AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

DVD_Connoisseur First things first, I quite enjoyed "Sadomania". Despite its low budget, the film is visually impressive with some atmospheric cinematography by Juan Soler.In terms of plot, it comes as no surprise to learn that the script was adapted from an unused "Ilsa" screenplay. There are many similarities between the "Ilsa" films and "Sadomania". Here, transsexual Ajita Wilson plays Magda Urtado, the wicked warden of "a prison from hell". Well, a prison that contains nubile young women who all look like escapees from Hefner's Playboy Mansion. This is a cue for all sorts of softcore goings-on.The film's tiny budget is obvious - some of the guards' weapons look like they've been sourced from the bargain bin of "Toys R Us" and the crocodile special effects are somewhat rubbery. On top of this, the prison governor's car is somewhat shabby for a man in his position. However, the film overcomes these trivial obstacles and proves entertaining, even if some of the humour is unintentional."Sadomania" even has an appearance by Franco himself as a homosexual brothel owner. As Franco was not keen on contact with a fellow man, Ajita Wilson was asked to play his lover, without wig and disguised by a moustache.7 out of 10. Not half as seedy as you'd imagine it to be. It could do better in the exploitation department but the cinematography really is rather good.

Witchfinder General 666 I am a fan of Jess Franco's bizarre style, and a lover even of his trashier films, and my personal opinion is that he has, besides several very entertaining movies, also created a few masterpieces, such as the brilliant "Paroxismus" aka "Venus In Furs" of 1969, for example. It is, however, an undeniable fact that the 180+ movies this highly prolific filmmaker has directed in his career, also include a bunch of big time stinkers. "Sadomania" of 1981 certainly is one of these stinkers, just an utterly bad and plot less movie with the ability to bore the hell out of you in spite of constant sleaze and nudity.Sure, the constant nudity will keep you entertained for 20 minutes, but since it keeps going on and on like that one is pretty likely to get bored after a short time. The only thing that really kept me watching this was the intensity of the sleaze which is, generously spoken, slightly amusing.After couple of newlyweds get lost in the desert on some island, they are stopped by a bunch of topless women carrying guns, wardens of a local prison camp. While the husband is banished from the island, the wife is taken to the prison camp, a place of torture and sexual humiliation, reigned by the sadistic nymphomaniac Magda and an extremely perverted governor. The prisoners are, of course, entirely hot chicks, most of them blondes, the wardens are entirely topless women carrying rifles.The plot, if one can call it that, is extremely stupid of course, but who is going to watch this for a good plot anyway. The (only) interesting thing about "Sadomania" is the high level of exploitation, even for a 'Women In Prison' film. There are probably two short scenes in the movie where we see a woman actually wearing a top, the sleaze contains all kinds of sexual perversions from rape to bestiality, and some of the torture scenes are really nasty.It is amazing that a film with this extreme level of sleaze, however, can still be so boring. The sleaze will keep you watching in the beginning, but after the first 45 minutes I actually had a hard time not to fall asleep. It also makes me wonder why, out of all pornstars, Jess Franco chose Ajita Wilson, who was, according to most sources, a transsexual who had been born a man (well, maybe for exactly that reason). If you really want to watch this, make sure you have enough beer at home to sit through it and watch it for the sleaze and exploitation only (and maybe for the slight unintentional fun factor). Don't expect to be highly entertained, however, it is almost unbelievable how a movie with such a high sleaze level can be so boring. I am a Jess Franco fan and I always will be, but "Sadomania" is just bad. 2/10

slayrrr666 "Sadomania" is one of the sleaziest films Franco ever did.**SPOILERS**Enjoying a day in the sun, young couple Olga, (Uta Koepke) and Michael, (Angel Caballero) take a wrong turn on a road and are immediately captured and sent to a nearby prison, lead by the evil warden Magda Urtado, (Ajita Wilson) and her staff. Michael is set free, while Olga is detained and charged with trespassing. Thrown in with the other inmates, all women, she is forced to work in the local fields while Magda occasionally comes in and takes one away, including selling Conito, (Andrea Cuzon) to Governor Mendoza, (Antonio Mayans) and his wife, Loba Mendoza (Gina Janssen) as a sex toy. After hearing that the other inmates at the prison where also sold into slavery or prostitution rings from the prison, Michael leads a small force to take over the prison and release the inmates trapped inside.The News: This is perhaps one of the sleaziest and greatest entries in the Women-in-Prison genre. This film simply rests on its sleazy laurels. The intent is perfectly clear with the flesh count being ridiculously high, hot-pants being the sole contribution from the wardrobe department and lesbianism coming into play whenever a scene runs out of ideas. All you need do is notice how any camera move goes out of its way to ogle a quick behind or pair of breasts before coming to the realization that this is film with only one thing on its mind. In this respect, then, it's a film which does exactly what you'd expect of it, and therefore could be described as a perfect example of this kind of film. It also gives the Women-in-Prison audience all the naked flesh, lesbianism and sadism it could ever want and then some. This is brought out with some off the best punishment ever shown in this type of situation. It ranges from being locked in a cage like a wild animal to being hunted down in the swamp to the death and being sold into slavery and prostitution rings. The swampland scenes are its best ones, as there's quite an amusing feel to see armed guards traipsing through the swamp gunning down nude inmates, finally being subjected to the Warden's grin of approval as a lone crocodile chomps down on the inmate's lifeless body. The slavery and prostitution subplots offer up even more sleaze and torture, and offer some really bizarre scenes. Since the Governor has become impotent, his wife, who will stop at nothing to help her husband through it, allows for some really sleazy help. This includes getting it on with the prisoners herself, allowing him to get it on with the prisoners and ultimately allowing their German Shepard to get it on with one of the prisoners, which is quite disturbing in thought but really quite funny in execution. There really isn't much to it that will keep from bursting out in laughter, but it's still a cruel thought. The film also has moments of genuine artistry, such as the impressionistic imagery as Mendoza silently enters the room to take over from his wife in servicing Olga. There is an incredibly strong sense of feminism in the film for the way in which the male characters are weak and ineffectual, their female superiors strong and capable. This is quite evident in the fact that all the male attempts to rescue the women fail and must resort to the women to get them out of trouble. Franco's direction continues to be plagued with relentless zooming and panning shots, but overall is more coherent than a lot of his work. The message of this film seems to be that of what hides under our civilized surface and what kind of animals we are deep inside. Plenty of segments without dialog and some symbolic scenes, like the knife-fight-to-the-death scene, which show and depict the wild beast psyche that hides inside every human being, but in many cases un-active, are brought loud and clear to the forefront. Another example is the sadists in the film are totally insatiable and hungry for sex, which is perhaps the strongest instinct in human nature and psyche. It shows us the faces of human nature we wouldn't necessarily want to face, but as we think about the state of the world and what kind of things take place, the thoughts are more than true and serious. There is also a couple of problems in the film. With tons of gorgeous naked blonde women on display throughout, all of the girls look alike, and there are so many of them it's hard to keep track of who's who and where they are. Worse still, the camera work in here is a distracting mess Franco shoots one love scene mostly out of focus, and another with an emphasis, or an obliviousness, to a giant zit on the woman's torso that is frighteningly unerotic. Perhaps most representative of the style is a long shot of a car driving off as seen from behind some trees. Instead of shooting through the branches, the shot is directly into the branches, thus obscuring the view of the car altogether. There is also a really distracting sequence where a toy pistol is standing in for the real thing in one key scene. Rather than attempt to hide this, it is shot in tight close-up, where it even can be seen expelling a few drops of water when "fired." All these elements, though, don't distract from a severely twisted and exceptional sleaze epic.The Final Verdict: A sleaze classic from Franco, this is required viewing for those interested in seeing a master work his trade or those who are into the scene. It's got it all for everyone and indulges in everything possible.Rated UN/NC-17: Nudity, several long, graphic sex scenes, bestiality, Rape, Graphic Violence and Language

Bogey Man Sadomania is the infamous Women in Prison flick by the king of ultra low budget exploitation films, Jesus Franco, Spain. He has made many immortal films like Love Letter of the Portuguese Nun (nunsploitation, 1977) and Bloody Moon (ultra-gore, 1981), and even though some of his films are worse and not-so-ambitious, he definitely has a talent and is noteworthy film maker. His greatest masterpiece of the films I've managed to see is Awful Dr. Orlof (1962), the black and white horror classic with Howard Vernon. Sadomania is among his dirtiest films and not without a reason.The ridiculous plot has a newly wed young couple, who is kidnapped during their journey as they drive their wedding car somewhere in Spain. They are taken to the nearby women prison, led by sadistic lesbian warden (the late Ajita Wilson) and some sleazy governor and his wife, and despite the fact that the prison girls/women work hard there, their real reason to be there is to satisfy these leaders' bottomless sexual desires and perversions. Poor women are raped and abused, in the guaranteed Franco style, but it all ends happily for the protagonists and evil and horny sadists meet their fate, again Franco style.This film is okay if one happens to like these kind of "guilty pleasures" with huge amount of nudity and love making. The sleaze-o-meter is taken as high as possibly when considered the fact that the head warden Wilson was originally born man, but changed his sex to female, and the close ups of this attractive black lady show that her hands and some parts of the body are definitely male and thus her attractiveness tones down a bit (for hetero sexual man), but still, she is very sensual here, albeit her role character is more than repulsive. The other actors are more or less amateurs, but also talented ones. Beautiful females get naked a lot, and that's the thing Franco has always been able to do. Perhaps every frame of the film "once it gets going" involves at least one naked human being, usually female.The "message" of this film seems to be that of what hides under our "civilized" surface and what kind of animals we are deep inside. Franco uses plenty of segments without a dialogue and some symbolic scenes (like the knife-fight-to-the-death scene), which show and depict the wild beast psyche what hides inside every human being, but in many cases un-active. Another thing is, that the sadists in the film are totally insatiable and hungry for sex, which is perhaps the strongest instinct in human nature and psyche. Sadomania shows us the faces of human nature we wouldn't necessarily want to face, but as we think about the state of the world and what kind of things take place, Franco's thoughts are more than true and serious. The fact that this film is mostly exploitation oriented doesn't mean that the film couldn't have any artistic merits, and Franco definitely wants most of his films to be more than mere exploitation.Sadomania is noteworthy piece of Franco cinema, and shot with his usual zooms and beautiful images of nature, stained only by the presence of the film's ugly and evil protagonists. Sadomania has also some interesting elements in its soundtrack, which is supposedly composed by the director himself. I give Sadomania 7/10 rating, but that's only possible if one can watch these films and appreciate them despite their many filthy scenes and characters.