Joshua Reviews Shout! Factory’s Jackson County Jail / Caged Heat! [Roger Corman Cult Classics DVD]

While he may be best known for his low-budget, science fiction pictures, nothing truly says Roger Corman or his New World Pictures brand quite like the prison, or in the case of both Jackson County Jail and Caged Heat, women-in-prison, film.

Paired together in a brand new addition to Shout! Factory’s long running DVD line known as Roger Corman’s Cult Classics, the two cult features have finally seen the light of day in a relatively respectable single DVD set, that while the films themselves may not be perfect, they are unlike anything you’ll ever get a chance to check out.

The real star of the set here is the cult classic, Caged Heat.   Directed by Jonathan Demme (Something Wild), the film follows Jacqueline Wilson, who is sent to a women’s prison following a conviction on drug charges.   Joining a crew of fellow inmates, the team fights against the warden, played by Barbara Steele, and her guards.

In the wake of a film like Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch, Caged Heat is not only a strikingly surreal debut for director Demme, but also one that appears to have quite a bit of an influence on today’s genre filmmakers.   Oozing a distinct sense of feminism and, for its time, quite the liberal ideals politically, Caged Heat is far from your standard, nudity laden women-in-prison film.

For the first time in quite a few releases from this collection, Shout! has given us a film that has quite an interesting collection of performances.   Starring Erica Gavin, the film’s cast is actually quite superb.   Gavin gives a really great performance here as Jacqueline, but the real star is the warden, played by the aforementioned Steele.   She’s sadistic, sure, but there is a glimmer behind her eyes that gives off this weirdly entrancing or seductive atmosphere.   Inherently, the idea of having the gender of the warden reversed (most in these style of films are male) is interesting, but with such a stylized performance given to it, it really holds quite an interesting bit of intellectual and narrative weight. Warren Miller is the film’s only real shot of testosterone, and he’s great as the truly evil doctor, and the trio of Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith and Juanita Brown all give campy, but really entertaining performances.

This does cause a few issues tonally, and when compared to the copious amounts of nudity that this film seems to revel in, the film does have some issues dealing with exactly what it wants to say. Demme does his best to give the film a sense of reality to combat the otherwise campy nature of the film, but from the visual style, to the sound design, the film is very much rooted in something far more surreal. Tak Fujimoto’s work as cinematographer definitely adds to this feeling, but it’s truly his photography that makes this film look unlike anything else that you’ll be able to see within this Corman collection.

Supplement-wise, this is definitely a worthwhile purchase.   Demme has a commentary, and is joined by Gavin and Fujimoto, who all give a really insightful commentary on the film and the world revolving around it.   Leonard Maltin also has an interview on this portion of the disc with Corman, as well as a stills gallery, trailer and New Worlds trailer gallery.   Both the Maltin interview and trailer gallery are available with Jackson County Jail’s portion as well.

Speaking of the Michael Miller directed Jackson County Jail, it may be an interesting little film, but it’s definitely the second fiddle here to Caged Heat, quality and intrigue wise.

The film follows Dinah Hunter, who after heading out on a cross-country trip, is assaulted by hitchhikers, and ultimately placed into a jailhouse on vangrancy charges.   Teaming with fellow inmate Coley Blake (played by a young Tommy Lee Jones), the two try to escape from the clutches of crooked cops and evil guards.

Where as Caged Heat may be seen as a bit of a light, surreal romp through the genre, Caged Heat is truly as dark as Corman’s films can get.   The performances here are truly the shining light, particularly that of Jones, who again, proves that he’s been a top tier talent since day one.   Yvette Mimieux is also great here, giving what may be the best performance of her rather underrated career.   While not a true-blue women in prison film, it honestly excels due to that fact, as instead of focusing on getting women naked or getting them into brutal fights, the film can focus on what is an honestly intriguing narrative, and one hell of a compelling collection of performances.

However, it doesn’t quite have the life that I think Heat does.   It may arguably be a better film performance wise and narratively, but it does lack that surreal nature that makes a film like Caged Heat so inherently singular.   Truly an interesting partner to the absurdity that is Caged Heat, Jackson County Jail is a far more dramatic film, something that is rarely the case when dealing with a Corman produced B-movie.

The film includes a commentary with Miller, producer Jeff Begun, and cinematographer Bruce Logan and the film’s trailer, along with the pair of aforementioned features.

Overall, for those of you looking for a release wholly unlike many of the ones we’ve been getting from Shout! and their Corman collection, this is just the release for you.   Featuring the absurd and surreal exploitation film Caged Heat, and the darkly real Jackson County Jail, the two show, in perfect fashion, the always apparent dichotomy that made up the varied world of Roger Corman and his New World Pictures.