This is the groundbreaking "women behind bars" actioner that became a drive-in classic! When the desperate, abused inmates of an all-female prison rebel against the sadistic warden and his guards, all heck breaks loose! Pam Grier (who also sings the theme song), Judith M. Brown, Roberta Collins, Brooke Mills, Pat Woodell, Christiane Schmidtmer, and Sid Haig star.

One of the greatest Roger Corman classics, this mid-70s action flick featured a young David Carradine, a young Sylvester Stallone, the beautiful Mary Woronov, Roberta Collins, Louisa Moritz and Simone Griffeth, and was directed by the brilliant Paul Bartel. Considered futuristic and racy for it's time, the storyline is still great and was made fresh again in the 2008 action film Death Race, widely considered by many to be a remake.

Academy Award winners don't always start out directing Academy Award-winning films. Take Jonathan Demme, for instance. Sure, he's directed such great movies as Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia and Rachel Getting Married, but he got his start working with the great Roger Corman, directing classics like Caged Heat, Crazy Mama and Fighting Mad. In this one, he puts Erica Gavin, Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, Juanita Brown, Ella Reid, Crystin Sinclaire and Roberta Collins in a women's prison, with all the requisite showers, torture and lesbionic overtones that you get with every other Women-In-Prison movie. A true gem.

I have read some reviews that don't favor this Women-in-Prison classic as highly as others, but for me, Women in Cages is the epitome of the genre. Innocent women sent off to prison. Lesbians. Shower scenes. Torture. Failed escapes. This movie has it all in spades, plus one of the best casts of the genre that includes Pam Grier, Roberta Collins, Judith M. Brown, Sofia Moran and the clueless Jennifer Gan (who does a remarkable job of keeping herself covered up). This is an absolute must-have and should be considered part of the Holy Trinity of Corman-produced WIP flicks, along with The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage.