Fortress (1992)

Fortress (1992) is one of those movies from my youth that I never sat through from start to finish, but feel like I absorbed through osmosis. It was always on TV, and flipping between channels, I usually caught key scenes. Much like Escape From Absolom and Wedlock, Fortress feels like the moderately budgeted children of Total Recall’s smash success as a sci-fi quasi-cyberpunk action flick, reiterating the Verhoevian mix of gratuitous violence and a hint of kinked up sexuality, enough to implant itself upon a generation of teenage boy memory banks. Like I always remember in Fortress that people’s guts explode due to the intestinal device they implant in the prisoners, or the “enhanced” warden (Kurtwood Smith) spying on the prisoner’s sex dreams.

In the dystopian future, America has a one child policy and abortion is outlawed. Ex-soldiers Christopher Lambert and Loryn Locklin are captured trying to smuggle across the Canadian border with their second child to be (their first died). Lambert is sentenced to the “Fortress”, an underground, multi-level corporately-run prison that institutes control through intestinal devices that are remotely controlled and can inflict intense pain or can be set to explode. And there are floating robot cameras that can even intrude upon the prisoner’s mind. Despite being a corporate drone cyborg, Kurtwood Smith has eyes for Lambert’s wife, to the point of offering her a deal as a live-in “companion”. It’s up to Lambert and his motley crew of cellmates to bust out, including Clifton Collins Jnr, Tom Towles and the Re-Animator himself, Jeffrey Combs, stealing scenes as a tripped-out hippie hacker nerd with glasses that make his eyes bug out. Also stars Vernon Wells from Mad Max 2 and Commando as a thug prisoner with “187” tattooed on his forehead.

Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), he demonstrates his skill with orchestrating impactful violence and dramatic stakes. The middle of the movie is actually more of a drama as Lambert is broken by being mind-wiped (in a spinning contraption), and the disparate prisoners begin to work together when the prospect of escape is possible. It does feel like a cyber update of a WW2 prison break flick and even the villain is given some shading by struggling with romantic feelings as a cyborg and also just being a cog in the bigger corporate machine (helped by the strong acting of Kurtwood Smith). Lambert is a good lead with his intense stare and Tarzanesque bouts of pain and yelling, particularly when strapping on a boxy machine gun arm and plugging away at cyborg soldiers.

A solid sci-flick from the 1990s era that incorporates some dramatic stakes before its climatic rush towards a non-stop death-count throughout the escape. Also has the distinction of being shot at Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast, and in further proof that it was filmed in Australia, there’s rumours of a cameo by notorious AFL player Warwick Capper in the supporting cast (I didn’t catch his appearance and cannot confirm). Recommended.

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972)

Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) belongs undeniably to a sleazy exploitation category, the “women in prison” sub-genre. Yet if you can stomach that grubbiness, this entry proves to be an artistic triumph because of two strong elements: (1) the theatrical and surreal style that director Shunya Ito (his debut film!) brings to it, and (2) lead actor Meiko Kaji’s electrifying, mostly silent performance in the title role – her iconic stare has the fire of a thousand suns!

Opening cold on a prison break where Nami Matsushima (Kaji) is recaptured along with her friend, thrown into solitary tied up. We flashback, with revolving stages and lighting changes like a theatrical production, to the origins of her incarceration. In love with a crooked detective Sugumi (Isao Natsuyagi), Matsushima is used for an undercover sting, abused by gangsters, and eventually thrown away when the detective takes payment from the mob boss he is extorting. Arrested after attempting to stab Sugumi, Matsu’s revenge burns deeply and fuels her indomitable repose as she is crossed and cornered by monstrous prisoner officers and a sinister female gang (a member of which is eventually hired by Sugumi to assassinate Matsu). There’s a clear point where the director drops the already heightened prison “realism” for bold surrealism, while taking aesthetic power from simply following Meiko Kaji’s glowering look with the camera and a spotlight.

Through its 90 minute run time, Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion drops one dynamic, strange, memorable sequence after another, and Kaji’s character, Matsu, becomes the type of stalwart avenger withstanding pain and suffering to eventually turn the tables, all of which that is just completely satisfying and superheroic (complete with Matsu’s fashionable prison hair and post-prison costuming with black hat and cloak). An obvious inspiration for Kill Bill and a clear Tarantino reference point, the film is a premiere example of “diamonds in the rough” of a disreputable genre flick. Remastered Arrow Video version is available to stream on Tubi in Australia, along with other chapters of the on-going Female Prisoner #701 series. Recommended for those who can handle it.

In Hell (2003)

If you liked Shawshank Redemption but wanted more bare knuckled fights with Russian dudes who look like Thanos, then welcome to the direct-to-DVD Jean-Claude Van Damme film, In Hell (2003), the last of his three movies with Hong Kong director Ringo Lam. This is more of a brutal drama than an action movie, set in a Russian prison where Van Damme has been sentenced for a murder conviction; an engineer working in Russia, Van Damme took revenge on the mobbed up creep who murdered his wife, shooting him down in the courtroom after he was acquitted due to a corrupt system. I wondered how many JCVD fans would’ve lasted the first hour of In Hell where our hero is continually pummelled and thrown into the hole again and again, to the point where he tries to end it all, but is stopped by a CGI moth that is implied to be the reincarnated spirit of his dead wife – truly a scene for the ages. Such a moment is a perfect encapsulation of the movie’s tone, a strange blend of the ultra grim and the bizarrely goofy. This is also carried over in the soundtrack, which takes sudden shifts between classical operatic arias to European techno, all of which is thumping very low in the sound mix. Out in the prison courtyard is a sand pit where the warring Russian mob tribes settle their scores in bare knuckled fights that are sanctioned by the warden for he and his cronies to bet on. In time, Van Damme becomes a skilled fighter and a surprise contender once he gives into the rage within. This is another underrated performance from JCVD, shifting from wild despair to a hardened thug to a symbol of rebellion, all the while dealing with a run of wacky wigs and facial hair styles. Former NFL player Lawrence Taylor is great as Van Damme’s cell mate who also narrates the movie, eschewing Stephen King’s flowery words for blunt insights like, “It’s all bullshit.” Ringo Lam is revisiting terrain he charted in the HK drama Prison On Fire and stuffs in as many prison movie cliches possible, while delivering a parable about holding onto your soul in utter hopelessness. In Hell is both brutal and silly, Van Damme stretching himself once more in his role as the overall film complicates the usual action vehicle you might expect. Recommended.