1981 | Spain | 102 min

From the bottomless pit of Jess Franco films comes this brutal, downbeat, fantasy of a women in prison flick. A couple of newlyweds are kidnapped and the beautiful bride (Ursula Fellner, naturally a Playboy Playmate) imprisoned. On the inside the uniform is one pair of ultra cut-down jeans and a straw hat (if you’re lucky). As the inmates spend their days shovelling dirt they’re organised into favourites for the prison Governor and local slave trader (played by Franco whose character is at one stage vigorously sodomised). Meanwhile, the husband plans the jailbreak. Originally intended as a straight ILSA/GRETA/WANDA rip-off, SADOMANIA ended up being one of the first films Franco made upon returning to his native Spain after years spent in exile away from his namesake’s regime. By 1980 he was allowed to explain to government officials why he was filming 50 topless women in a field without a permit and get away with it. Franco also provides some of the music which often just sounds like Les Baxter approximations thrown in with ethnic Spanish library material but does manage some strange noise at several points.

Friday July 16th 7pm | Gertrudes