In Cirio Santiago's 1978 B-movie Hellhole, Hell is on an island off the coast of the Philippines where women are captured from around the world and used for the sexual gratification of a group of assassins. Caged like animals, they are sexually abused and brutally tortured - escape is their only hope.

Picked up by the fine folks at Cheezy Flicks for a DVD release, Hellhole was also released under the title Women of Hell's Island and is a kitschy, modestly brutal, and relentlessly bleak example of the "captive women" sub-genre of filmmaking that definitely seems to have its small yet  loyal legion of fans. While the film is violent in tone, Santiago actually doesn't bring a whole lot of that brutality to the screen. Oh sure, you get your T&A and exploitative shots of violence, but Hellhole is surprisingly tame for a film about so much violence.

As is nearly always true for this type of film, Hellhole has had multiple low-budget releases in the past before finding its current home at Cheezy Flicks, one of the nation's leading purveyors of pulpish, B-movies. If you're easily offended by unabashedly sexist cinema, then Hellhole is definitely not the film for you.

However, let's be honest. If you were that prudish, would you really be considering a Cheezy Flicks DVD?

Admit it.

Hellhole is just about everything you expect from a low-budget, old school horror type flick with women in chains, men dominating, and breasts a flyin' everywhere.

Visit the Cheezy Flicks website for more information.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic