Other Titles • The Big Doll House • Bamboo Dolls House (1971) • Women's Penitentiary (1971) • Women's Penitentiary III (1971)
Synopses for The Big Doll House (1971)
1.
Director Jack Hill, a protégé of the original schlockmeister, Roger Corman, knew his way around a low budget and a shocking subject. Women-in-prison films were nothing new in 1971, but The Big Doll House had it all--sex, violence, nudity, a sadistic guard, and a sexually frustrated warden--and served it up with an abundance of cheapjack energy and tongue-in-cheek humor. The beauty of Hill's movies lay in the way they could appeal not only to the hordes who would go see them at drive-ins but also to the true trash-cinema fans who could appreciate his offbeat sensibilities. The plot is rather hoary, with a new inmate discovering the corruption of the prison setup, complete with a drugged-out psycho, a cellmate informer, and a guard who delights in torturing the women with poisonous snakes. The girls put their heads together and begin to devise a way out of their tropical hellhole, but not before disrobing several times and having a knock-down, drag-out fight in the muddy rice paddy where they're forced to toil all day. The Big Doll House, like some of Hill's other movies, was shot in the Philippines, with the cast and crew making up plot elements and dialogue in near-guerrilla filmmaking. Though the islands were a cheap place to produce movies in the '70s, the working conditions were boot camp-like. Where The Big Doll House really succeeds is in its mix of titillation and action, a fast-paced combination that makes it one heck of a fun exploitation movie to watch. It's also worth noting that this movie gave the great Pam Grier her first real starring role; she would become a Jack Hill regular before moving on to more substantial roles. --Jerry Renshaw
2.
Director Jack Hill (COFFY, SPIDER BABY) launched both a cycle of women-in-prison films and the stardom of Pam Grier with this sexy, funny, thrilling exploitation classic. At a prison farm in the Philippines, new girl Collier (Judy Brown) is locked up with bitter lesbian Grear (Grier), rebel girl Bodine (Pat Woodell), tough blonde Alcott (Roberta Collins), and Harad (Brooke Mills), a strung-out junkie. The girls race cockroaches, fight in the mud, shower, and get it on while the sadistic head guard (Kathryn Loder) conducts nightly torture sessions for the pleasure of the mysterious Colonel Mendoza. Eventually the girls escape, and all hell breaks loose as they race to join the rebels, their machine guns blazing a path through the jungles. Hill keeps a nice pro-feminist stance in this tongue-in-cheek picture, with strong characters and witty dialogue nicely counterbalancing the more perverse elements. All the women are sexy and excellent, especially Grier in her first major role. She even sings the soulful title song, "Longtime Woman." This film was a huge success, spawning many imitations. Producer Roger Corman had Hill and Grier follow it up with an immediate sequel, THE BIG BIRD CAGE.
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