Color, 1968, 89m.
Directed by Jess Franco
Starring Maria Schell, Luciana Paluzzi, Mercedes McCambridge, Herbert Lom, Maria Rohm, Rosalba Neri
Blue Underground (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC), Mediumrare (DVD) (UK R2 PAL) / WS (1.66:1) (16:9)
Though women-in-prison movies certainly existed before this one (see I Want to Live!), this exploitation classic from the unbeatable team of Jess Franco and Harry Alan Towers is really the first modern "babes behind bars" titles and established the template which many copied during the 1970s. From Roger Corman favorites like Caged Heat and The Big Doll House to Linda Blair '80s favorites to many future Franco titles like Barbed Wire Dolls, everything traces back to this one. 
problem with abusing the girls for his own amusement. However, trouble arrives in the form of administrator Lenoie (Schell), a do-gooder who shakes things up for the female commandant and her conspirator; meanwhile, after the girls share each other's sob stories that led to their incarceration, an escape plan begins to hatch. 
this was regarded as a few cuts above its ilk thanks to competent lensing and the fact that female criminals being punished was a bit more acceptable than sisters of the cloth or concentration camp inmates. Of course, compared to subsequent entries the ordeals here are fairly minor - heck, Rohm never even smudges her lipstick - but the drama is still engaging thanks to some committed performances, particularly from the expressive Schell. That theme song is awfully catchy, too, for better or worse. 
additional minutes of hardcore solo female inserts is available separately and worth a look if you're a die hard completist, but it's pretty rocky viewing). The picture quality is quite a substantial improvement over prior versions, which were usually drenched in an ugly shade of brown and all but incomprehensible during darker scenes. Though only one flashback sequence reminiscent of the nightclub acts in Succubus really shows off the visual flair of which Franco is capable, the film is still one of the director's slicker achievements. The earthy color scheme achieves an appropriately despairing ambience, and the moody cell lighting works just fine. Interestingly, this film also marked Franco's first collaboration with Swiss producer Erwin C. Dietrich, who oversaw some of the director's more noteworthy '70s titles like Doriana Gray and Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun. (In fact, the jungle-heavy third act of 99 Women feels like a dry run for Franco and Dietrich's Women in Cellblock 9). Franco appears for another solid video interview, the 19-minute "Jess' Women," in which he fondly recalls working with all of the notable actresses (including Thunderball's Paluzzi in a surprisingly minor role). Also included are three deleted scenes: an alternate longer version of Marie's flashback sequence, a softer alternate cut of the backstory for Zoie (played by future Eurocult starlet Rosalba Neri), and the alternate, longer Spanish ending (which looks oddly 
squished). Also included are a DVD-Rom Franco bio and comments by Tim Lucas, poster and still galleries, and a fun theatrical trailer: "First, The Fox! Then, Therese and Isabelle! And now, 99 Women! - without men! Forced to perform degrading acts which strip them of all humanity!... Whisper to your friends that you saw it!")
