Genres come and genres go. One genre that I find myself missing often is Women in Prison films. Definitely something that could only really exist in the 70s when people liked their movies rough. But that hasn’t stopped filmmakers of late creating their own odes to Women in Prison cinema. I’ve seen a few of them over the past several years and I have to say that most of them, while cute, just don’t make the grade because they’re exploitation films with very little exploitation. You need blood, boobs and debauchery en masse. Any of these ingredients go missing and what you have on your hands is simply a nice try. “The Halfway House” on the other hand gets it just right.
This Women in Prison flick takes place in a halfway house filled with plenty of naughty girls, a perverted handyman, a monster in the basement and a wicked nun played by Mary Woronov. Fuckin’ A, this movie has the goods! The story focuses on the mystery of several of the girls disappearing from the halfway house, as well as the face of the Earth while we’re at it. There’s a police investigation and one brave woman decides to get herself checked into the halfway house in order to get to the bottom of her sister’s disappearance, but this all takes back seat to the rampant sex and violence going on within the house’s walls. There’s plenty for fans of exploitation to sit up and shout about – spankings, lesbian action, showers, beat downs, gore, naked flesh and once again, a very mean Mary Woronov. “Halfway House” is gory, sleazy fun.
