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Trapped Ashes: The Girl With the Golden Breasts.  Ken is one of the directors who contributed to a horror anthology, Trapped Ashes in 2006.  It is "a horror-supernatural anthology, where four people who are stuck in a room each tell a creepy story."  Russell's segment, the first in the series, is called The Girl with Golden Breasts.  Other directors are Sean S Cunningham (of Friday the 13th fame), Monte Hellman and John Gaeta (visual effects on The Matrix).  Joe Dante directs the outline story.  Tobe Hooper was to direct a segment but dropped out.  Thanks to Steve and Joseph for the information.

The image above, not by Ken, of a deadly staircase is quite good but this is an exception in the film.

Richard Ian Cox left as Doug and Rachel Veltri right as his girlfriend a struggling actress who doesn't win the roles...

 ... so she thinks breast implants will improve her chances. 

Winston Rekert as Doctor Larry selling his procedures.

But in surgery he smokes his cigar and has little regard for hygiene as he rushes the operation because he has other operations to complete ("stich her up, get her out of here, get the next one in").

This plastic surgery uses material processed from dead bodies, and in true Frankenstein style this gives problems- her breasts seem to bite.  She discovers the surgery was part of an experiment and the breasts need human blood to survive.

The mummified surgeon (with cigar).

The three transvestite doctors, in the middle Ken Russell.

Special effects (from the DVD extras).

Ken directing (from the making-of film).

Trapped Ashes follows the pattern of British Amicus Film horror stories, strangers trapped together in a mysterious house, with a strange host, and each has to tell a horror tale.  As a twist in the tale, each story has a coda predicting the gruesome future.  Finally it appears the strangers are trapped in the house forever, doomed to repeat the experience, though this does make the coda predicting the future a plot hole as they will never have a future outside the house.  The film is quite tedious.

People

As well as directing Ken (heavily made up) plays Dr. Lucy in drag, one of the three transvestite doctors who appear at the end of the segment.  Actress Rachel Veltri says  in the DVD making-of film that he was in drag for the role when she first met him.

Ken's wife has an uncredited cameo, and is also credited as Assistant to Ken Russell (imdb does not mention this).

The film has 22 producers, so guaranteed not to produce a good film.  One of the producers, Dennis Bartok, also wrote the stories  (his first film length script), and his brother Jayce Bartok also has a role in the film.

Rachel Veltri and Richard Ian Cox star.  In the making-of film Ken says Veltri has the potential to be another Glenda Jackson or Marilyn Monroe but this is part of the talking-up to sell the film, and she doesn't have the room to demonstrate any exceptional talent in this film.

Cinematography is by Zoran Popovic and film editing by Marcus Manton.  Ken was paid $50,000 and he filmed his 24 minute segment in four and a third days (from DVD making of film).

Best Image

Even if  a film is lower than Ken's usual standard, he still comes up with good shots.  This is a typical Ken Russell image, the character in silhouette at the end of a corridor or stairs.

The shadows on Rachel Veltri's face are neat.

Good composition at the entrance of the facility.

Best Scene

Not many best scenes, but one of Veltri running in panic down the winding corridor (left) was also used in Ken's monitor film Pop Goes the Easel from 1962 (right).
 

Themes

Sexuality (transvestite doctors).

Freudian images of breasts with teeth.  In Ken's Gothic (above) from 1986 there were breasts with eyes.

Films

Other films released in 2006 include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Casino Royale, Scorsese's The Departed (Oscar) and Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth.