Paris Hilton’s short-lived jail stay has sparked outrage among many. A celebrity receiving preferential treatment within the criminal justice system is nothing new, but the media attention to Paris’ plight only heightens awareness of the problems facing women who go to prison. For me, all I can think about is, well, women in prison movies. This exploitation genre’s popularity is due mostly to scenes involving women taking showers, females sharing intimate moments as well as much-loved cat fights.


Paris received no jail time for her performance in 2005's House of Wax, though many critics thought her bad acting was criminal.

When Paris was about to enter prison, she was quoted as saying that she would bring books to read. I can’t think of a more outrageous idea. Paris reading? Who would believe such complete nonsense? I prefer to think that she’d load up her Netflix queue with a selection of women in prison films.

So, for Paris and as a public service to anyone facing jail time, here’s a round-up of notable movies about women behind bars.



Women in Cages (1971)
This lackluster entry in the category centers on a women sent to prison on an island to serve ten years after being set up by her drug dealer boyfriend. Escaping into the jungle proves to be a bad idea when bounty hunters have their way with the ladies.
Kinda hot.

The Big Doll House (1971)
Director Jack Hill points his camera at Pam Grier who heads up a cast of virtual unknowns in a fairly forgettable film in the genre. As usual, Pam is badass. If this is what prison is about, then sign me up.
That's hot!


Black Mama, White Mama (1972)
Pam Grier returns to prime form co-starring with Margaret Markov in this women on the run film. These two ladies are chained together and must fight the wilderness and their differences (so cute) to survive. They soon find creeps like fine actor Sid Haig actually deserve to die.
Love it!


The incredibly sexy Barbara Steele from the memorable 1974 classic Caged Heat directed by Jonathan Demme.

Caged Heat (1974)
The tagline from the poster reads like a warning: Rape Riot and Revenge! White Hot Desires melting cold prison steel! Barbara Steele stars in what is known as probably the best film of the genre and the one that set the tone for future female incarceration flicks. Director Jonathan Demme delivered all the elements one would expect, the nudity, the violence and the sexual tension, while grounding the story in a disturbing reality. Viewers should be warned about graphic scenes with electroshock experiments and raping drugged prisoners.
That's hot! Hot! Hot!



Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS (1974)
Ilsa spawned a series of forgettable sequels, but the original stands the test of time as a classic. One of the best in the genre, this is not only a great women in prison film, but a fetishists' dream. The Ilsa in the title is the sadistic prison warden at a Nazi death camp who inflicts suffering in ways people pay top dollar for now. No one is good in this film, and by not being good, I mean bad, and by bad, I mean really good. Make sense?
Mean... and hot!

Reform School Girls (1986)
Reform School Girls would be one of the worst films ever made were it not for the amazing cast. Sybil Danning and the tough as nails warden, and punk icon Wendy O. Williams as a violent inmate made sparks fly in all the right ways.
So hot!


Chicago (2002)
Chicago proves two things: that a women in prison movie can get Academy Award recognition and that musical numbers should never appear in a women in prison movie.
Hmmm...



Brokedown Palace (1999)
Kate Beckinsdale and Claire Daines decide to blow off a trip to Hawaii to vacation in Thailand... the land of adventure and really scary prisons. This humorless film completely misses the mark taking a serious approach to the ridiculous story. There are no catfights or scenes of women getting close. A huge disappointment.
Gross.

Chicken Run (2000)
Chicken Run is actually based heavily on the Steve McQueen World War II prison camp movie The Great Escape, except in this case all the characters are chickens. Yep, chickens. Nick Park, who brought the world the amazing clay-animated adventures of Wallace and Gromit, is brains behind the most unique women in prison film ever. Sure, the conventions of the genre are turned upside down, but you will find plenty of chick fights.
Yummy!

Bamboo House of Dolls (1974)
This Shaw Brothers Hong Kong-sploitation flick is probably better known by its original title Nu ji zhong ying. A Japanese POW camp is the setting for this Asian women in prison film in which a nurse plots her escape. There's plenty of nudity and extreme violence as the Japanese prey on the Chinese women resulting in abuse and rape.
Gross.


Prison-A-Go-Go (2003)
This prison movie parody contains the standard issue shower scenes and the evil doctors while throwing in bizarre elements like kung fu food fights, mud wrestling and zombies. It makes little sense, but there's plenty to laugh at.
Funny and hot!

Slammer Girls (1987)
Released when comedies like Airplane! were at their height, this is perhaps the very first spoof of the genre. Unfortunately, it goes to prove that satirizing something that is already itself ridiculous doesn't always lead to laughs.
Not hot.

Gore gone.

Chris_Gore is an author, a filmmaker and the creator of Film Threat. Chris' rap sheet includes a charge of possession of alcohol at the age of 19 resulting in one night spent in a Detroit jail.