I kid you not. The surprise ending is meant to comment on a bizarre political trend in the last third of the 20th Century in which military putsch leaders seemed to be of ever decreasing rank. The nadir of this phenomena being the 1980 Liberian coup which left MASTER SERGEANT Samuel K. Doe as head of state.

At the climax of this film the lowly soldiers stationed as guards at Red Island turn out to be part of the movement to overthrow their country's military dictator and replace him with one of their own. But, surprise, Red Island's sub-commander reveals during the denouement that he's already cut a deal with the regular military to depose and succeed his comrade within a fortnight.

Oh-ho! Sex AND Politics? That's the SEVENTIES for you.

(should also mention that the chicks were totally smoking)

Though Gefangene Frauen masquerades as a Women In Prison movie, it's more like the collected footage of some people on a nudist vacation, shot between meals and sight-seeing, sort of like a nude Sports Illustrated Prison Swimsuit video. The plot is slapped together in normal euro-trash fashion, and takes up very little of this flick, which is a shame, since it's really pretty comical. At one point there's three consecutive coup d'états in the span of ten minutes. The dialog is scant but always poignant:

Warden: "You cannot and will not leave this island. As a reminder you will no longer wear your clothes. Everyone undress!"

.. which is thought-provoking, since everyone (including the warden and the guards) was already undressed almost the whole time. But now it's for real.

Directed and written by Edwin Dietrich, euro-smut-peddler extraordinaire, Gefangene Frauen takes place mostly outdoors in what seems like a Mediterranean island. The light is crisp and the color is subtly beautiful, which is rare for a flick of this caliber. It helps that the cast is completely nude throughout almost the entire duration of the movie, be they in their cells, or performing manual labor (ie. throwing small rocks around) in the countryside.

Gefangene Frauen dispenses with the sadistic aspects of the genre, and focuses mostly on nudity and getting the scenes shot before dinner time. It's a good movie to play in the background while doing something else, though it's a must to pay attention any time there's dialog.