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The Big Doll House

Play trailer Poster for The Big Doll House R 1971 1h 33m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Women (Judy Brown, Pam Grier, Roberta Collins) in pastel dresses plot an escape from a tropical island prison run by perverts.
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The Big Doll House

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
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

Audience Reviews

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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
The Big Doll House

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Movie Info

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
Producer
John Ashley, Eddie Romero, Cirio H. Santiago, Jane Schaffer
Screenwriter
Don Spencer
Production Co
New World Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 11, 2017
Runtime
1h 33m
Sound Mix
Mono
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