gavin6942
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.
Woodyanders
The female inmates at a women's prison suffer severe mistreatment at the brutal hands of wicked warden Miss Dietrich (a nicely icy turn by Christiane Schmidtmer) and sadistic head guard Lucian (a gloriously florid and theatrical portrayal by Kathryn Loder). Director Jack Hill, working from a compact script by Don Spencer, relates the fun story at a constant brisk pace, stages the action set pieces with real aplomb, and keeps the tone cheerfully seedy and tongue-in-cheek throughout. Moreover, Hill injects plenty of wickedly funny brash humor which keeps this picture surprisingly breezy and entertaining throughout. The cast have a grand time with the sordid material: Pam Grier as the sassy Grear, Judy Brown as the feisty Collier, Roberta Collins as the hard-boiled Alcott, ravishing redhead Brooke Mills as pathetic strung-out smack addict Harrad (Mills' crazed and sensuous little stoner dance rates as a definite highlight), Pat Woodell as the formidable Bodine, Gina Stuart as slinky minx Ferina, and Jerry Franks as the amiable Fred. The always great Sid Haig almost steals the whole show with his wonderfully robust and engaging performance as happy-go-lucky merchant Harry. Of course, this film covers all the satisfyingly sleazy grindhouse bases: a generous amount of tasty distaff nudity, a group shower scene, a fierce catfight (in the mud, no less!), rape, torture, a messy cafeteria food fight, and an exciting last reel breakout. As an added plus, the divine Ms. Grier heartily belts out the groovy theme song "Long Time Woman." Both Fred Conde's reasonably polished cinematography and the funky syncopated score by Hall Daniels are up to speed. Essential viewing for exploitation cinema aficionados.
OldAle1
So says one of the denizens of the "big doll house" to a man from the outside who has come to make deliveries but gets more than he bargained for....The Big Doll House is exploitation with a capital X, made in the peak period for such stuff by the redoubtable Jack Hill and starring future cult blaxploitation actress Pam Grier. Shot in the Phillipines, clearly on next-to-no-budget, this is good cheesy fun, women in prison with a lesbian/Nazi guard and a couple of fumbling good ol' hippie-boys (one of them played by cult actor Sid Haig, in an early performance back when he was thin, had hair and came off as an oily ladies' man) who help them out at the most opportune moment. The acting's pretty mediocre, though Grier is just awful here and you get the sense that this film and some of her other early work could have killed her career if not for other...uhh...assets. Hilarious shoot-out ending, awful stunts and effects, lots of bright red paint, I mean blood....
Goredog
Jack Hill has always been a master of turning such a controversial subject (especially at that time) into a fine film. The Big Doll House stars Judy Brown, who is taken to a prison on some remote island where she is accompanied by other jailbirds: Pam Grier, Brooke Mills, and Roberta Collins. Grier and Collins are driving forces throughout the film and seem to double-handedly run the entire joint. While Mills plays everybody's favorite psycho junkie, making an art out of hallucinating. Sid Haig is the dominating warden who uses poisonous local snakes to torture the prisoners. The movie ends with Grier, Mills, and Collins dying and Brown being captured and taken back to prison. Definitely an acquired taste and compulsory for fans of old skool "Women Torture and Revenge Tales!"
AD
