Chained Heat, 1983

CAST: And what a cast! We have Linda Blair of The Exorcist fame as fresh meat in a tough women's prison. Sybil Danning is the leader of the white gang and Tamara Dobson (that's Cleopatra Jones herself!) as the leader of the rather small black gang. Stella Stevens is a rather butch and ambitious prison captain who pushes drugs and pimps the girls with John Vernon as the sleazy warden.

PLOT: Poor young Carol is sent to prison for dangerous driving. She encounters all manner of depravity while inside; rape, drug dealing, and brutal beatings - and that's just the staff!

THOUGHTS: Amongst the trashiest movies I have ever seen! And I loved every minute. I'm not all that familiar with the 'Women in Prison' (or WIP) genre, my knowledge being limited to a few seasons of Bad Girls. Well let me tell you, I am determined to be ignorant no longer. If Chained Heat is anything to go by the WIP will become a staple of this blog. My favourite scenes were the vicious exchanges between rival gang leaders Tamara Dobson and Sybil Danning.

This movie has everything, shower scenes, copious amounts of cat fights, brutal violence, and lots of language. The sleazy warden who makes porno movies of himself and the inmates is great fun too. The showdown between Linda Blair and Stella Stevens is pretty fun too. The movie takes every cliche in the book and just goes for it to great effect! Sadly the only versions available are slightly cut, they remove part of a scene in which one of the guards is murdered with a great big hook! It's only toned down, not removed totally thankfully.

EXTRA: Sybil Danning vs Tamara Dobson (clip)

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, 1975

STARRING: Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones)

Dobson was a popular model before she became the tallest leading lady ever to hit movie screens as Cleopatra Jones in 1973. She can also be seen in the movie Chained Heat in which she co-stars with Linda Blair. She died in 2006 from pneumonia, she had been suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Stella Stevens (The Dragon Lady)

Stevens has made over 140 movie and television appearances over the past 50 years including such classics as The Poseidon Adventure and The Nutty Professor, as well as TV series like General Hospital and the 80’s prime time soap Flamingo Road.

With Norman Fell (Stanley) & Tanny (Mi Tin).

PLOT: Cleopatra Jones must save two fellow agents from the clutches of the biggest drug-lord in the world, the elusive Dragon Lady. Cleo travels to the Dragon Lady’s headquarters at her casino in Hong Kong and enlists the help of the locals to get back her two friends.

THOUGHTS: I think this is infinitely better than the first Cleopatra Jones movie. I think it has a lot to do with Dobson being more comfortable in the role and the movie also adopts a lot of the style of a 70’s Hong Kong action flick, which is no bad thing, especially with an American budget behind it. There’s certainly more humour and Cleo’s costumes are even more outrageous in this outing.

My personal favourite scene involves Cleo jumping over a 6ft gate with 6 inch heels and a flowing gown. She did her action sequences with style! I also like the way that yet again the baddie is a lesbian! From watching this movie you’d think that all lesbians did for fun was massage each other in sleazily lit bedrooms. Stella Stevens puts in an excellent performance and the sword fighting scene at the end is impressive. Unfortunately the movie wasn’t a hit and we never got to see Cleo in action again. If you must watch one female-led Blaxploitation movie make it this one.

CAN I BUY IT? Yes, on DVD.