The Big Doll House (1971)
New Horizons Home Video / Fullscreen (4:3) / Color / 1 disc / 94 minutes

Well, I never saw it coming: That scene in THE BIG DOLL HOUSE when top-billed Pam Grier’s voluminous character gets shanked to death by her junkie girlfriend. It was about the only unexpected moment in a movie that utterly defined the women-in-prison genre of exploitation.

All the hallmarks of WIP are there in 1971’s BIG DOLL HOUSE. There are the lithe prisoners, who resemble runway models more than hardened criminals. There’s the lesbian action, the shower scenes, a bit of nudity, the prison bars, the creepy doctor and lots of shame holding everything together. BIG DOLL HOUSE, while not the first WIP film, certainly established the template for similar films to come. In doing so, it also broke the mold.

Produced by legendary filmmaker Roger Corman (uncredited) and directed by exploitation’s royalty Jack Hill, BIG DOLL HOUSE represents a near-perfect alignment of production, talent and storytelling.

The film was an early role for Grier, who would later become the head mistress of blaxploitation working with Hill on classics such as COFFY and FOXY BROWN. Sid Haig (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS) plays his trademark lovable degenerate in the character of Harry the produce man. Sexy Roberta Collins (DEATH WISH 2) and Judy Brown (WOMEN IN CAGES) round out the mix.

Filmed on location in the Philippines on a shoestring budget, BIG DOLL HOUSE looks great — one might even say, epic — thanks to the exotic locale and colorful, vibrant production design. The soundtrack, though minimal, contains the deliciously funky “Long-Time Woman,” sung by Grier herself in the introductory credits. Add to the mix some quotable dialog, a few well-placed innuendos and occasional nudity, and you’ve got a film with nary a dull moment.

We’re pulled into the story by way of the defiant Marnie Collier (Judy Brown), who arrives at the women’s prison to serve 99 years for murdering her husband. She undergoes the standard check-in procedures — the cavity search, some awkward groping at the hands of the resident physician, and general abuse from jail’s chief tormentor. In fairly direct fashion, she’s placed in a cell with resident troublemakers Grear (Pam Grier), the built-like-a-brick-shathouse freedom-fighter Bodine, blonde spitfire Alcott (Collins), Harrad the addict and cat-lady Ferina.

Life in the doll house is status quo until jailhouse vendor Harry (Haig) shows up one day with a smuggled letter for Bodine from a lover who needs her help. The ladies make plans to escape, but not before they endure torture from guards, instigate food fights, hold cockroach races, mud wrestle, work long hours in the cane fields and shoot up with narcotics.

Eventually, the ladies exploit Harry’s weakness for jailhouse tail and use him and his partner to bust themselves out. Once the gals arm themselves, some two-fisted greasegun action ensues and the body count rises. If there are any loose ends at the film’s climax, they eventually get resolved in the strangely nihilistic ending.

Though firmly lodged in the WIP tradition, BIG DOLL HOUSE is a suprisingly accessible film, compared to some of its rougher, darker counterparts — those grim exercises in lesbianism, gore and gloom (ILSA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SS, CAGED HEAT, etc. come to mind). Not to say that BIG DOLL HOUSE doesn’t have its brutal moments, because it does. The hateful harangues were dialed back a nub for the Hill-directed, but less successful follow-up film, THE BIG BIRD CAGE.

Seek out the New Horizons digitally remastered version. The disc contains an excellent print of the film, a Leonard Maltin interview with Corman, an 8-page booklet outlining Corman’s career and a handful of excellent trailers for other Corman productions, including the Sly Stallone classic DEATH RACE 2000, the Ron Howard films GRAND THEFT AUTO and EAT MY DUST, BIG BAD MAMA and HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP.

Four stars from me. This one’s shamefully choice!

Check out a trailer for BIG DOLL HOUSE below: