The Escapees (1981) by Jean Rollin

[cranefly]

Two young women escape from a mental institution and must survive on their wits, and with some help from a network of other marginalized women.

I won't say much about this one.  It's why Rollin fans warn newbies to know where to start.  If you start here, you'll never watch another.

The film credits two writers.  One is Rollin, the other was some script neophyte.  You know what that means.  He put in tons of dialog.  Rollin figured he could fix that on the fly, while filming, but that all unraveled under another tight deadline.  It doesn't even "look" like a Rollin film.  There's almost no camera movement, poor lighting, and many listless scenes where the characters are dancing or doing something else absent of direction.  I think Rollin just disengaged from it all.  Or maybe there was an uncredited director who did most of the shoot.

By the way, the inimitable Brigitte Lahaie appears late in the production to spark a general disrobing, and time dilation ensues.

The high point of the movie (which is telling) is when the fat lady sings (accompanied by accordion).