This Month

The eleventh feature film from American exploitation maverick Ted V. Mikels (The Astro-Zombies [1968], The Corpse Grinders [1971], Blood Orgy of the She-Devils [1972]) was his first to receive an R rating, for violence and profanity. Mikels made the grimy crime comedy-drama for only $145,000, having saved money by shooting on existing locations (among them a disused Los Angeles prison) and by having composer Nicholas Carras reuse existing music cues. The committed polygamist, whose headquarters was a Glendale, California castle, also cut corners by casting his "Castle wives" as eight of the 10 Violent Women (1982). Adapting a women-in-prison script by James Gordon White, Mikels bookended the story with a jewelry heist and a prison escape to lend the film as close to a classic three act structure as any of his projects could claim. Highlights include the heroines' rough treatment of a slimy jewel fence played by Mikels himself, whom the women thrash over a deal gone wrong - Mikels would later rework the setpiece for Female Slaves' Revenge (1998), in which he again played a heavy laid low by the fairer sex. Though Mikels and his investors were ripped off by unscrupulous distributors and never saw a dime in profit, 10 Violent Women "stands out as one of the most eccentric of the female rough-trade films" (Bill Landis, Sleazoid Express) and remains quintessential exploitation cinema at its most eager to rile.

By Richard Harland Smith