Bare Behind Bars

Bare Behind Bars

'2,000 women trapped in a lesbian hell' screams the covers tagline which pretty much sums up the premise for Oswaldo De Oliverira's 'Bare Behind Bars', and is with open arms that I welcomed this long overdue DVD release. But would the film live up to it's eye-catching tagline and would the disc from DVD Network be a presentation worthy of our attention?

There's really not much you can say about 'Bare Behind Bars' storyline...what you get is what you see. There's a prison full of lusty lesbo jailbirds and some equally sexually frustrated warders, all under the watchful eye of one the most deviant prison wardens you're ever likely to come across (who would pass off as a close relative of everyone's favourite cinematic psycho-bitch Ilsa) who is whipping the girls into shape for sale on the sex slave market. And apart from that there's really not much going on plotwise as you're treated to an endless line of perverse set-pieces that should rank up there as one of the exploitation genres greatest moments. That said, there is a minimal plot that appears in the latter section of the film (well Oliverira must have felt the need to justify a story somewhere) where some of the captive ladies try to escape to freedom.

Right from the films offset you know where this sick little puppy is headed as the film quickly sets up an atmosphere of pure sleaze and perversion that will make this film an essential addition to the collection of fans of both the 'women in prison' genre and sleaze fans in general. Whippings, group lesbo action and catfights are the order of the day in this catalogue of kinky fun. What amazes me to this day is the whole 'who gives a damn' cavalier attitude of film makers like Oliverira and others who with this movie in particular go gung ho to titillate in extreme graphic exploitation style with endless eye candy that no film maker would ever have the clout to attempt today (and our own BBFC film censors would still run screaming at on viewing too!)

Needless to say there is not much to brag about in terms of 'Bare Behind Bars' being a 'quality cinematic production' as although Oliverira's direction and pacing is decent enough the cast in general are of the poutingly bad 70's porn actor type (all glaring eyes and masturbation, which necessarily a bad thing I suppose). But that said, as an exploitation film there will be few to top this gem. All the sleazy set pieces are chucklingly engrossing and varied so you're never left bored and most welcomingly the film seems to be fully uncut including some scenes of hard core footage that made me sit up and pay attention! Also of note is the amusingly out of place laid back jazzy soundtrack (which is not too dissimilar to the theme from Bianchi's 'Nights of Terror') that will have you clicking your thumbs whilst lapping up the onscreen perversion!

The disc from DVD Network (allegedly based in the Netherlands) is a basic but solid presentation though its origins are likely of a somewhat dubious nature. The film print (from an Atlas source) is taken from a Dutch video master that has English language audio and burnt on unremoveable Dutch subtitles. Ideally the option of removable subtitles would have been nice but considering the obscurity of the title and the fact that this master is most likely the best you're going to see I can happily live with that. The image is actually quite decent though does at times show some print speckles etc but again this shouldn't really be a surprise. The audio similarly is solid enough (and hey, why on earth would you want your lesbo whip cracking in surround anyway pervs?) But there is little else to speak of in the way of DVD content as apart from the obligatory chapter selection (so you can jump to your favourite sleazy scene) the disc is indeed a very bare bones release.

'Bare Behind Bars' is an eye opening sleazy but fun exploitation movie that I would heartily recommend and this bare bones release from DVD Network is actually a surprisingly solid (and graphic) presentation. Sleaze fans will want to add this to their collection right now!

Review by Alan Simpson

'Bare Behind Bars' can be ordered direct from Luminous Film & Video Wurks by clicking here.


 
Released by DVD Network
Not Rated - Region All (NTSC)
Running time - 90m
Ratio - Fullscreen
Audio - Dolby digital 2.0
Extras :
None
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