To a lesser degree, Demme also incorporated elements of liberal politics, feminism and social consciousness into his screenplay. However, Corman also wanted Caged Heat to retain most of the violence and nudity that audiences for this genre had come to expect.ĭemme introduced new aspects to Caged Heat, including a satirical approach and making the sadistic warden female instead of male. Producer Roger Corman thought that the content of his company's previous 'women in prison' films was inadequate, so he instructed Demme to create a screenplay that would bring something novel to this genre. The film was Jonathan Demme's debut as a film director. Two later features, Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (1994) and Caged Heat 3000 (1995), made use of the Caged Heat name and the women-in-prison situation, but are unrelated films.

John Cale wrote and performed its soundtrack music, which features the guitar playing of Mike Bloomfield. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins, Erica Gavin, Ella Reid, Rainbeaux Smith, and Barbara Steele. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. Caged Heat was also released under the title Renegade Girls.Ĭaged Heat (alternate title: Renegade Girls) is an exploitation film from 1974 of the 'women-in-prison' film genre. A final shootout in the prison yards brings the film to a bloody climax.

Then they stage a robbery, only to find a group of male robbers at the bank ahead of them. 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. Statuesque convict Erica Gavin is forced to undergo horrible (but legal) tortures when she is falsely accused of trying to escape. Rape Riot and Revenge! White Hot Desires melting cold prison steel!Ĭonsidered 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.

Caged heat