Hellhole (1985 film)

Hellhole is a 1985 American exploitation women-in-prison film film directed by Pierre De Moro and starring Ray Sharkey, Judy Landers, Marjoe Gortner, Edy Williams, and Mary Woronov. It was distributed by Arkoff International Pictures,^[2] marking the studio's final theatrical release.^[1]

Hellhole
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Pierre De Moro
Written by	Aaron Butler (as Vincent Mongol)
Starring	Ray Sharkey Judy Landers Marjoe Gortner Edy Williams Mary Woronov Terry Moore
Cinematography	Steven Posey
Edited by	Stephen Butler
Music by	Jeff Sturges
Distributed by	Arkoff International Pictures
Release date	March 15, 1985 (1985-03-15)
Running time	90 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

After seeing her mother murdered by a killer, Susan, an amnesiac woman, is sent to a mental institution presided over by Dr. Fletcher, a power-crazed female doctor who performs lobotomies on the patients.

Cast

• Ray Sharkey as Silk
• Judy Landers as Susan
• Marjoe Gortner as Dr. Dane
• Edy Williams as Vera
• Terry Moore as Sidnee Hammond
• Mary Woronov as Dr. Fletcher
• Richard Cox as Ron
• Robert Z'Dar as Brad
• Cliff Emmich as Dr. Blume
• Martin West as Rollins
• Lynn Borden as Susan's Mother
• Dyanne Thorne as Crysta
• Marneen Fields as Curry, Girl In Dining Room
• Annette Claudier as Martha

Production

Principal photography of Hellhole began in Los Angeles on July 2, 1984.^[3] Director Tom DeSimone directed additional footage after principal photography was completed, though he is not credited.^[3]

Release

The film was released theatrically by Arkoff International Pictures on March 15, 1985.^[3]

Home media

Shout! Factory cancelled its original plans to release the film on DVD and Blu-Ray due to the film having missing footage, but it has since been released on Blu-Ray in late 2016 by Scream Factory, a subsidiary of Shout Factory.^[4]

Reception

Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times panned the film, writing that it is "hard to think up anything else nice to say about a film that is so crammed with tawdry sex scenes (mostly between women), drug use, sadomasochism, frontal nudity and bad acting."^[5]