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This exploitative film is a sequel to 1971’s The Big Doll House, and it was made by the same person, Jack Hill, who is a very well-known figure in this genre. He worked with the same themes, actors, and styles, and he also focused on similar elements in this film.
The filmmaker is not aiming to tell a compelling or reasonable story with this film and viewers should realize that. It appears that the objective of the film is to follow the revolutionary characters Terry, Blossom, and Django, the socialites.
In an unnamed South American Country, a group of African Americans labelled as Django, start a guerrilla revolution where they rob patrons of nightclubs. Unfortunately for them, the cops are onto them and while the fellow members of Blossom flee, Django is left behind. In order to escape he commandeers a car, however, while trying to evade the cops on a bridge he is all but surrounded, so he leaps off and ditches his hostage. When the cops arrive, they simply don’t believe that Terry, the one he left on the bridge, was being held against her will and labelled her as a revolutionary, locking her up.
As a fifty-year-old woman who has slept with everyone who is anyone in this unnamed South American country, Terry is a potential leaker of sensitive information. To avoid this, she is locked up in a government-run prison camp better known as the Big Birdcage. Besides the torture it puts her through emotionally, this place is a jungle of extreme heat, furious guards, and punishment for even the little things Stephanie may have done out of the free will.
Jack Hill will go down in history as someone who could get a lot out of nothing and who is a prominent figure in the exploitation films in the 1970s along with other titles such as Foxy Brown, Coffy and The Big Doll House. It is the same case for Pam Grier who is a blaxploitation film actress who collaborated with Hill on three occasions. The man who played Django, Sid Haig, is a cult actor and some of an icon, like his character, and he is still active and working with people such as Rob Zombie. They are phenomenal in this movie as all the actors in this film are of such high calibre.
The Big Bird Cage is an absolute hoot of a film along with some out-of-the-ordinary dialogue that is based on that time. There are some well-choreographed action scenes and it has the right degree of brutality expected from a ‘women in prison’ film. This is already the 4th of the Roger Corman collection and it further exemplifies the great man’s versatility, especially to those who enjoy exploitation films or are puzzled about past Blaxploitation actresses like Pam Grier.
Everyone expects a decent transfer with the full frame and while it comes with some residues like a bit of graining and a few scratches, the jungle sequences are great, and the colours are vivid. The jungle scenes are simply terrific. Skin tones are well done as there are abundant opportunities to showcase this, and surely there is plenty of skin to go around!
As the movie is rather low-budget, the soundtrack wasn’t much of a priority. The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack is quite pleasant with clear dialogue. The “funky” score plays well during the chase and prison scenes, but the club scenes completely change it. There is some background hiss and crackling, but at least it isn’t prominent enough to hinder the experience.
The Big Bird Cage is an excellent sequel to The Big Doll House and is certainly a classic in 1970s exploitation cinema. It features breathtaking performances by Anitra Ford, Sid Haig and Pam Grier. With the supporting cast giving a splendid performance, the movie guarantees to be enjoyable and entertaining for everyone with the right expectations, while serving as a great introduction for those who don’t know what to expect.
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