Prison: Behind the BarsFirst comes trial, then comes guilty, then comes sentencing to years locked away with people even more dangerous than you are. Join us on a whirlwind tour of prison!
Updated January 16, 2021 846 votes 619 voters 249.6k views
Voting Rules
Vote for your personal favorite women in prison films, regardless of how popular or successful they were at the box office.
Women in prison films or WiP movies are an explotation genre that has been around since the beginning of film as medium. These are the top films that take place primarily in a women's prison. The genre may not be as large as other, but there are still plenty of great movies about women and girls going to jail. While the setting and the characters may be different than typical movies that take place in prison, female prison movies still share many of the same motifs and themes of the genre in general.
What's better, Escape from Hell or Women in Cellblock 9? The films on this list cover the most famous female prison movies. If we missed any movies that feature women how are incarcerated on this list, please add them to the list yourself.
Whether you're at home and want to watch these women in prison movies on DVD, streaming Blu-ray or streaming, or if you're seeing them in theaters for the first time, this is a list of good women in prison movies that can be helpful in either situation to see where they all stack up. So from the latest, to the greatest women in prison movies, here is the full women in prison movies list, ordered from best to worst.
The Big Bird Cage is a 1972 exploitation film of the "women in prison" subgenre. It serves as a non-sequel follow-up to the 1971 film The Big Doll House. The film was written and directed by Jack Hill, and stars Pam Grier, Sid Haig, Anitra Ford, and Carol Speed.
An American woman (Pam Grier) is convicted of murder in the Philippines and sentenced to a grim women’s prison in the jungle, where she and the other prisoners rise up against an abusive and sadistic warden.
Actors: Pam Grier, Sid Haig, Christiane Schmidtmer, Jack Davis, Roberta Collins
Reform School Girls is a 1986 American film, written and directed by Tom DeSimone. It stars Linda Carol, Wendy O. Williams, Pat Ast, Sybil Danning and Sherri Stoner, and depicts the story of Jenny, a young girl who is sent to a reform school for girls that is operated by a sadistic and evil warden, Sutter, and her henchwoman Edna. She also has to deal with the local bully Charlie.
After directing two other women in prison films, Prison Girls and The Concrete Jungle, DeSimone decided to make a film that would be a spoof of the genre. The role of Warden Sutter in the original script was a man. Producers wanted Danning to play the character of Edna, but DeSimone thought she wasn't good for ...more
Actors: Wendy O. Williams, Sybil Danning, Sherri Stoner, Denise Gordy, Charlotte McGinnis
Caged Fury is a 1989 women in prison film about a group of prisoners who decide to escape from an all-female prison. The film was directed by Bill Milling, and stars Erik Estrada and James Hong.
Actors: Janine Lindemulder, Ron Jeremy, Erik Estrada, Jack Carter, James Hong
Sentenced to 18 months in prison for vehicular manslaughter, naïve Carol Henderson (Linda Blair) gets thrown into unexpected depravity, protected only by hardened fellow inmate Val (Sharon Hughes). Overseen by the sleazy, sex-obsessed warden, Bacman (John Vernon), the prison's population is split into rival gangs run by the Duchess (Tamara Dobson) and Ericka (Sybil Danning). Meanwhile, corrupt guard Capt. Taylor (Stella Stevens) is running a drug-dealing and prostitution ring.
Actors: Linda Blair, John Vernon, Sybil Danning, Tamara Dobson, Stella Stevens
Caged Heat is an exploitation film from 1974 of the "women-in-prison" film genre. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Erica Gavin, Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith, and Barbara Steele.
John Cale wrote and performed its soundtrack music, which features the guitar playing of Mike Bloomfield.
Two later features, Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom and Caged Heat 3000, made use of the Caged Heat name and the women-in-prison situation, but are unrelated films.
Actors: Barbara Steele, Desireé Cousteau, Gary Goetzman, Roberta Collins, Rainbeaux Smith
