The Big Doll House

R

1971

1 hr. 33 min.

Crime

Drama

List

100%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Women (Judy Brown, Pam Grier, Roberta Collins) in pastel dresses plot an escape from a tropical island prison run by perverts.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Rent The Big Doll House on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.

Brent A

20% rating ... Not a very good movie. Odd storyline in my opinion.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

05/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

3 women played by Pam Grier, Judy Brown, and Roberta Collins are all convicts. But the prison they're in isn't a regular institution. It's actually run by males who seek pleasure by torture of the inmates. But the 3 ladies devise a plan to escape and they reluctantly ask two fruit vendors for help. 50 years on and it's pretty much what you'd imagine of the ultimate male fantasy. This was a lot of fun to watch I gotta say. The filmmakers take advantage of the genre with with all the skin, blood, torture, and fun gun fights. Yet this band of ladies manage to take back their power and freedom escaping from a corrupt, desensitized institution abusing its power. It's not just the men who take advantage of them. Pam Grier is the only known star here but the rest of the cast is hard to not pay attention to. All of them have committed terrible crimes but that doesn't mean they should be punished more than what pain and suffering they've already been made to experience. They make you root for their desperation to break free of their constraints. There's also a twist near the end that caught me off guard so to speak. The Philippines setting adds some extra flavor, too.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/05/23

Full Review

Apollo O

Glorious trashy fun. It's so absurd and lurid. Is there such a thing as an "action farce"?

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

11/21/22

Full Review

jon c

Jack Hill directs Pam Grier in one of the many infamous female exploitation prison films. It's pretty much what you'd imagine of the ultimate male fantasy. Women run and occupy an all-female penitentiary In the Philippines. Of course there are several male figures that make up the patriarchal power. Grear, Marnie, Alcott, Bodine make up several of inmate buddies. Then Grear comes up the ultimate plan; a daring escape from all of the males and their perversions. Secret ways of sadism are performed kept out of watchful eyes. Particularly they kidnap the female warden who abuses her power and with the help of two vendor men. Every day being locked up is filled with torture, free sexual exploration, cat-fights, and hazing. Grear and the others' only hope is to work together to gain their freedom or they'll end up dead. This was a lot of fun to watch I gotta say. The filmmakers take advantage of the genre with with all the skin, blood, torture, and fun gun fights. Yet this band of ladies manage to take back their power and freedom escaping from a corrupt, desensitized institution abusing its power. It's not just the men who take advantage of them. Pam Grier is the only known star here but the rest of the cast is hard to not pay attention to. All of them have committed terrible crimes but that doesn't mean they should be punished more than what pain and suffering they've already been made to experience. They make you root for their desperation to break free of their constraints. There's also a twist near the end that caught me off guard so to speak. The Philippines setting adds some extra flavor, too. Looking for a fun, violent exploitation flick with a great feminine empowerment vibe? This one's definitely a highlight.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

cees t

Bad acting, dialogue, plot, sound effects, and logic (daily prison torture yet everyone looks like they just had their hair done). The only nice things are the breasts.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Rich S

This is a Roger Corman spectacular through New World Pictures. It's your classic B movie directed by Jack Hill with plenty of sex, nudity, a mud fight and enough violence to keep your mind off the low-calorie storyline. This one set the bar for women-in-prison films. It's not a high bar, but for this genre, it's considered successful if you can reach it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/25/20

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Jack Hill

Director

Judith M. Brown

Collier

Pam Grier

Grear

Roberta Collins

Alcott

Brooke Mills

Harrad

Pat Woodell

Bodine

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

75%

41%

Big Bad Mama

54%

33%

Boxcar Bertha

14%

42%

Bloody Mama

73%

48%

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song

95%

69%

The Honeymoon Killers

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It can tickle the funny bone as a guilty pleasure film.

Rated: B

Mar 20, 2020

Full Review

Brian Orndorf

Blu-ray.com

Hill deserves an enormous amount of credit for following the material as far as it goes, maintaining its ogle-worthy appeal for longer than anyone could possibly expect.

Rated: B-

Nov 12, 2017

Full Review

John Beifuss

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

A first-person lament, the title song establishes that the story will be told sympathetically from the point of view of the female inmates, even if their humiliation and suffering (and their communal showers) are the film's raison d'etre.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 2, 2011

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Filmed by Hill with a luxuriant eye for the Philippines, an appreciation for offhand poesy, and a rather Sirkian direction of actresses

Nov 15, 2009

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Aug 1, 2005

Full Review

Brian Mckay

eFilmCritic.com

When the skin factor is low, Sid Haig saves the show! Sure, overall it's a piece of crap, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a piece of crap film finer than this one.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 16, 2003

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Women (Judy Brown, Pam Grier, Roberta Collins) in pastel dresses plot an escape from a tropical island prison run by perverts.

Director: Jack Hill
Executive Producer: Roger Corman
Screenwriter: Don Spencer
Production Co: New World Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 11, 2017
Sound Mix: Mono

Most Popular at Home Now