★★★ WOMEN OF DEVIL'S ISLAND (1962)

Le prigioniere dell'isola del diavolo 

a.k.a. Przesluchanie , Island of Imprisoned Women, Women Prisoner's of Devil's Island

directed by Domenico Paolella 
written by Ernesto Gastaldi and Domenico Paolella
cast: Guy Madison, Michele Mercier, Paul Muller,Marisa Belli
1962 - Italy | France86 minutes

Should one rip apart the historical inaccuracies within this Italian swashbuckler involving female felons sent to French Giana to become crocodile food? Hell no! Not when the production throws in pirates, revolutionaries, double-crosses, cannons and tons of sweaty heaving bosoms!

Yes, it's the seedy cover of a Men's pulp magazine come to life in glorious widescreen color. Aristocrat Martine Foucher (Michele Mercier) and a whole bunch of other hotties are transported across the blarney sea where the chained lassies must mine swamp gold and bend to the sexual whims of their captors just to achieve a moments rest. With the arrival of dreamy Commander Henri Vallière (Guy Madison), looks like change is in the sultry air; but are things truly what they seem?

Veteran Peplum Writer/ Director Domenico Paolella (HERCULES AGAINST THE BARBARIANS, DANGER! DEATH RAY!) knows how to shoot an epic and keeps the action moving - only slowing down to linger on some curves. Predating the book, but obviously inspired by the tall tales of PAPILLON authored by Henri Charrière, WOMEN OF DEVIL'S ISLAND should be sought out by all land lubbers of cleavage classics. The version available by Mill Creek Entertainment's “50 Drive-in Movie Classics”box set is a nasty chewed up full screen sepia tone print of the US release which cuts out an interracial romance. Luckily, the film is also available uncut on DVD in a beautiful widescreen Italian& French language DVD with only Spanish subtitles under the title ATRAPADAS EN LA ISLA DEL DIABLO. You might not understand the plot but Italian and French sounds sexier than English anyway. I synced the English audio with the International print. I'm a nerd.