The Big Bird Cage
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Movie Reviews of The Big Bird Cage
Movie Review: Solid Grier Action Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is much better than I anticipated. Despite being a "women in prison" exploitation movie, this film has more to offer than just cheap voyeurism. The plot surrounds life inside a womens prison in the Philippines and culminates in a break out. Complexity is added by the role of Pam Grier and her revolutionary friends who are hoping to assist the break out for their own aims. Grier is good as ever and well supported here by an unusual cast that work well. The whole movie is somewhat tongue in cheek, but still works as an action movie. There are few dull moments as the movie has plenty of action maintaining a good tempo and you come away feeling satisfied. The quality of the DVD version I have seen is quite high and it looks fresh and good to look at. Whilst you cannot take it too seriously, this would be quite worthwhile owning.Movie Review: Jack Hill, precursor to 80's action directors?
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm not out and out familiar with the Women In Prison genre, nor am I all that familiar with the work of Jack Hill. I came to this flick by way of a growing interest in Transgressive/Exploitation cinema of the 60's and 70's.
That being said, The Big Bird Cage is a strange animal of a flick. The trailer for the film comes off as a mean, angry, sadistic prison exploitation movie, when in actuality it's more light-hearted than it lets on. The plot is fairly simple, a band of revolutionaries, lead by Pam Grier and Sid Haig, plan to raid a women's prison/work camp in the hopes of boosting the morale of their troops (by getting the men some ladies) as well as starting a revolution (e.g. the storming of the Bastille in the French Rev.)
What follows is fairly entertaining fare involving bumbling overweight homosexual guards, a angry, tall, blonde, Amazon-like woman greased in chicken fat, and one of the best performances from Sid Haig this side of House of a Thousand Corpses. Though firmly rooted in the exploitation genre, this film feels more like an 80's action film than standard 70's exploitation fare (Thriller: A Cruel Picture, 2000 Maniacs, Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS). I think it's because the film is more concerned with entertainment and crass humor than shock value and gore.
All in all the film feels like a long episode of the A-Team with a lot more nudity, mud wrestling, and female leads.
Movie Review: Saving Stars for Quality Films
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie was highly enjoyable; one of the highlights for me was the revolutionary humor; a goofball group of wanna-be revolutionaries decide they need chicks from prison to have their revolution. Their leader stays in power by making increasingly dubious promises that the revolution is coming "soon."I watched this film because I'm a Pam Grier fan. I'm very interested in her progression from 'chicks in chains' films (such as this one) through her 'half badass, half exploited for skin' roles in the 1970s to her legendary performance as the classy, kickass Jackie Brown, possibly the climax of her career.
Indeed, it's hard to believe that this film contains the same Pam as Jackie Brown. I would recommend this film to people who are interested in Pam's career; if you want to watch it for other reasons, that's up to you.
Movie Review: Too heavy-handed and dreary.
Summary: 2 Stars
This film was the one of the first, of the 70s women-in-prison film genre. This movie was incredibly violent, with lots of sadistic torture being inflicted on the inmates. The film takes place in the Phillipines, which looks like a horribly ugly country. No doubt, the producers used this factor to their advantage, to emphasize the gruesome situation that the prisoners were in.
Blaxploitation movie queen Pam Grier, has the starring role in this movie. She plays Blossom, a renegade who gets thrown in the vile women's prison, on trumped-up charges. Her boyfriend, played by Sid Haig, tries to rescue Blossom. He and Blossom are part of a political guerrilla faction, and Blossom's incarceration was orchestrated by the corrupt, Phillipino government.
Pam Grier and Sid Haig, stand-out amongst the otherwise lackluster cast. The film itself, put way too much emphasis on violence perpetrated against the prisoners. Their captors just used them solely as objects of their sadism. This got boring real fast. This movie could've used more interesting plot-lines, and subtlety. This is not one of Roger Corman's better pictures. The many women-in-prison films that followed this one, were much better all around. I'd recommend The Big Bird Cage, only to Pam Grier fans.
Movie Review: A big DUD --- avoid this one like the plague!
Summary: 1 Stars
Women-in-prison films are supposed to be erotic! That means they're supposed to have AT LEAST ONE of the three following things (and preferably MORE than one):
1) An evil lesbian warden who enjoys the bodies of her pretty prisoner-playthings, turning at least one of them into her beautiful nude sex slave.
2) Evil lesbian guards who occasionally strip the girls naked before whipping/spanking them, and later take them into their own quarters for their private pleasures, especially late at night.
3) Tough, lesbian inmates, who prey on the younger, most beautiful newcomers, often in the shower, but also in their beds at night.
Well, this particular video HAS NONE OF THESE THINGS! There are NO LESBIANS in this prison! There are only gay male guards and a boring old man as the warden. The women are certainly pretty enough and their outfits revealing enough, but as a women-in-prison flick THIS ONE SUCKS!!! IT'S NOT EROTIC!!! NOT RECOMMENDED!!!