Forbidden Women (1948)

Forbidden Women: Directed by Eduardo de Castro. With Fernando Poe, Berting Labra, Mona Lisa, Fernando Royo. After studying in America, South Seas Prince Sigore returns home with plans to change things on his island. He’s opposed by the sultan’s sister-in-law, who has plans to control the paradise, and is infatuated with the Forbidden Women and their sensuous ways.

“Forbidden Women (1948) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e* 1/2 (out of 4)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter studying in America, Prince Singor (Fernando Poe) returns to the South Islands where he plans to become King. The only problem is his evil sister-in-law who plots to have him killed but it doesnu0026#39;t go as planned.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis film was shot in the Philippines and itu0026#39;s pretty hard to judge. It was meant to be an epic tale but Iu0026#39;m not sure if the original film ever got released. It was brought over to America where a producer added a new title as well as a few new scenes and sold it as a roadshow attraction. It was pushed as an exploitation movie with a terrific poster but thereu0026#39;s very little shocking material here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor the most part, as it stands in its current version, the film is pretty bad. It clocks in at just 61-minutes and for an epic film it certainly doesnu0026#39;t feel that way. The biggest problem with the original scenes are the fact that the performances are rather bad and thereu0026#39;s certainly nothing fresh or original with the story. How many times have we seen something like this? With nothing new being done thereu0026#39;s just not too much here to really hold your attention. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI will say that the costume design and some of the sets are terrific. The actual locations are also a plus but none of this makes the film worth watching. Then we get to the u0026quot;newu0026quot; scenes, which include some belly dancing and a torture chamber. Both are so pathetic that you canu0026#39;t help but feel bad for the people who paid to see this back in the day expecting something naughty and instead getting a turkey.”