10 Violent Women [DVD] [1979]

Cordless operation; battery charging

This oddball but high-spirited blend of crime, adventure and gals behind bars from low-budget filmmaker Ted V. Mikels gets a less-than-stellar presentation on DVD in this release from Alpha Home Entertainment. 10 Violent Women has been transferred to disc in the full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the image quality is uneven; while the print is in reasonably good shape, the picture is often muddy and the framing suggests this might have been shot with a widescreen release in mind. The dialogue is in English, with no subtitles or multiple language options; the audio (mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo) is serviceable, but not much better than that. Director Mikels contributes an alternate commentary track, but while he seems to be having a fine time, most of the time he doesn't do much more than tell us what we're watching, and the results are less than compelling. (The disc has also been encoded so one can't skip between the commentary and the standard audio track at will.) As a bonus, this edition also includes the theatrical trailer for 10 Violent Women, as well as several other Ted V. Mikels releases. Folks with a taste for Seventies exploitation fare might enjoy this disc if they're willing to look past the less-than-stellar transfer.