The Big Doll House: Roger Corman Classics
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, butThe Big Doll Househad 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. WhereThe Big Doll Housereally  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