VIRGINS FROM HELL

Directed by Ackyl Anwari

VIRGINS FROM HELL can be considered a bit of a misnomer, considering that the female lead had to become the whore of one of this film's many corrupt male figures, in order to get close enough to kill him. But the title seems fitting, due in no small part to the outright sensationalism of this wild piece of Indian exploitation lunacy. However, if leather hotpants are your fetish, you could find yourself in 'Slut Heaven.'

After raiding a gambling den, a group of biker babes argue over whether to split the booty there and then, or use the money to buy more weapons so they can take on a corrupt patriarch. The latter is chosen, because the leader of the female gang has unfinished business with him: Mr Tiger killed her parents, and stole her home in order to smuggle and manufacture certain pharmaceuticals. After launching an attack, the women are not only thwarted but also captured. Kept in a dungeon, some of the girls have the drug tested on them - an extra powerful aphrodisiac - some of whom are dragged off by the kinky guards. Feeling the pressure, will they end up tearing one another apart, or can they band together and escape?

As is the norm with commercial Indonesian cinema, VIRGINS FROM HELL is one big spectacle. Featuring some big sets and ambitious set pieces, it's broad in scope but keeps one foot in the gutter for trash enthusiasts. Featuring some extreme confrontations between absurdly sexist male figures and fit female bodies, this film is a brightly coloured, bizarre battle of the sexes whose extreme sadism goes both ways. This amusing B-pic mentality is no more evident in the film's many sex scenes: typically, the film's blokes don't believe in foreplay - instead, they grunt like animals, force the poor birds onto the floor, and after getting kicked away end up in a knock down, drag out brawl!

If the film, perhaps coaxing out our meaner spirits, merits attention for its outright nastiness and inventive deaths, the 'execution' of these sequences isn't always the best. The death scenes are inventive enough - especially a stunt in which a motorbike is blown up in mid air (!) - but the direction lacks focus and precision. The big canvas, broadened by the 'scope cinematography, feels too much. Indeed, while we have the chance to gawp at the jaw dropping size of everything, we're not given enough proximity to the action, causing it to lack the hard-hitting impact that it needs. Fight scenes are badly affected by this, and the lack of enthusiasm of the 'virgins from hell' in the action scenes. The women are physically unconvincing - they may look attractive, but could anyone have performed the action with less aplomb?

That is a problem that could've been addressed, in part, by the photography and the editing departments. But instead of getting down and dirty to drag us into the action (more close-ups and some rapid cutting being more than welcome), the camera seems content to admire from afar. Consequently, we're kept in the cold by a pseudo epic approach when we should be subjected to visceral thrills. This discrepancy between film and spectator is never overcome. Which is a shame for a movie whose wild set pieces include a woman being dropped in a sack full of what seem to be monkeys, and sealed up to be ravaged and bitten! For a film whose action is its sole appeal, this is a disastrous shortcoming.

The dramatic structure - which amounts to little more than the gals overcoming their distrust of one another, to work as a community, and overthrow the corrupt men - needed to be papered over by a blistering approach to action and a feverish depiction of sex. We never get that. The experience of watching this flick isn't hellish. Rather, it's just extremely disappointing and lacks the skill of approach to make its spectacle in any way compelling.

Blessed by a lovely anamorphic transfer, the film's wide compositions and impressive sets can be fully appreciated by those who have come to expect only the best from Mondo Macabro's expanding (and mostly impressive) collection of spicy foreign dishes. If the 70 minutes of trailers is a tad too much, it doesn't lack in thoroughness. And, if you find yourself liking VIRGINS FROM HELL, what's to say you won't be drooling over DAREDEVIL COMMANDOS? These aren't all in the best of shape, but it's a decent addition nonetheless. The documentary, a 25-minute piece, has already been featured on the region 2 disc of MYSTICS IN BALI, featuring plenty of interviews and extracts, give a decent overview of the Indonesian exploitation scene.

Review by Matthew Sanderson