The Muthers

The Muthers (1976)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: Cirio H. Santiago

Starring: Jeannie Bell, Rosanne Katon, Trina Parks, Tony Carreon, Jayne Kennedy

From: Dimension Pictures

I finally returned to the world of Filipino sleaze, and this was pretty entertaining, as I explain below: 

As this movie was on TCM Underground late last night, I figured it was time to check this film out; I've heard some rave reviews from elsewhere. I knew this would be Filipino trash and I knew that the director-the late Cirio H. Santiago-was quite prolific, making plenty of trashy B-movies, sometimes in conjunction with Roger Corman. This wasn't one of those; I knew the star Jeannine Bell as she was the star of Santiago's T.N.T. Jackson, which I saw a few years ago and I have a real short review of that here... I was not a fan. Thankfully I did enjoy this more.

This movie managed to have elements of several trends popular around this time... blaxploitation, martial arts, women in prison, jungle exploitation, and pirate movies. It's set in South America but yes it was filmed in The Philippines, which offers plenty of scenic scenery. A small band of pirates led by some women (including Bell) go to a coffee plantation that uses the slave labor of kidnapped women in order to rescue Bell's sister.

The movie is highly ridiculous and you don't watch such things for acting ability or cogent storytelling. Rather, there is plenty of sleaze (along with bare boobs) and action scenes where plenty of people are shot and killed. If you've seen at least one old women in prison film, those beats will be familiar, including failed attempts to escape and a head of the prison that is a loathsome son of a bitch. You even get to hear a certain phrase uttered that Bill Maher just got into trouble for saying...

Oh, and this also has an at times 70's funky soundtrack. This is a nice grindhouse experience if you feel like seeing a few of those movies during a long night.