{"id":46573,"date":"2020-02-23T15:43:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T22:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=46573"},"modified":"2020-11-23T17:11:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T00:11:28","slug":"caged-heat-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=46573","title":{"rendered":"Caged Heat (1974)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re in a house of desperate women here &#8212; and a long, long way from home.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-46574\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Poster.jpg 656w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA new inmate (Erica Gavin) in a women&#8217;s prison run by a sadistic, wheelchair-bound warden (Barbara Steele)  and a perverse doctor (Warren Miller) soon joins forces with other prisoners in rebelling against their dire situation.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Barbara Steele Films<\/li>\n<li>Jonathan Demme Films<\/li>\n<li>Mad Doctors and Scientists<\/li>\n<li>Prisoners<\/li>\n<li>Rebellion<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that this &#8220;New World picture&#8221;, written and directed by Jonathan Demme, was the &#8220;best sexploitation film of [the] era, completely overcoming stringent dictates of [the] inherently misogynist women-in-prison genre.&#8221; He adds that &#8220;Demme deliberately reverses [a] formula which had sex and nudity being supplemented by action, and &#8212; with the exception of one scene &#8212; refuses to equate violence, or the threat of violence, toward women with <em>sex<\/em>, or to use female-in-peril\/agony scenes to titillate male viewers.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;much is praiseworthy&#8221; about this film, including &#8220;the strong, intelligent women&#8221; and &#8220;the authentic depiction of U.S. prisons as cruel, dehumanizing institutions where prisoners lack privacy &#8230; , where some hostile prisoners are given shock treatments or lobotomies, [and] where drugged prisoners are tricked into signing forms that allow doctors to perform hideous, permanently debilitating operations on them.&#8221; (Much of this remains all-too-true about modern-day prisons in the United States.) <\/p>\n<p>Peary adds that &#8220;Demme did away with the disproportionate use of white and black characters which typically has only one black in a lead role, and the objectionable emphasis on female breasts&#8221;, instead often &#8220;deglamoriz[ing] the women, showing them on the toilet and looking ill, or with food in their mouths, or even dressed up like baggy-pants male comics, mustache and all.&#8221; He writes that the &#8220;film has great pacing and [an] exciting escape finale&#8221;, as well as a &#8220;well chosen&#8221; cast &#8212; including Barbara &#8220;Steele, in a part Demme wrote with her in mind&#8221; performing &#8220;the strongest role of her strange career&#8221;; &#8220;beautiful and talented sexploitation vet Roberta Collins do[ing] some comedy; Gavin, whose eyes grow tougher as the film progresses, and adorable Rainbeaux Smith handl[ing] non-dialogue moments especially well; and [Juanita] Brown and Ella Reid exhibit[ing] command and confidence.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Peary elaborates upon all these ideas in his first <em>Cult Movies<\/em> book, where he notes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;While most films of the genre seem to have been created in a cinematic vacuum by directors who had never seen a movie in their lives, <em>Caged Heat<\/em> makes Demme&#8217;s cinematic roots quite evident. Several prison sequences remind one of Raoul Walsh&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=36525\"><em>White Heat<\/em> (1949)<\/a>. Demme&#8217;s use of John Cale&#8217;s fine blues score (with harmonica whining during outdoor sequences) is similar to Arthur Penn&#8217;s playing of Flatt and Scruggs&#8217;s &#8220;Foggy Mountain Breakdown&#8221; during the speeding-car sequences in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4421\"><em>Bonnie and Clyde<\/em> (1967)<\/a>. When Jackie [Gavin], Maggie [Juanita Brown], and Crazy [Lynda Gold] go to rob a bank and find another group of bankrobbers already there, we might easily flash back to the bungled bank robbery in Woody Allen&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26606\"><em>Take the Money and Run<\/em> (1969)<\/a>, when two gangs simultaneously pull out their guns. When we are presented with a close shot of a wall in the prison mess hall which has on it the writing &#8216;Don&#8217;t Throw Food&#8217; and the wall is immediately struck by flying food, [one recalls] the opening of Mark Robson&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18741\"><em>Youth Runs Wild<\/em> (1944)<\/a> with its street sign reading &#8220;Drive Slowly &#8212; We Love Our Children&#8221; immediately knocked over by a carelessly driven truck.&#8221; <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With all that said, Peary adds he &#8220;doesn&#8217;t want to give the impression that the style or content of <em>Caged Heat<\/em> is not singular to Demme&#8221;, given that overall it&#8217;s &#8220;like few other films.&#8221; I agree with Peary&#8217;s overall positive assessment. <em>Caged Heat<\/em> &#8212; while most certainly a women-in-prison exploitation film &#8212; is surprisingly intelligent, well-acted, creatively shot, and exciting. It&#8217;s held up well, and remains worth a look as a justified cult favorite. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strong direction, cinematography, and editing<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Still.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Still.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-46577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Still.png 512w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Still-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Caged-Heat-Still-128x96.png 128w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>John Cale&#8217;s score <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a cult favorite. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?page_id=1784#cult\">Cult Movie<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0071266\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1635&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/caged-heat\/review\/115641\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re in a house of desperate women here &#8212; and a long, long way from home.&#8221; Synopsis: A new inmate (Erica Gavin) in a women&#8217;s prison run by a sadistic, wheelchair-bound warden (Barbara Steele) and a perverse doctor (Warren Miller) soon joins forces with other prisoners in rebelling against their dire situation. Genres: Barbara Steele Films Jonathan Demme Films Mad Doctors and Scientists Prisoners Rebellion Strong Females Response to Peary\u2019s Review: Peary argues that this &#8220;New World picture&#8221;, written and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=46573\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46573"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46593,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46573\/revisions\/46593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}