Caged Heat (alternate title:
Renegade Girls) is a
1974The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in USA*May 1 - George Lucas creates the first draft of what would eventually become Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope....
exploitation filmExploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. Thus, films need something to "exploit", such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
in the women-in-prison genre. It was written and directed by
Jonathan DemmeRobert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter.-Personal life:Demme was born in Baldwin, New York, the son of Dorothy Demme and a public relations executive father. Demme has three children: Ramona, Brooklyn, Josephine. He is a graduate of the University of Florida. He...
for
Roger CormanRoger William Corman , sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his output of B-movies , is an American producer and director of low-budget movies, some of which have an established critical reputation: his cycle of films derived from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe for example...
's New World Pictures. The film stars
Erica GavinErica Gavin, , is an American film actress best known for playing the title role in Russ Meyer's 1968 film Vixen!-Early years:...
,
Roberta CollinsRoberta Collins was a film and television actress who was known for her attractive physique, blonde, curly hair, and Marilyn Monroe appearance...
, Juanita Brown,
Rainbeaux SmithCheryl Lynn "Rainbeaux" Smith was an American actress. She was known for her role in the exploitation film Caged Heat....
,
Desireé CousteauDesireé Cousteau is a former pornographic actress of the 1970s and 1980s. She is best known for her roles in the 1978 film Pretty Peaches and 1979's Inside Desireé Cousteau.-Career:...
and
Barbara SteeleBarbara Steele is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday , now hailed as a minor classic. Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr...
. Also introduced to the big screen in this film was the well-known character actress Adele Stasilli-Fernandez.
John CaleJohn Davies Cale is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
wrote and performed the film's
soundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized...
, which prominently features the guitar playing of
Mike BloomfieldMichael Bernard Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation entirely on his instrumental prowess...
.
Two sequels,
Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (
1994The year 1994 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :*This was the Highest Grossing film of 1994 Worldwidesource: - Awards :Academy Awards:* Andre...
) and
Caged Heat 3000 (
1995The year 1995 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg....
), borrow the
Caged Heat name and women-in-prison setting, but are otherwise unrelated movies.
The film centers on Gavin's character, Jacqueline Wilson, who is sentenced to a women's
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
on drug-related charges.
Caged Heat (alternate title:
Renegade Girls) is a
1974The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in USA*May 1 - George Lucas creates the first draft of what would eventually become Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope....
exploitation filmExploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. Thus, films need something to "exploit", such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
in the women-in-prison genre. It was written and directed by
Jonathan DemmeRobert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter.-Personal life:Demme was born in Baldwin, New York, the son of Dorothy Demme and a public relations executive father. Demme has three children: Ramona, Brooklyn, Josephine. He is a graduate of the University of Florida. He...
for
Roger CormanRoger William Corman , sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his output of B-movies , is an American producer and director of low-budget movies, some of which have an established critical reputation: his cycle of films derived from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe for example...
's New World Pictures. The film stars
Erica GavinErica Gavin, , is an American film actress best known for playing the title role in Russ Meyer's 1968 film Vixen!-Early years:...
,
Roberta CollinsRoberta Collins was a film and television actress who was known for her attractive physique, blonde, curly hair, and Marilyn Monroe appearance...
, Juanita Brown,
Rainbeaux SmithCheryl Lynn "Rainbeaux" Smith was an American actress. She was known for her role in the exploitation film Caged Heat....
,
Desireé CousteauDesireé Cousteau is a former pornographic actress of the 1970s and 1980s. She is best known for her roles in the 1978 film Pretty Peaches and 1979's Inside Desireé Cousteau.-Career:...
and
Barbara SteeleBarbara Steele is an English film actress. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday , now hailed as a minor classic. Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr...
. Also introduced to the big screen in this film was the well-known character actress Adele Stasilli-Fernandez.
John CaleJohn Davies Cale is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
wrote and performed the film's
soundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronized...
, which prominently features the guitar playing of
Mike BloomfieldMichael Bernard Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation entirely on his instrumental prowess...
.
Two sequels,
Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (
1994The year 1994 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :*This was the Highest Grossing film of 1994 Worldwidesource: - Awards :Academy Awards:* Andre...
) and
Caged Heat 3000 (
1995The year 1995 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg....
), borrow the
Caged Heat name and women-in-prison setting, but are otherwise unrelated movies.
Premise
The film centers on Gavin's character, Jacqueline Wilson, who is sentenced to a women's
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
on drug-related charges. She bonds with a group of her fellow prisoners and fights the repressive tactics of the warden, played by Steele.
Critique
Caged Heat is Demme's directorial debut. Producer
Roger CormanRoger William Corman , sometimes nicknamed "King of the Bs" for his output of B-movies , is an American producer and director of low-budget movies, some of which have an established critical reputation: his cycle of films derived from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe for example...
, feeling uncomfortable with the content of his company's previous "women in prison" films, asked Demme to come up with a script that brought something new to the genre, while still providing the violence and nudity that audiences would require. New elements included a satirical approach, and the casting of the sadistic warden as a female. Demme also incorporated elements of liberal politics,
feminismThe term Feminism can be used to describe an academic discourse, or to describe a political, cultural or economic movement aimed at establishing more rights and legal protection for women...
, and
social consciousnessSocial consciousness is consciousness shared within a society. It can also be defined as social awareness; to be aware of the problems that different societies and communities face on a day-to-day basis; to be conscious of the difficulties and hardships of society.- Debate :There is debate as to...
. Because of this, and because of its place in Demme's filmography, some critics consider
Caged Heat to be more interesting than run-of-the-mill women-in-prison movies.
External links
- Bliss, Michael, and Banks, Christina: What Goes Around Comes Around: The Films of Jonathan Demme (1996): ISBN 0-8093-1984-5