Run Like Hell (1995)

 

Robert Z'Dar is the warden of a post-apocalyptic women's prison. The the new government "has declared single women a threat to society - a bounty is placed on all unattached women." So, a group of inmates escape and journey to "Paradise City" where the grass is green and the girls.... well, you know the rest.

The Warden (Robert Z'Dar) with his gargantuan jaw monitors the inmates

Darla (Colleen Corrigan) and Shotgun (Liz Davies) take a shower

The two inmates are hauled into the Warden's office

The Warden makes all manner of accusations and threats

He pins Shotgun to the table

Shotgun gets the upper hand, but Darla inexplicably tells her to stop.  They are in the midst of a prison break. (So, why wouldn't she just kill the Warden?)

They team up with their leader Elsa (Dree Lange)

I've never seen so many black thongs in my life

Elsa climbs out to freedom 

Sally (Elizabeth Prince) is the fourth member of their group

They trek across the barren landscape until they come upon an outpost

Sally serves as a decoy

Elsa takes care of business.  The girls unfortunately are able to find clothing, and then set back out across the desert.

Meanwhile back at the prison

The Warden is busy raping a girl

But he's interrupted by the arrival of a bounty hunter and his droid sidekick

Blade (Gil Cologne) and Droid (Robert Rundle) are tasked with the finding the four escapees before they reach "Paradise City".

The ladies grab some shuteye.  Could they not have found a spot less open?

A bandit finds them and thinks he's hit the jackpot

Tex (Jim Wentworth)

The girls are saved by a ninja named Jag (Henry Olvera)

Darla and Sally have their firearms ready

But Sally is ultimately killed

Darla screams with anguish

Jag trains the girls in martial arts

I love how in action movies from the 80s and 90s you could just train like hell to cheesy music for a day and become a martial arts champion.  

The Warden, with his gigantic face, watches something suspicious going on.

A guard is acting suspicious with a prisoner played by Tina-Desiree Berg who was fucking amazing in Bikini Hotel (1997).

Next, we meet John Steel (Frankie Maldonatti) a "bounty tracker" who was paid by this girl's rich parents to break her out of the prison and get her home.  Oddly, this isn't the same pair we just saw in the prison.

No matter - she's promptly killed by a slave trader known as Sister (Defrancesco Anita Marie)

With the girl dead, they need to find a living girl to bring to the slave auctions.  

So they capture Darla who has wandered off from the group to use the bathroom

Sister's assistant carries her over his shoulder

Darla manages to escape

Elsa and her posse kill Sister and her henchman

Prisoner 1901 aka Cindy (Elizabeth Lamont) is brought before the Warden.  Lamont was in Big Sister 2000 (1995) and was actually the third wife of Jackson Bostwick, the dude who played Captain Marvel in the 70s TV show Shazam! 

Cindy is forced to be pleasure the guards to root out the traitor.

Jackson Bostwick was one lucky sunuvabitch.

The Warden, with his huge skull, watches with delight.

But Cindy must pay the piper when her traitorous ways are discovered.  She has to fight another inmate for her life.

I will add that this is pretty damn good catfight, and goes on for a while

In the end, Cindy loses

The Warden watches approvingly

Darla, Elsa and Jag have nearly made it to Paradise City.  First they must battle the Mad Max arena fighters.

Their fiercest opponent is supposed to be a dude named Chain Saw

The girls whoop some ass.  Darla goes medieval on this guy

Burning motherfuckers to a crisp

Not sure how fierce an opponent Chan Saw is if Elsa can beat him with a rake, but okay.

At last, they reach the border of Paradise City

But first they will have to go through Blade... which they easily do.

They made it!

The Warden is pissed.  He says, "Get ready for Armageddon" setting up a sequel which never came.

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I mean, when it comes to straight-to-video post-apocalypse B-movies, this is about the best you can expect. It's sleazy, with gratuitous nudity galore, takes itself very seriously (and its earnestness is what makes it so fun), and prominently features Z'Dar - always a treat. It doesn't let its foot off the gas either, maintaining the crazy energy from start to finish - one minute you're watching topless catfight, the next a chainsaw battle.  A restored version would be very nice.

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆6/10