Truly Dreadful Film

A Brilliant Conflict

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Beautiful women prisoners are abused in a Philippine prison, until five of them plot an escape by taking the evil female warden hostage with the reluctant help of two male fruit vendors.I have to say this film is an exploitation movie, and therefore has some aspects that many people might find objectionable -- gratuitous nudity, sexual assault and some scenes of torture. This is not just a fun film to watch with your kids.That being said, director Jack Hill makes the most of the exploitation genre and does it in a stylish, colorful way that sets this movie apart from the scores of others in the same category. And he utilizes Sid Haig well, in a way that no other director ever has. Thanks for introducing Pam Grier to the world, too.

Women in prison. So many films featuring women behind bars desiring to break out. Luscious women in the shower, naked and yearning for the sexual contact of a man. The sadistic warden who makes life a living hell for the girls, and it's at times a woman who runs the show. The cat fight in the mud or the food fight that breaks out usually resulting in the whole group being punished. The torture sequences featuring prisoners being whipped by a bull dike guard who really seems to be enjoying herself. The planned break out often assisted by outside help. Those who punished and harmed the girls while they were in prison get their comeuppance.Many of the girls are tough talking, strong willed, incredibly sexy, and(..my favorite part)push the guys, that do appear, around. I've seen quite a few of these types of movies, but can not really consider myself an expert because there are still many staples of the genre I haven't viewed as of yet. This has to be the sexiest female cast I've seen in one of these movies..Pam Grier, Judy Brown, Roberta Collins, Brooke Milles(..my girl of the film), and Pat Woodell all preparing for a great escape just so they can be free of the sweaty, trashy confines of their Banana Republic prison cell. Christiane Schmidtmer is Miss Dietrich, the tyrannical ruler over the prison and Kathryn Loder is her ruthless head guard with an affinity for acquiring jungle snakes as a torture(..or murdering)method to extract information regarding possible illegal activities or plotting(..she likes to let her hair down when it's time to whip or pummel a girl). Sid Haig, a prominent Jack Hill regular, has a field day as a food(..among other items of interest)supplier, assisted by Jerry Franks(..who is actually accosted by Collins, who forces him to sex with a knife she confiscated from the kitchen area!).I will admit that I love beautiful women. Especially, beautiful women wearing merely a raggedy dress that barely covers their panties, revealing their wonderful curves and sexy legs. This movie was more violent than I was expecting, but it isn't anything worse than what we normally see in today's cinema containing the damaging treatment towards women. In my opinion you couldn't assemble a more sexy group of gals to spend 90 minutes with. These were the days when inhibitions run amok and women weren't as prudish in endowing upon us their alluring naked bodies. I feel like the 70's featured some of the most stunning women, often barely starring in anything other than a few movies within the exploitation genre, before moving on to other things. I don't know where Corman and Hill were able to secure so many of these delcious sex pots, but they kept them a comin'. Unfortunately two of my favorite scenes feature a character in a heroine induced bliss, addict Harried prancing around in her cell, as if performing some type of yoga exercise, and the other where she's showering, making this little giggling sound with her face just lit up.

After having to sit through film after film.with a fantastically ridiculous premise that mostly features 90 minutes of people wandering around doing nothing, it's nice to go back to a legend of the genre and know that I can still trust.The Big Doll House was my third Women in Prison film, after the infamous Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS and the Defiant Ones-inspired Black Mama, White Mama, but where both of those films seemingly ran out of inspiration fairly quickly (Ilsa grows wearying quickly, and Black Mama stagnates as most of the film is uninspired wandering.While I grew restless with both of those films, Jack Hill and The Big Doll House seemingly has it all covered, and surprisingly, the film draws its strength from restraint and respect towards its characters. Where Black Mama had plentiful amounts of gratuitous nudity, the standards were quite low and, for the most part, it wasn't PLEASANT nudity, while in Doll House, there is nudity, but more usually, they're dressed in these sort of adorably tiny dresses, like over-sized wifebeaters, and it makes them look far more attractive and pleasing to the eye than if they had been naked the entire time.The other unique thing for this film of the three is that the prisoner women seem to be constantly in power. They're never weak-willed, they may get tortured a bit, but they're always feisty, always defiant, and although you definitely get a sense of sexualized satisfaction (it's a Women in Prison movie for f-ck's sake, there's shower scenes, groping scenes, even a scene scantily-clad mud wrestling), you never get any of the uncomfortable, misogynist sleaze you most definitely get from Ilsa. That's a film that delights in the torture so much that it neglects story for much of its runtime.The acting is actually fairly solid save for our hero, Pam Grier (amusingly playing a character named "Grear"). But Judy Brown, Robert Collins, Brooke Mills, Pat Woodell, Kathryn Loder, Gine Stuart and Christiana Schmidter as the warden Miss Dietrich all acquit themselves admirably. On the dude side, the ever-reliable Sid Haig rocks it out without being obnoxious, and Jerry Franks is solild support. They are also given one of the better scripts I've heard here, with a lot of memorable and quotable lines ("Get it up or I'll cut it off!" being the most infamous, although my favorite was "One of these days, I'm gonna come in here, and ZAP!" "Zap?" "You know, Zap. R-A-P-E: "zap".") As for the awesomeness, it's really a laundry list that never runs out. A crazy heroin addict who lights people on fire, a lesbian prison guard who threatens people with cobras, the aforementioned mud wrestling, threats of castration, people getting stabbed (including Pam Grier, who unexpectedly doesn't even survive the film!), the shower scenes, and just the basic gratuitous nudity just seems to be at a higher standard than subsequent films. Oh, and then, when all seems over, they add AUTOMATIC WEAPONRY (and rape-as-comeuppance). I do look forward to seeing more of them to be able to compare, and although being an "expert in Women in Prison films" is not going to be something to put on the 'ol resume, if any of them are as well-composed as The Big Doll House, it'll sure be a lot of fun.{Grade: 8.25/10 (B+/B) / #12 (of 26) of 1971}

For some reason I was expecting more from this films. I don't know why.It began well enough with opening credits that stylishly zoom in and Pam Grier singing 99 years (which also featured in the film Jackie Brown).For the first hour this Corman produced Women in Prison film was a great slice of exploitation cinema. It was surprisingly well made, with good characters and above average acting. Pam Grier and Sid Haig standing out above the rest of the cast.Then after about an hour the film becomes repetitive and boring. The same things happening over and over again. Still its good while it lasts, maybe just turn it off when it starts too get boring.For a better Women in Prison film try maybe Ilsa: She-wolf of the SS.