme song. God, turn off the rock! Not only that, it's about twice the volume of the dialogue, which means you'll have to do a lot of fiddling about with the volume. Or, just mute it every time the music kicks in. Makes me wish they'd just stuck to the synthesisers in the start of the movie.Overall, then, this is a movie which you are never supposed to judge as an art piece. It's just a piece of cheap exploitation, albeit a very heavily edited one with just a couple of decent scenes in it. Even as a "woman in prison" movie, a notorious sub-genre, it kind of fails, because there's so many scenes of literally nothing at all happening, with slow dialogue scenes in offices, no matter how sleazy and sensationalistic the DVD cover art tries to make it look. It's just a prime slice of the eighties, where everything was just so very loud, cheap and silly. Thre's a few really creepy, sordid moments, which hinge on the deeply disturbing side, but there is no denying that it does have a handful of relatively enjoyably exploitation moments, especially the longing close-ups in the Breeze/Bauer sex scene, which kind of makes you wish there's deen a lot more of this, than Coll just moping about doing nothing whatsoever. It's not a total waste of 82 minutes of your life, just maybe a very poor use of about seventy of them. Worth a watch, but be prepared to have to sift through a lot of crap, in order to get to the better bits.But, in the wake of recent mainstream cinematic events, it is worth pointing out that this movie actually does pass the much-demonised "Bechdel" test: there are about a dozen women characters, at least half of whom have names, most have dialogue. They all talk to each other, and definitely about something other than men. So, does that mean this is a feminist approved movie? I'd love to show the cover of this movie to a feminist, and say to them, "This passes the Bechdel test."(Personally don't really care that much about the ruling, because what difference does that make? Movies with no women in them are generally rather dull. But I'm sure you know that already. Or else, why would you be reading this?)

Okay, its a Troma Film... which doesn't hold much water personally. I'd say roughly 3 out of 5 Troma productions I've seen annoy the @#$% out of me, and I end up either sleeping or turning it off entirely. But lets admit folks, every now and then those crazy quasi-exploitation nut jobs who call themselves the Troma Team make a truly entertaining flick. And while Lust For Freedom is pure cheese, what the heck do most of the other reviewers expect? Fellini? Jodorowsky? Leone even? That is IMHO where most of these horrifying reviews go wrong. The critic obviously didn't go into this film with a light heart and a total lack of seriousness. With that I wholeheartedly admit that I gave this action oddity a score of ten, solely for the purpose of (innefectively) giving this forgotten gem a slight boost in score. (currently at 2.9, c'Mon folks lighten-up!) So for those that like a solid dose of imaginary yet strong exploitation, and isn't all film exploitation in some regard, this film pulls no punches. Behold a few reasons why this film is underrated, with respect to its intended target audience, and without giving away direct spoilers..+ I counted somewhere around 33 dead people by the end of this film.this should give the action fans something to get a kick out of.+ almost every character except the protagonist is a villain, and its hard to determine which is more despicable. + A good portion of the violence and murder occurs off camera, and yet it still carries impact. Splash in some scenes that even got trimmed by UK censorship (poor blokes) and we have some versatility.+ Yea I counted, and I could come up with over 30 felonies committed by the corrupt warden and his twisted staff. Drug Dealing, extortion, murder, kidnapping, rape (and actually done mostly off camera too), corruption of minors, Folks these bad guys are out of this world wicked.+Lots of pretty women in prison. Its a WIP film, so right there you should know what you are getting yourself into.+The acting drifts between lousy and noteworthy. kudos for Judi Trevor and her character Mrs. Pusker. +the soundtrack fits perfectly and actually "rocks you to hell" as the theme promises repeatedlyAction craver's. Horror fans. Gorehounds. Open minded film buffs who can suspend belief for more than 5 seconds, I say go for it!Everyone else, good luck. so there you go. Its a WIP film, and a damn fine one indeed.

I also caught this on USA "Up All Night" a few years ago. My friend and I stayed awake until 3 AM just to finish it. It was too ridiculous to ignore! I also couldn't believe people actually spent money to make this film. "Lust For Freedom" is the type of movie you watch with your buddies when you're all looking for a few thrills and a bunch of laughs. There is gratuitous violence. There are performances worse than what you see in a soap opera. There are scantily-clad women running around, fussin' and fightin' as they try to escape some slavery ring. If you're on the hunt for MINDLESS ENTERTAINMENT, "Lust For Freedom" is just what the doctor ordered. If you're looking for something even marginally intelligent, don't bother.