Touches You

Thanks for the memories!

Just perfect...

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Uncle Jess Franco's itchy camera zooms away from an austere, guarded prison building to the sound of a young woman, naked and chained as it turns out, screaming for mercy. This will be one of a collection of Franco/Erwin C. Dietrich collaboration then, a 'women in prison' drama.Lucky Lina Romay (as Maria da Guerra) is a new inmate. "The crime you are guilty of could not have been committed by a normal woman," she is told, and is soon sent by duplicitous 'doctor' Carlos Costa (Paul Muller) for electro-shock therapy. The torture is suitably graphic and convincingly played, as are subsequent indignities, both sexual and 'therapeutic'. Mostly, this is conducted accompanied by the inappropriately cheery jazz score from regular composers Daniel White and Walter Baumgartner. And while I'm listing familiar elements from other 'WIP' films, yes, the locations are excellent and the director makes very good use of them.On one hand, this is a series of scenes featuring pretty, dubbed women in various sexual situations. On the other, if you find it possible to look beyond that - and it's not always easy - you have a thin tale of Maria, a mentally delicate girl, being abused in a vile manner in a film only Franco could make. The 'doctor' played by Muller has been dubbed with a very camp voice, which makes his sexual manipulation of Maria unlikely. After sharing with us all the dubious sight of his hirsute back whilst rutting with Soledad Miranda in 1970's 'Eugenie De Sade', here similar treats are in store for Lina Romay - lucky Paul Muller! By this time, Maria's so forlorn, she can barely smoke a cigarette.Maria's crime is told in flashback, and in the telling, provides one of the strangest moments in a Franco film - which says a lot. A slow motion scene of incest and violence between her and daddy (Jess Franco) - although it is acted in slow-motion, but filmed at normal speed - demonstrates Maria's current predicament. This is followed up with some almost penetrative shots of various inmates' genitalia (one with inserted cigarette) and a close-up of a dead mouse in Maria's breakfast. Whilst the story is an overall mish-mash and is leanly spread out, there is no denying the set-pieces are guaranteed to disturb, one way or another.Romay is excellent, as is Martine Stedil as Bertha and Beni Cardoso as deranged Rosaria. Monica Swinn plays the monocle-wearing, trouser-less chief wardress. She's very good, even given the usual wall of dubbing that compromises any performance. Why does she do what she does? Because she can. Just why she reserves special treatment for poor Maria, well ...

Sweet young Maria de Guerra (a personable portrayal by super cutie Lina Romay) gets sent to a harsh women's penitentiary after she's found guilty of killing her father. While serving her life sentence Maria must deal with an assortment of cruel and depraved ordeals that include everything from electro-shock torture to unhinged and/or predatory fellow inmates to, naturally, brutality and degradation as meted out on a regular basis by the corrupt prison staff.Notorious Spanish sleazemeister Jess Franco really indulges his passion for leering close-ups of unshaved vaginas and sizzling semi-pornographic explicit female masturbation including a literally hot number with a freshly smoked cigarette (!) while also maintaining a steady pace and an appropriately grim sordid tone that comes complete with a socko surprise bummer ending. The colorful array of choice nasty villains adds tremendously to the overall deliciously trashy entertainment value: Monica Swinn attacks her juicy roll of the wicked warden who wears a monocle and hot pants with lip-smacking relish, Paul Muller snivels it up to the despicable hilt as whiny coward doctor Carlos Costa, and Eric Falk lets it all hang out as jolly sadistic guard Nestor. Buxom blonde dish Martine Stedil brings a winning naive charm to her character of wide-eyed virginal innocent Bertha Contrini. Better still, the fetching female felons are all clad solely in skimpy smocks but don't bother with wearing any underwear. Franco appears as Maria's pervy incestuous pop in a hysterical flashback sequence that's done in hilariously unconvincing faked slow motion. Franco's competent cinematography makes cool frequent use of zippy zoom-ins. The swinging jazz score by Daniel White and Walter Baumgartner hits the right-on groovy spot. A solid scuzzfest.

By their very nature, Women In Prison films are often pretty damn sleazy, but this one takes the cake. Directed by the inimitable Jesus Franco, it wallows in filth and degradation and nudity for a suitably grimy 81 minutes. As it plays out, there are numerous closeups of the female anatomy. There's shock therapy, masturbation, and sexual fetishes in this salacious story. Surprisingly, it's actually kind of slick looking for this sort of thing, enabling its eager viewers to view all of the action in great detail.Francos' longtime leading lady Lina Romay stars as Maria de Guerra, the fresh fish at a womens' prison. She was convicted of murdering her father (played by Franco himself in a flashback), who'd attempted to rape her. Forming a subplot is the fact that one of the lady convicts has authored a scathing note telling about the atrocities visited upon her and her cellmates. The people in charge decide to punish everybody when the guilty party won't step forward.Lovers of cinematic trash are likely to be pretty satisfied with what they see. There's not a particularly strong story here, but who is going to care? Franco serves up the exploitation and the sex with fervour. Also helping matters is the relatively brief running time. The performances are fun - Romay is appealing as usual, Paul Muller is good as the guilt ridden doctor Carlos Costa, and Martine Stedil shows conviction as the passionate Bertha Contrini. But the lady who dominates the proceedings is Monica Swinn as the Wardress; she's a hoot as a monocle and short-shorts wearing sadist.Pleasingly putrid entertainment up to and including the ending.Seven out of 10.

I thought that Barbed Wire Dolls was a good film The story is about a girl called Maria da Guerra who is sentenced to prison for life, after killing her father who had tried to rape her. On her arrival at the prison she is taken to a special section for mentally disturbed prisoners, where torture, rape and violence is a part of everyday life. One day the regional governor of the prison arrives, claiming that received a letter from one of the prisoners, describing the horrible events going on in the prison. Also Carlos Costa, who is a male nurse who is pretending to be the prison doctor. He falls in love with Maria who kills him with a pair of scissors. I thought that this was a very violent film, with some pretty strong senses of sex and nudity, that may be too much for some viewers.