| | | | Reform School Girls
(1986) |
enny (Carol) is a dangerous yet innocent spirit. A mixture of girlish fear and womanly toughness, she was leading a pretty good life until she got busted in a robbery. Now she's headed up the river and she may not get back out.
Out of where? Pridemore Juvenile Facility For Girls, a dangerous reform school where the treatment is very harsh and the fear is at peak levels. On the way to punishment, she meets the fragile Lisa (Stoner), a girl with her eyes in the headlights and a stuffed toy bunny as her only companion. They and a group of other hard girls empty out at Pridemore for what will be one of the scariest times of their lives.
Right off the bat, they're stripped and deloused with DDT, then forced to hand over their possessions. This scares Lisa, but she's allowed to keep her doll until she and the other girls meet...
Edna (Ast). A nasty, overweight punisher, she is abusive to her charges and constantly overeating. If you can remain on her good side, good for you. If you're on her bad side, you might as well toss in the towel. Edna isn't the nastiest gal in the place, though. That honor goes to the foul-mouthed, hardcore, always-ready-for-a-fight Charlie Chambliss (Williams). The muscular and lingerie-clad lady is pure toughness. The instant she sees Lisa, a fight breaks out. Since Charlie is on Edna's good side, nothing bad happens to her. Lisa, on the other hand, is given a thorough deconstruction. Who else is on staff? Warden Sutter (Danning), a cold-hearted martinet who brandishes a nightstick and a foul mouth for the nasty girls in the pen.
The only person of any goodness in the entire facility is Dr. Norton (McGinnis), a lady who will offer you a cigarette and a good listen to your stories. Needless to say, she'll be getting lots of mileage out of Jenny and Lisa.
Living their days making license plates and nights in wide-eyed fear, Jenny and Lisa hope that truth will avenge them from bible readings by Sutter, beatings by Charlie and all-around cruelty from Edna.
Fights are breaking out all over the place, and Jenny and Lisa need comfort of any kind. Lisa is perpetually freaked out as a result of a lifetime spent in these kinds of places, and the only thing that's gone with her all over the land is her toy bunny. That, needless to say, meets its doom soon enough as a result of Edna burning it. Jenny is doing better in the comfort department, having met a prison employee who, while not the most handsome fellow, is cute enough for her. Jenny is also in possession of a cute kitten found during hard labor in the Californian sun.
The worm soon turns with both of these things, as the trucker, promising Jenny an escape, instead sends her back to prison for another brutal beating. Lisa, meanwhile, is branded by Charlie, her arch-nemesis during the entire time.
Why haven't I spoken much of Charlie? It's because she's just an indescribable character...an anti-authoritarian with a rough edge. She has her own plans in store to turn the place upside down.
Dr. Norton has been studying up on Jenny, and is ready to get Jenny's side of the robbery story. Will it work? In the end, it will, but it presently only serves to get Dr. Norton in trouble.
Framed for starting a fight with Charlie, Lisa is sent to solitary confinement. The kitten? Well, I'll be blunt...the kitten is stomped to death by Edna, who is starting to let Charlie loose. This will be seen as a betrayal on Edna's part, leading to a brutal climax.
Lisa, breaking out of confinement, tries to climb the loudspeaker tower to escape but instead plunges to her death. One down, more to go.
Trouble, taunting, terror...it's all reached a breaking point, and now the girls are running riot. Dismantling school property, beating authorities, screaming for justice...One by one, they die. Edna? Dead. Dr. Norton? Killed before delivering her report. Charlie? The anti-authoritarian/oldest teen at the school meets her death by riding a school bus through a fence, then dying in the flaming aftermath.
In the end, Jenny is the last woman standing. Her record and testimonies are examined, and she is freed. Knowing the tortures of Pridemore, she values her freedom and hopes never to return.
 Don't forget that Reform School Girls is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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Serious description, right? Maybe, but the movie is anything but.
