Asian Women in Prison Movies

Arguably the most popular sub-genre of exploitation films, women in prison movies (regardless of where they were made) generally have three main elements, which are; sadistic guards, sadistic inmates, and at least one innocent new convict who was unjustly convicted and is now confronted with the first two aforementioned elements.

The majority of Asian WIP ("Women-In-Prison" for those not yet with the program) movies come from Hong Kong and Japan. I've caught a few notable ones from other Asian countries, such as Taiwan and Thailand, but not really from South Korea, which is disappointing considering the lovely talent pool they have always had there.

At right is Mina Asami gracing the video box cover of the 1983 film Female Prisoner: Caged! from Japan's Nikkatsu Studios. As covered in this entry, Nikkatsu was the leading producer of pink films during the "roman" porn era.

Rebekah Herzberg

When I first contacted Rebekah Herzberg (aka "Your Friendly Neighborhood Jewish Girl") about doing an interview for a feature here, she immediately said yes before even giving me a chance to show that I wasn't just some hack. At first, it gave me a good feeling because I thought the immediate "sure" I got from her was because she already knew who I was ....but she told me she would have said yes, regardless. And no, despite the fact that it rhymes, I didn't consider titling this piece "Interview with my Very First Jew."

In addition to being a member of the now-defunct "Women of Horror" trio "The Gash" and a trained dancer, Rebekah is an aspiring roller derby queen. She's recent member "Jewn (because she's Jewish, get it?) Cleaver" of the Beaumont-based Spindletop Roller Girls of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. So recent, she's not yet officially on the team's roster as of this writing.

Screamvina Ghoul

Sexy and macabre horror hostess Screamvina Ghoul can be seen at all the eerie events in and around her native Portland, "Horroregon." She also lays claim to being the "second most evil woman in Portland."

Hauntingly intrigued by Screamvina when I first saw her and, wanting to know why she's just the second most evil in woman Portland (and of course, who #1 would be) really piqued my curiosity, so I contacted her and asked if she'd mind answering a few questions to go along with a feature here. Saying the idea sounded "screamtastic," she readily agreed to an interview ....but insisted that it had to be conducted after sunset.

Maggie Tan

Even though she put modeling behind her when she left her native Malaysia for the US over 20 years ago and went into fashion design and later real estate, there still seems to be something about Maggie Tan to suggest she's a former model. It's evident in the candid photo at left, which was taken just a few years ago.

Currently a very successful and acclaimed realtor residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Maggie doesn't speak much about her modeling days anymore. However, the former "Miss Shell Motorcycle" did agreed to a brief interview with me that would delve a bit into her modeling past ....and she asked if I was interested in buying a home.

Kasumi Shimizu

Besides being a model herself, Kasumi Shimizu is also the manager of the Los Angeles division of model networking company My Elite Models. Born and raised in Southern California, her talents include traditional Japanese dance and being quite skilled on the basketball court, especially for a girl who stands, as she puts it; "a proud 5' 3".

I was very impressed by Kasumi's photos. Both the ones where she's donning traditional Japanese outfits, as well as those of her in modern dress, such as the one at right, which is from her appearance at Glamourcon 2010. I contacted her about an interview a couple of months ago and she graciously agreed then, but because of her busy schedule and final exams, she wasn't able to get back to me until just recently.

Judy Cerda

Even though not all of her movies have been in the horror genre, actress Judy Cerda could be considered a "Scream Queen." Her list of acting credits include Spyware, California Tango, Priest's Calling (as Gwen, a club girl with an attitude), and a Doritos commercial where she's chased by a zombie. Speaking of which; the above clip is from the 2004 film Tele-Zombie (one that has given Judy the Scream Queen tag), which also features a true Scream Queen legend; Brinke Stevens.

Judy's been on my Facebook and Myspace friends lists for the past few years and, as I saw that her list of acting credits has kept growing during that time, I decided it was time I contacted her about an interview, which she graciously agreed to.

Debra Lamb

I first caught actress Debra Lamb on video in a little-known gem entitled The Stripping Telegram: Special Delivery, which was shot in Hollywood in the mid-80s. In it, she played a pizza delivery girl who forgot the pizza but more than made up for it with a sizzling routine that showed she had formal dance training. Her exotic looks were familiar to me and I was sure I'd seen her somewhere before, so I did a little digging and found her featured in the June 1987 issue of Easyriders magazine I had in my collection.

Wanting to learn more about such a striking girl, starting with her last name, I checked magazines stands, book and video stores (these were the pre-Internet days) and found her featured in a now-defunct publication entitled Focus, which included her bio and list of acting credits. That was in 1994 and she has since been among my favorite B-movie actresses. The above photo of her as "Jessica" from the 1989 B-classic Beverly Hills Vamp should save me from having to explain why.