Jailhouse Wardress – MVD Classics (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1981
Directors: Alain Deruelle, Jesús Franco, Patrice Rhomm, Alain Payet
Writer: Alain Deruelle
Cast: Didier Aubriot, Eugénie Laborde, Michael Bates, Monica Swinn

Release Date: December 12th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 84 Minutes 1 Second
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono English, LPCM Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $19.95

"One of the most notorious "women in prison" epics, this Jess Franco production stars Lina Romay (Female Vampire) as Maria da Guerra, who's sentenced to life after killing her father, who had attempted to assault her. While behind bars, Maria encounters a sadistic female warden and hatches an escape plan involving the seduction of a male nurse." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 2.5/5

Jailhouse Wardress comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 20.9 GB

Feature: 20.5 GB

No information is provided about the source used for this transfer. This transfer most definitely comes from a dated source; there is mild print debris that crops up throughout, colors fluctuate throughout, black levels are never convincing, and image clarity fares well. Also, this does not appear to be an open matte presentation; there are many times where the framing looks too tight.

Audio: 3/5 (LPCM Mono English, LPCM Mono French)

This release comes with two audio options, an LPCM mono mix in English and an LPCM mono mix in French. Both audio tracks are in good shape; any imperfections are minor. Dialog comes through clearly, and range-wise, these tracks are satisfactory. Included are removable English subtitles for the French-language track. 

Extras:

Extras for this release are trailers for Jailhouse Wardress (51 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Convoy of Women, Nathalie: Escape from Hell, Golden Temple Amazons, and Hudson River Massacre.

Summary:

Throughout his career, Jess Franco was known to repurpose footage from other films and make a new film with said repurposed footage. And though this is exactly what happened with Jailhouse Wardress, it repurposes footage from three films: Elsa Fraulein SS, Last Train for Hitler, and Barbed Wire Dolls. And in the case of the latter, most of the repurposed footage comes from Jailhouse Wardress, which is most likely why Jailhouse Wardress is the reason for the Jess Frsanco connection. Also, besides repurposing footage, dialog was newly created to fit the newly created narrative that ties these three films with the newly shot footage.

Trying not to negatively judge a film like Jailhouse Wardress is not an easy task. Its melting pot narrative is incoherent despite the changes made in the newly created dialog, and the edits between the various footage that is used are very noticeable and, at times, jarring. Also, trying to judge performances when most of the cast members who appear were performing in a different film would be futile. That said, everything about Jailhouse Wardress does not work; it is a crudely put-together film that was clearly made to capitalize on Nazi propaganda films.

Jailhouse Wardress gets a mediocre audio/video presentation from MVD Classics.

Written by Michael Den Boer