"Women commit crimes because of men, driven by love, hatred and jealousy"

Nami Matsushima/Scorpion (Meiko Kaji) is back in prison, and has been chained up and left in a dark wet cell for a year. She manages to attack the warden (Fumio Watanabe) and his superior when let out of the cell for a ceremony. As punishment she is tortured and raped yet again. Afterwards, Scorpion and six other inmates manage to escape during a prison transfer. They take refuge in an abandoned village and must stay one step ahead of the guards tracking them down.

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 is the second film of the Scorpion series following Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion. It's a bit of a change from its predecessor since they're out of the prison most of the movie. So... I guess it wouldn't be considered a women's prison movie, but it's still exploitational. The film has the same grittiness as the first, only difference is you get more crazy women inmates in this one. If you thought they were too loud in the first movie then watch out, these women will make your ears bleed.

Like the first movie, Jailhouse 41 is told very well, with excellent cinematography and beautiful imagery. The director upped the symbolism a notch on this one as there are many artful scenes and monologues of each of the women prisoners. Jailhouse 41 has more character development with the other women rather than Scorpion herself, and the entire movie follows the theme that anyone could be these women. The fact that they act so outrageous and at the same time show signs of normality makes the message more genuine.

As with the first movie, the men are completely disgusting, and their reaction to any female they see is "RAPE HER RAPE HER". The rape scenes were a bit more disturbing to me in Jailhouse 41 than the first movie. I also don't understand how guys gang raping a tied up woman while acting like idiots wearing goofy ass costumes and pantyhose on their head humiliates HER and not THEM. *Sigh* It worked I guess... because all the women prisoners hate her afterwards. Hell, the entire time they hated her. I'm guessing NO ONE LIKES THE QUIET ONES. Scorpion would drive one of the craziest of all the women nuts because she wouldn't stop staring at her. She has that deadly stare mastered.

As with Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion, Jailhouse 41 was wonderfully directed. The score fit with the movie and was just like the first one except for one difference... the random annoying sound effects. Why oh why did they have to add random "BOING!" sounds to an otherwise perfect score?! And it really takes away from the rape scene when you hear cheesy sound effects during it. Maybe they thought it would help ease the grittiness... with the goofy bastards in pantyhose and random "BOING!!" sounds. For me it just made me dislike the rape scenes even more. The same intro song was sung by Meiko Kaji, and there was an additional song sung by her also. Other than the "BOING!" everything was wonderful!

Meiko Kaji (Matsu/Scorpion) was wonderful as always. Her character had less lines and character development than the previous movie, but it seemed like she was in it more. Of course, I wouldn't mind if the entire movie was just her staring into space, as long as she was in it. Damn her beautiful eyes! Fumio Watanabe (the warden) was the same evil bastard as he was in the first movie, except he was the main antagonist in this one. Kayoko Shiraishi (Oba) was the most notable prisoner, and was pretty obnoxious (as most of the women were) and thought she was hot shit. She was the one Scorpion would torture by staring. I'm guessing her acting was good, because she played the annoying egotistical crazy biatch, and she played it well. But besides all that she still showed a sadness locked up tight inside her. Just don't stare at her, she doesn't like that.

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 is a great sequel. Personally I liked the first one better, but many people prefer this one. Jailhouse 41 had much more imagery and character development than the first one. Also Scorpion seemed stronger and was cooler in this movie. Hell she was chained up for a year, raped, then beaten almost to death and STILL have the energy to escape and intimidate the other women. Like the first one, it is a bit dated, so you tend to let things slide. The women are pretty damn crazy and yell throughout the entire movie, which can give you a headache. My main gripe is the score. I'd like to slap the person that thought it would be cool to put random "BOING!" sounds. If you like 70s Japanese exploitational films (Pinku films) then I'd definitely recommend it.

Favorite Scenes:
~ Loved all the monologues and "dream" sequences.
~ Scorpion's revenge.

Things I learned from Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41:
1) No one had consensual sex in the 70s, unless it was lesbian sex.
2) Police will throw children at you if you resist.
3) When people die water turns blood-red even if they died elsewhere.
4) Meiko Kaji is hot in all black.

Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 is available to buy at the following vendors:
 

This movie is hard to find... for some reason. If you have no luck with the individuals on Amazon then you can try Ebay.