Caged Heat (Caged Females) (Renegade Girls) (1974)

82% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
37% of users liked it
(2,912 ratings)

Considered the quintessential "girls in prison" flick of the 1970s, novice director Jonathan Demme's Caged Heat is set in a hellish American woman's penitentiary run by vicious, wheelchair-bound Barbara Steele. Statuesque convict Erica Gavin is forced to undergo horrible (but legal) tortures when… More Considered the quintessential "girls in prison" flick of the 1970s, novice director Jonathan Demme's Caged Heat is set in a hellish American woman's penitentiary run by vicious, wheelchair-bound Barbara Steele. Statuesque convict Erica Gavin is forced to undergo horrible (but legal) tortures when she is falsely accused of trying to escape. Gavin and fellow con Juanita Brown decide to make a real break, but return to prison to rescue a friend who is about to be lobotomized by the sadistic prison doctor. Then they stage a robbery, only to find a group of male robbers at the bank ahead of them. A final shootout in the prison yards brings the film to a bloody climax. Caged Heat was also released under the title Renegade Girls. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Written By: Jonathan Demme
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Cult Movies

In Theaters: Dec 31, 1974 Wide
On DVD: Jan 22, 2002
Studio: Concorde/New Horizons Home Video

Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Jonathan Demme's debut film is campy, choppy, and generally immature, though his bonding themes are fitfully discernible amid the cartoonish action.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Vibrant take on multicultural grindhouse sisterhood
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Contains a skits-within-the-movie sequence that comments on the narrative while also exposing the artificiality, absudity and performance aspect of the 'Women in Prison' trend itself.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
An exciting film, and one that proves that even the most exploitative of films can make a relevant statement.
, Time Out
It's no more than passable as a thriller, but the density of invention and energy in other respects is enough to shame a dozen contemporary major studio movies.
Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Caged Heat is contractual exploitation, an example of Roger Corman's trademark bargain filmmaking with obligated nudity and violence.
, Film4
The director's peppery edge and humour lift this above the normal drive-in fare and Steele adds punch.
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
an odd but compelling mish-mash of breast parade and hokey action . . . with dark and visceral imagery that lends "Caged Heat" more street cred than it would normally deserve.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
You may have heard this was a cheeky women's-prison-movie spoof that's really clever. It's not.

Read all 9 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Doctor S

Your eyes do not deceive you - that is THE Jonathan Demme with the director's credit for this Roger Corman exploitation and one of the most influential of the WIP (women in prison) subgenre. And you know what, it ain't half bad! Don't get me wrong, nobody would… More
Your eyes do not deceive you - that is THE Jonathan Demme with the director's credit for this Roger Corman exploitation and one of the most influential of the WIP (women in prison) subgenre. And you know what, it ain't half bad! Don't get me wrong, nobody would mistake this for high quality cinema, but what it does it does well. Lead actress Erica Gavin as the new jailbait is plain and frankly rather boring, but thankfully the supporting characters have a lot of life like cutie Roberta Collins who steals food out of the employee break room to feed those in solitary and Juanita Brown as the fiery & foul-mouthed ruler of the cell block. Barbara Steele is really great as the wheelchair-bound superintendent McQueen who lives a repressed lifestyle and feels torn between her genuine desire to rehabilitate her charges and punish them for insubordination which she takes as a personal affront. There are four, count 'em, FOUR shower scenes mixed in among the catfights, corrective discipline, and rebellions leading up to the big showdown. Dust off your 8-track and pull out your polyester and bell-bottoms!

Cast

            John Aprea as Dream Man

            Carmen Argenziano as Undercover Wrestler

            Amy Barrett as Amy

            Gene Borkan
            
            Juanita Brown as Maggie

            Roberta Collins as Belle Tyson

            Hugh Corcoran as Sharpshooter

            Desiree Cousteau
            
            Erica Gavin as Jackie Wilson

            Lynda Gold as Crazy Alice

            Keisha
            
            Gary Littlejohn as Cop at Bank

            Ella Reid as Pandora

            Cheryl Smith as Lavelle

            Barbara Steele as McQueen

            Jim Watkins as Sharpshooter

            George Armitage as Family in Car

            Gary Goetzman as Sparky

            Mike Gray as Gate Guard

            Warren Miller as Randolph

            Toby Carr Rafelson as Pinter

            Joe Viola as Sports Car Driver

            Patrick Wright as Cop at Gas Station

            Carol Terry as Kitchen Guard

            Mickey Fox
            
            Hal Marshall as Bank Guard
See full cast