| Chained Heat | |
|---|---|
Chained Heat poster |
|
| Directed by | Paul Nicholas (writer/director) |
| Produced by | Billy Fine Monica Teuber |
| Written by | Aaron Butler, as Vincent Mongol Paul Nicholas (writer/director) |
| Starring | Linda Blair John Vernon Sybil Danning Tamara Dobson |
| Music by | Joseph Conlan |
| Cinematography | Mac Ahlberg |
| Editing by | Nino di Marco |
| Distributed by | Jensen Farley Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 27, 1983 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | United States West Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $950,000 |
| Box office | $6,149,983 |
Chained Heat (alternate title: Das Frauenlager in West Germany) is a 1983 exploitation film in the women-in-prison genre. It was co-written and directed by Paul Nicholas for Jensen Farley Pictures.[1]
Contents |
Linda Blair of The Exorcist stars as Carol Henderson, an immature and naive teenager who is sentenced to 18 months in a women's prison after killing a man by accident. Once she arrives, she meets the vicious and perverted Warden Backman (John Vernon). She also encounters the two kingpin prisoners, Ericka (Sybil Danning) and Duchess (Tamara Dobson), who are the leaders of factions in the facility's seething racial tensions. There are also the drug-dealing lesbian rapists and the prostitutes, who answer to the warden's assistant, Captain Taylor (Stella Stevens). In the meantime, Taylor's lover is clandestinely having an affair with Ericka. It's a whirlwind of dread and fury, but when the facility's corrupt administration goes too far, racial considerations are put aside as convicts of all colors and nationalities band together to fight them.[2]
Chained Heat opened on May 27, 1983 in 404 theaters nationwide and made $2,252,682 in its opening weekend. The film was in theaters for two and a half weeks all together, its widest release being in 217 theaters. As of 2009 the film's domestic gross is $6,149,983.[3] During its release the film came under fire heavily from critics for its sexism and from lesbian rights activists for negative and stereotypical portrayals of Lesbians as being violent and predatory. Chained Heat 's current rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 20% positive reviews.[4]Chained Heat was produced for $950,000.
Sybil Danning won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in the film, while Linda Blair was nominated for Worst Actress.
Chained Heat (as a shorter edited version) has been available in a DVD box set with Red Heat and Jungle Warriors released in December, 2008.
In 1993 the film, Chained Heat II, starring Brigitte Nielsen, Paul Koslo, Kimberley Kates and Kari Whitman. The film was directed by Lloyd Simandl and released in Canada.[5] This was followed by the 1998 release of Chained Heat 3: Hell Mountain. The film starred Nicole Nieth, Kate Rodgers, and Bentley Mitchum and was directed by Mike Rhol from a screenplay by Chris Hyde.[6]
Both sequels bear little to no relation to the first film.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Linda Blair | Carol |
| John Vernon | Wardan Backman |
| Sybil Danning | Ericka |
| Tamara Dobson | Dutchess |
| Stella Stevens | Capt. Taylor |
| Sharon Hughes | Val |
| Henry Silva | Lester |
| Edy Williams | Paula |
| Nita Talbot | Kaufman |
| Louisa Mortiz | Bubbles |
| Michael Callan | Martin |
| Greta Blackburn | Lulu |