women in cages

Before she became a Blaxploitation queen, and long before Quentin Tarantino tried to resurrect her career in Jackie Brown, Pam Grier was sent to prison by none other than Roger Corman. Always on the lookout to save a buck, Roger produced three “Women In Prison” films in quick succession in 1971 in the Philippines: The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage and Women in Cages. Essentially the same movie with actors swapping parts, Pam Grier was the obvious standout in each production. So much so that she was elevated to top-name status in films like Coffy and Foxy Brown not two years later. Not so much for her acting ability, but her charisma. This is a woman who knows how to shoot a machine gun! The man behind these low-rent but highly entertaining exploitation adventures, director Jack Hill (Doll House & Bird House) covers all the obligatories: 1) Naked women in the shower. 2) Women wrestling in mud. 3) Women being tortured. But despite that litany of lurid, misogynistic plot points, the women always come out on top. Part of the “youth movement” that was pushing “old Hollywood” to the side, Corman’s films became a drive-in phenomenon. And all the films collected in Shout Factory’s Women in Cages Collection retain Corman’s sense of humor that keeps things from ever crossing the line. Released on Blu-ray for the first time, (the standard-def version came out a few months back) with commentaries and a superb documentary, From Manila With Love, put yourself under house arrest and check out this cheesy piece of film history.