Review of Reform School Girls (1986) by Tyler S — 02 May 2014

Jenny (Linda Carol) ends up at a reform school after becoming mixed up in a shoot out. She and the other newly arrived girls are immediately confronted with Charlie Chambliss (Wendy O. Williams) who is the de facto leader of the school and has an exceedingly close relationship with the head of the ward, Edna (Pat Ast). Charlie and her circle are given special privileges by Edna and it is suggested that Charlie and Edna enjoy a more intimate relationship. Charlie runs a secret society of girls who are loyal to her and to whom she offers protection. The two main new girls break several of Edna's rules and are punished decisively for their infractions. Will Jenny and the other girls manage to survive the hardship behind bars?

The film is a satire of the women in prison film genre and deliberately implements many of the tropes commonly found in such films. Such scenes include nude shower scenes, fight scenes, and a suggested romantic relationship between one of the inmates and the head matron. Set in a correctional facility for young female offenders, "Reform School Girls" is technically a women in prison movie, but this mid 80s effort from trash director Tom DeSimone is designed to be "fun" rather than offensive. Everything is done in a very campy fashion with tongue firmly in cheek. The big-breasted women saunter round their dorm in sexy underwear, the nastier inmates and members of staff are grotesque caricatures, the dialogue is deliberately tasteless ('I thought I smelled fish'), and the plot is about as cheesy as it could get. "Reform School Girls" was hardly intended to be taken that seriously, but it´s still a bit too campy for my taste. The scantily clad Wendy O. Williams (R.I.P.), lead singer of punk/rock group The Plasmatics back then, is the scary highlight of the movie.