''Chained Heat'' (alternate title: ''Das Frauenlager'' in West Germany) is a 1983 American-German

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

in the women-in-prison genre. It was co-written and directed by Paul Nicholas (as Paul Nicolas) for Jensen Farley Pictures.Overview, ''Chained Heat''
''The New York Times''
archived
at the Wayback Machine on April 10, 2013. Producer was Paul Fine, who had previously produced '' The Concrete Jungle''.

Plot

The film takes place in the California women's prison in which naive teenager Carol Henderson ( Linda Blair) is sentenced to serve 18 months for accidentally killing a man. Warden Backman (

John Vernon John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer ...

) has a hot tub in his office; his assistant, Captain Taylor (

Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) is a American former actress. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as ''Girls! Girls! Girls!'' (1962), '' The Nutty Professor'' (1963), '' The Courtship of ...

) controls the prison's prostitutes and has a lover who is also involved in a clandestine affair with Ericka ( Sybil Danning), the leader of the white prisoners, while the black prisoners are led by Duchess (

Tamara Dobson Tamara Janice Dobson (May 14, 1947 – October 2, 2006) was an American actress and fashion model. Beginning her career in modeling during the late 1960s, Dobson became best known for her title role as government agent Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones the ...

). Lesbian rapists deal drugs. Eventually the administration pushes the prisoners too far and they drop their race-based feuding to revolt against their common enemy.Review: ''Chained Heat''
''Variety'', December 31, 1982.

Cast

* Linda Blair as Carol *

as Warden Backman * Sybil Danning as Ericka *

as Duchess *

as Captain Taylor * Henry Silva as Lester * Sharon Hughes as Val *

Robert Miano Robert Miano (born September 25, 1942) is an American actor. Early life Robert Miano was born in New York City and raised in the Southeast Bronx neighborhood. He is of Italian descent. At the age of fifteen Robert Miano was discovered by a tale ...

as Stone * Greta Blackburn as Lulu *

Nita Talbot Nita Talbot (born Anita Sokol) (born August 8, 1930) is an American actress. She received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the 1967–68 season of ''Hogan's Heroes''. Film Born in New York City on Augu ...

as Kaufman *

Louisa Moritz Louisa Moritz (born Luisa Cira Castro Netto; September 25, 1936 – January 4, 2019) was a Cuban-American actress and lawyer. After arriving in New York from Cuba, she became a film and television actress, then earned a law degree. She is best k ...

as "Bubbles" *

Monique Gabrielle Katherine Gonzalez (born July 30, 1962), also known as Monique Gabrielle, is an American model and actress. Gabrielle was selected as the '' Penthouse'' Pet of the Month for December 1982, and has appeared in a variety of mainstream and adult f ...

as Debbie *

Edy Williams Edwina Beth "Edy" Williams is an American television and film actor who is best known for her acting work in the films of Russ Meyer, to whom she was married from 1970 to 1975. Early years Williams was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in ...

as Paula * Carole Ita White as "Spider", credited as Carol White * Michael Callan as Martin * Irwin Keyes as Lorenzo *

Kate Vernon Katherine Elizabeth Vernon (born April 21, 1961) is a Canadian-born American actress. She is known for her roles as Lorraine Prescott on the CBS primetime soap opera '' Falcon Crest'' (from 1984–1985), the stuck-up and popular Benny Hanson in ...

as Cellmate

Production and release

''Chained Heat'' was produced for $950,000. It opened on May 27, 1983 in 404 theaters nationwide and made $2,252,682 in its opening weekend. The film was in theaters for two and a half weeks in total. , the film's domestic gross is $6,149,983.

Reception

During its release the film came under fire from critics for its sexism and from gay rights activists for negative and stereotypical portrayals of lesbians as violent and predatory. A ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' review described it as "silly, almost campy" and judged Nicholas to have "display dlittle feel for the prison genre, emphasizing archaic sex-for-voyeurs scenes". ''Chained Heat''s rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 56% positive reviews. The film was nominated for two

Razzie Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

including Worst Actress for Blair and won Worst Supporting Actress for Danning. ''Chained Heat'' (Uncut and remastered edition) was released in 2011 as a DVD Women In Prison box set with ''

Red Heat The practice of using colours to determine the temperature of a piece of (usually) ferrous metal comes from blacksmithing. Long before thermometers were widely available it was necessary to know what state the metal was in for heat treating it ...

'' (1985) and '' Jungle Warriors'' (1984).

Sequels

In 1993 the sequel ''Chained Heat II'', starring

Brigitte Nielsen Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films '' Red Sonja'' and '' Rocky IV'', later re ...

, Paul Koslo,

Kimberley Kates Kimberley Kates (born August 15, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. Kates is best known for her role as Princess Elizabeth in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. She founded and is currently the CEO of Big Screen Entertainment Group ...

and Kari Whitman was released. The film was directed by Lloyd Simandl and released in Canada. This was followed by the 1998 release of ''Chained Heat 3: Hell Mountain''. The film starred

Nicole Nieth Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Eurovi ...

Kate Rodgers Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

, and Bentley Mitchum and was directed by

Mike Rhol Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

from a screenplay by Chris Hyde. Both sequels bear little to no relation to the first film.

References

External links

* * *{{Rotten Tomatoes, chained_heat 1983 films 1980s prison films American sexploitation films West German films Women in prison films American prison films English-language German films Golden Raspberry Award winning films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films