The Big Bird Cage (1972)

A sequel of sorts to the previous year's THE BIG DOLL HOUSE, this is a cheesy slice of women-in-prison nonsense – filmed in the sweaty, jungle confines of the Philippines where the mad warden has constructed a huge wooden machine to help in sugar processing. The WIP genre is a notorious one amongst genre fans, who can frequently expect ample offerings of nudity and violence that go hand in hand with the tasteless plots and diabolical scripting. Yet THE BIG BIRD CAGE is something different, a film that actually focuses on the (surprisingly successful) comedy inherent in such a situation. Exploitation king Jack Hill knows exactly what he's doing and he makes this film with his tongue firmly in his cheek, offering laughs a-plenty as the unbelievable shenanigans play out.Headlining the cast is '70s black starlet Pam Grier but her prominent role on the advertising is actually a misnomer as she isn't actually in it a lot, just taking part in a couple of machine-gun wielding action scenes. More prominent is the pretty-but-wooden Anitra Ford, a glamorous model best known to US audiences for her long-running appearance on TV gameshow THE PRICE IS RIGHT. A bunch of exploitation stalwarts fill out the cast, and a couple of the best turns come from a hilarious Sid Haig as the laidback revolutionary and the Filipino Peter Lorre, Vic Diaz, given a more prominent role than usual as a gay prison guard! The plot twists and turns are predictable and there's the usual run of in-fighting, mad women, women in cages, unpleasant death and inevitable escape. There's a lighter tone than per usual for the genre and the sex and violence is definitely turned down for this one – it never gets anything near gritty. Things chance for the action-oriented climax where things take a downbeat turn at odds with the rest of the movie's playful atmosphere. At the end of the day, THE BIG BIRD CAGE is nothing new but it does manage to be fun – something that can't be said for a lot of these genre movies.

While on a date at a night club "Terry" (Anitra Ford) is kidnapped by revolutionaries after they rob everyone of their valuables. The police chase one of the getaway cars which has Terry in it and when the leader of the revolutionaries named "Django" (Sid Haig) realizes he can't outrun them he abandons the car leaving Terry behind. However, rather than being freed Terry is falsely accused of collaborating with the revolutionaries and sent to a prison deep in the Phillipine jungle. When she gets there she finds that the warden is physically abusing the female prisoners and working the women to the point of death on a dangerous sugar mill he calls "the Big Bird Cage". What follows next is the general "Women-in-prison" scenario which typically includes a mixture of nudity, abuse, drama and action. However, this one has quite a bit of humor as well. Unfortunately, the humor seemed to get a bit old after awhile and tended to detract from the other elements which define the genre. Likewise, some of the scripts and scenarios were rather weak and disjointed which made the entire film seem to lose its focus. Along with that, some of the actresses, particularly Candice Roman (as "Carla"), weren't utilized to their fullest potential. In essence, what could have been an outstanding addition to this genre turned out to lose its sizzle by the end. Frankly, I found it to be a bit disappointing. Accordingly, I rate this movie as slightly below average.

Writer / director Jack Hill follows up his Women In Prison classic "The Big Doll House" with this savvy send-up of the genre. It's fast paced and consistently amusing entertainment with everybody in fine form, including Hill and his winning actor combo of Pam Grier and Sid Haig. It's appropriately trashy stuff as we get an eyeful of our attractive female cast members and get generous doses of sex and violence.The stunning Anitra Ford ("Invasion of the Bee Girls") stars as Terry, a promiscuous young woman who's been with some important men. She gets caught up in a robbery staged by Blossom (Grier) and Django (Haig), and is assumed to be in on the whole thing and sent to prison - a typical prison for this sort of thing with sadistic guards and a maniacal warden (Andres Centenera) and a towering wooden structure (the "big bird cage" of the title) in which the prisoners are forced to risk their lives as they process sugar. Soon, however, Blossom and Django infiltrate the prison in an ambitious attempt to help the convicts break out.This is highly enjoyable stuff, and the sense of humour helps make it go down very easily. The actors are a treat to watch, especially sassy and sexy Grier and the always entertaining Haig. The ladies playing the prisoners include Candice Roman as the tough talking Carla, Teda Bracci as comedy relief character "Bull" Jones, Carol Speed as the feisty Mickie, and Karen McKevic as the Amazonian fighter Karen. Lovers of Filipino cinema will also relish the appearance by Vic Diaz (a very familiar face in this sort of thing) as one of the guards.Hill and his editors keep the movie moving along nicely, and building towards the inevitable big breakout sequence which is wonderfully rousing. Our hottie inmates are people we can root for while we also enjoy hating the villains. Along the way there's time for mud wrestling and some great laughs as Haig pretends to be gay in order to get close to the guards. The most ridiculous but riotous scene has McKevic smearing chicken fat over her naked body so she can slip past people in order to get her hands on Speed, who's been teasing her.All in all, this is a real hoot of a movie, and a refreshing artifact from a time when filmmakers weren't about to worry about being politically correct. Highly recommended to anybody who loves Pam Grier, Sid Haig, Jack Hill, and Women In Prison pictures in general.Eight out of 10.

Despite the fact that women in prison films are famous for sex and sleaze (two of my most favourite things to see in movies), I have to say that I'm not a big fan of the genre overall and it's mostly due to the fact that these films are often very similar to one another. The Big Bird Cage cuts down on both of these two elements, but replaces them with a bucket load of fun and good humour; and the result is a film that sets itself apart from most of the rest of the genre. The film is made up of two parts; on the one hand, we have a women's prison ruled over by the usual assortment of sadistic guards, and on the other hand; we have a band of revolutionaries lead by Sid Haig and Pam Grier. After a robbery in a bar, a young female socialite is captured and wrongly imprisoned in said women's prison, where the inmates are forced to work inside a huge wooden structure known as 'The Big Bird Cage'. It's not long before one of the revolutionaries comes up with a plan involving the liberation of the women at the prison camp in order to attract more men to their regime...This film features three standout performances - from Sid Haig, Pam Grier and Anitra Ford. It's Haig and Grier's screen time together that is the main highlight, and we get treated to things like Haig slapping Grier with a wet fish! Of course, the film is really rather stupid with several silly decisions taking centre stage; but this all just adds to the fun! One of the best things about the film in my opinion was the gay prison guards - quite a difference to most women in prison films! The setting also sets this one apart from most of the rest of the genre - gone are the damp and dirty insides of most women's prisons and it's replaced by a rather more sunny setting and it's certainly a very welcome change. The plot really doesn't make much sense and is often played more for laughs than anything else - but personally I'm completely fine with that and the film really is very funny - Sid Haig's infiltration of the camp being a big highlight. The film is constantly entertaining throughout and manages to keep this up until the climax - although the ending does represent something of a change in tone. Overall, The Big Bird Cage is an excellent film and undoubtedly one of the best women in prison flicks ever made - don't miss this one!