a.k.a. Women's Penitentiary 2
Directed by: Jack Hill
Cast: Anitra Ford, Pam Grier, Sid Haig, Candice Roman, Vic Diaz, Carol Speed

The camera had not’t even cooled off from The Big Doll House, when Roger Corman produced this $125,000 dollar Filipino WIP classic. In many ways this film is superior to Doll House because director Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Switchblade Sisters, Coffy) gets to write the screenplay this go around. Hill’s script is laced with humour that is comfortably pulled off by the great performances from Sid Haig, Pam Grier, and Vic Diaz. Don’t get me wrong, this film still has all the WIP conventions, the cast just gets something special to work with here.

The Big Doll House opens with a beautiful Filipino mountain being worked by luscious inmates. We quickly cut to a scandalous political jezebel named Terry (Anitra Ford) hitting a local night club where Blossom (Pam Grier) and Django (Sid Haig) are performing musical numbers. Before you can adjust in your seat, Django is liberating folks of their personals, while Blossom shoots the joint up with her trusty machine gun. Django decides to kidnap Terry, but is forced to hijack a taxi after missing the getaway van that has stuffed enough rebels in it to reach clown car status. The exchange between Anitra Ford and Sid Haig during this sequence is priceless.”You can’t rape me, I like sex.”

We later learn that Django is a lazy revolutionary and Blossom is sick of his third world Beatle Bailey ways. Since Django’s fellow guerillas are upset that he has the only woman in camp, he hatches a hair brained scheme to make them all happy. Blossom will get arrested and thrown into the local women’s prison camp where she will hatch a bust out from the inside. Django and company will show up later as the outside support. Easier said then done because this camp is run by a Kafaesque commander making a giant torture device called the big bird cage. So there is no hanky panky going on with the inmates, He’s staffed his prison with a homosexual head guard, played hilariously by jungle veteran Vic Diaz.

This leads to one of the films most outrageous moments when Django tries to get a job as a prison guard by letting Vic Diaz pick him up in a bar. These scenes rival the classic Lorre & Price comedy gold from films like Tales of Terror. You will want to become a Diaz / Haig completist after this one!

There are so many damn good scenes in The Big Bird Cage that it should be used as a textbook for how to make a 70's exploitation film.

From beginning to end, this tongue in cheek production elevates the Women In Prison genre into previously unexplored territory with stand up and cheer drive-in success. Django’s arch is completed in the final reel as the film literally melts before your eyes. The Big Bird Cage is a must see and the inspiration for this website.

The out of print New Concorde Full screen DVD release is the longest print at 96 minutes and features commentary by Jack Hill. Disney bought the rights to Roger Corman's films and has yet to release The Big Bird Cage on DVD. The Warner Home Video and MCM (under the title Women's Penitentiary 2) VHS tapes run only 88 minutes.