Der heiße Tod (1969)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Anya Corvin (German dialogue)
Milo G. Cuccia (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

23 April 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror

Tagline:

99 WOMEN... behind bars -- without men!

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Escape | Cult Movie | W.i.p | Nudity

Cast

Maria Schell	...	Leonie Caroll
Herbert Lom	...	Governor Santos
Mercedes McCambridge	...	Thelma Diaz
Maria Rohm	...	Marie
Rosalba Neri	...	Zoe
Elisa Montés	...	Helga (as Eliza Montes)
Luciana Paluzzi	...	Natalie Mendoza
Valentina Godoy	...	Rosalie
José María Blanco	...	Doctor
Mike Brendel
Elsa Zabala
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ana Lucarella
Olívia Pineschi
Juan Antonio Riquelme
María Vico
Jesus Franco	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jesus Franco		(as Jess Franco)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Anya Corvin		German dialogue
Milo G. Cuccia		screenplay
Milo G. Cuccia		story
Carlo Fadda		screenplay
Carlo Fadda		story
Jesus Franco		screenplay (as Jess Franco)
Jesus Franco		story (as Jess Franco)
Javier Péres Grober		screenplay
Harry Alan Towers		English dialogue (as Peter Welbeck)
Ornella Zanelli		Italian dialogue

Produced by
Luis Laso	....	producer (spanish version) (as Luis L. Moreno)
Harry Alan Towers	....	producer

Original Music by
Bruno Nicolai

Cinematography by
Manuel Merino

Film Editing by
Stanley Frazen
Bruno Mattei		(Italian version)
Gabrielle Reinecke		(German version)

Art Direction by
Santiago Ontañón

Makeup Department
Adolfo Ponte	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Luis Laso	....	general manager (as Luis Lazo)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Juan Estelrich	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Elio Pacella	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Riccardo Damiani	....	assistant camera
Antonio Modica	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
María Luisa Soriano	....	editor: Spanish version

Other crew
Bruno Mattei	....	director: hardcore sequences (French version)
Loredana Pagliaro	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Cinematografica Associati (CI.AS.)
• Corona Filmproduktion
• Hesperia Films S.A.
• Towers of London

Distributors

• Commonwealth United Entertainment (1969) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Astral Films (Canada) (as "99 Women")
• Blue Underground (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• K & C Video (Australia) (video)
• MCM Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video)
• Paramount Films de España (Spain)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment  soundtrack

Also Known As:

99 Women (UK)
99 donne (Italy)
99 mujeres (Spain) (cut version)
Island of Despair (USA)
Isle of Lost Women
Prostitutes in Prison
Sex im Frauengefängnis (West Germany)
The Hot Death
Women's Penitentiary XII (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

Argentina:99 min | Australia:81 min (25 fps) (video) (cut) | Italy:90 min | Sweden:86 min (banned version) | UK:70 min | USA:86 min | West Germany:94 min | Spain:83 min

Country:

Liechtenstein | Spain | Italy | West Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-16 | Australia:MA (2007 re-rating) | Singapore:R21 | Argentina:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:18 | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company:

Cinematografica Associati (CI.AS.)

Movie Connections:

Followed by Quartier de femmes (1974)

Serious Franco fare.

Given Jess Franco's penchant for uber-strange, dream-like, over-sexed affairs, this comes off as one of his tamest and most main stream movies...as main stream as WIP flicks can be that is.

The film follows follows a familiar pattern. A group of girls are brought to an inescapable fortress/prison were they are to serve out their sentence. The lead girl (played by the lovely Maria Schell) may or may not be innocent, regardless she decides she does not wish to remain in the inhospitable place any longer than she has to and an escape attempt forms.

As would be expected, the prison is host to assorted debauchery and sadism on the part of the prison staff. Prisoners are mistreated, dehumanized, etc. Compared to most any other WIP flick out there, this one is pretty clean content wise. Some clothed cat fights, limited nudity and one harsh (though thankfully brief) rape scene are the most the film offers in terms of exploitation.

Technically speaking, I would argue that this is Franco's most accomplished film. Light, color, sound are all good; even his use of camera angles exceeds what would normally be expected of him. The acting is all around what would be expected from this sort of affair, with the notable exception of Herbert Lom, who manages to be both a creep and oddly likable. A major down point is the script, which is so cut-n-dry that it never does a whole lot of anything.

An actually good Franco movie that may be too tame for his more fetish fans, but certainly worth a look.

(Note: This review is based on the regular edition of the film and not the badly re-edited hardcore version) 7/10