This is satirical on a high level, loaded with campy and tasteless dialogue, many eye-catching ladies and great scenes of violence. The cast of B-movie talents and unknowns have fun with the material.
The movie does require a suspension of disbelief, though. This is truly a "check-your-brain-at-the-door" experience.
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This movie was in part based on the 1951 prison drama "Caged", which also featured an overweight warden and a kitten. 
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Ever the health and exercise fan, Wendy O. Williams, lived a clean life, which she sadly ended at the age of 49. Having dropped out of the punk scene to become a veternarian in the Northeast didn't suit her, so she killed herself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Ida Lupino, who did many of these types of movies in the 50s, was suggested for the role of Edna, but executives at New World had no idea who she was.
Darcy DeMoss (Knockz) went on to co-star in "Cant Buy Me Love" with Patrick Dempsey. -Thanks to cantbuymelove
This was Williams' only major film role, although she appeared in the 1990 movie "Pucker Up And Bark Like A Dog", did guest shots on "MacGyver" and "The New Adventures Of Beans Baxter" and can purportedly be seen in a film clip in "Down & Out In Beverly Hills".
Sherri Stoner was reportedly so scarred by the experiences she had in making this movie that she retreated behind the camera when the 90s started. She wrote for Steven Spielberg's "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs", and co-wrote the films "Casper" and "My Favorite Martian". She also gained Disney immortality as the body model for Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" and Belle from "Beauty & The Beast".
Stoner wasn't the only person connected to Steven Spielberg to be involved with this movie. Linda Carol (Jenny) would play a nurse in 1998's "Saving Private Ryan", and believe it or not, Spielberg's frequent co-producer Kathleen Kennedy was the associate producer on this movie (going under the name Kathy Lee Kennedy).
The great Pat Ast also played in Andy Warhol's film "Heat", she passed away on 3/10/2001. -Thanks to Gordon McGhie
In the movie "Lost Boys", the scene where Michael Haim is in his bedroom, you can see the movie poster for "Reform School Girls" behind him. -Thanks to Ari Silver
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Reform School Girls DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Reform School Girls or 80's Action classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Angel ..... Raiders of the Lost Ark ..... Beverly Hills Cop ..... Die Hard ..... Predator ..... Terminator ..... Black Rain ..... 48 HRS ..... Untouchables ..... Lethal Weapon ..... Rocky IV ..... Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior ..... Top Gun ..... Highlander ..... Streets Of Fire ..... Commando .....[More]
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Wendy O. Williams... What can be said? The punk rock legend was 36 at the time of this movie's filming, but she gave her all for the part. For example, she improvised some of Charlie's actions (the thumb pointing to the top bunk, the visual torture of spitting out her food to gross out Lisa and Jenny) and came up with her own dialogue for Charlie.
Williams did 200 push-ups a day, and had her food made in macrobiotic form for all eating scenes.
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|  |  |  | | Reform School Girls
Locations |
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22 days of the entire filming of the Movie was on the East side of LA at a old building that was one time a Police Station. The outside location was shot at a local High School. [Thanks to Travis]
The outside location was shot at a local High School, Excelsior High School in Norwalk, CA. They filmed for almost 2 weeks. [Thanks to Jim]
Can you help? Do you know any of the Los Angeles, S. California filming locations used for Reform School Girls? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[MONO]](dd1.gif) | Trailer, Commentary |
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The ousntrack was released by Rhino in 1986. We don't think this ever made it to CD. Track listing:
1. "Reform School Girls" by Wendy O. Williams
2. "So Young, So Bad, So What" by Etta James
3. "Bad Girl" by WOW
4. "Goin' Wild" by WOW
5. "Nowhere To Run" by Girlschool
6. "Love Slave" by Screamin' Sirens
7. "Crime Of The Heart" by Girl's Night Out
8. "It's My Life" by WOW
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Soundtrack Available:
Used Vinyl LP / Tape
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