The Big Bird Cage (Women's Penitentiary II) (1972)

66% of users liked it
(2,276 ratings)

In this exploitative women's prison drama, the "birds" in "the big bird cage" are, clearly, women. With the help of an outside revolutionary, the girls of at a rural prison stage an escape attempt. They have little to lose, as the prison is a site of incredible decadence and brutality. Only two of… More In this exploitative women's prison drama, the "birds" in "the big bird cage" are, clearly, women. With the help of an outside revolutionary, the girls of at a rural prison stage an escape attempt. They have little to lose, as the prison is a site of incredible decadence and brutality. Only two of the covey of beautiful young women prisoners survive the attempt. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 28 min.
Directed By: Jack Hill
Written By: Jack Hill
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Cult Movies

In Theaters: Jul 1, 1972 Wide
On DVD: Feb 19, 2002
Studio: New Line Cinema

Critic Reviews

John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
'Half of you won't get ten steps before you get a boobful of lead!' warns Pam Grier.
Simon Abrams, Slant Magazine
Pam Grier can do anything, even make cheesy skin flicks worth seeing.
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
Women in Prison fare made watchable by Pam Grier's scenery chewing and Sid Haig's mincing about while he poses as a gay prison guard. And let us not forget all the breasts.
Michael Szymanski, Zap2it.com
Always fun! Anything with big mean Pam Grier!

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Featured Audience Ratings

Anthony L

It's bad taste exploitation all the way with the follow up (although unrelated) to Big Doll House. I can't say I liked it as much though, Pam Grier and Sig Haig as revolutionaries (without a cause) are good fun, and I quite liked Haig camping it up as a gay guard but there… More
It's bad taste exploitation all the way with the follow up (although unrelated) to Big Doll House. I can't say I liked it as much though, Pam Grier and Sig Haig as revolutionaries (without a cause) are good fun, and I quite liked Haig camping it up as a gay guard but there isn't enough of Grier and there is too much of all the other crappy characters. The acting is bad as is the case in all these films but here it is particularly bad. Half way through, you just want them to get on with it. Good but not Jack Hill's best. Exploitation fans only.
Tim S

Roger Corman and Jack Hill knock it out of the park again (to be honest, that combination is the only one that seems to work for me in the "women in prison" genre). The Big Bird Cage, like its predecessors, isn't perfect but damn is it entertaining. In this one… More
Roger Corman and Jack Hill knock it out of the park again (to be honest, that combination is the only one that seems to work for me in the "women in prison" genre). The Big Bird Cage, like its predecessors, isn't perfect but damn is it entertaining. In this one you've got Pam Grier and Sig Haig starting a revolution with a whole lotta female slaves. Of course the slaves are tortured and worked like dogs, and they're clawing each other's eyes out to get laid. Sid Haig is hilarious as he impersonates a gay watch guard infiltrating the compound and hitting on the other gay watch guards. There's plenty of nudity, some explosions & fires and the rape scene to end all rape scenes: a slew of women raping a gay man. It's all a thing of exploitation beauty, and tons of fun to boot. This one is highly recommended.
Ken S

Bridge Over the River Titty
Doctor S

"Aw, you can't rape me - I like sex." Ridiculous to the extreme as a pitiful band of revolutionaries attempt to liberate a women's work camp which goes so horribly wrong it makes The Great Escape look like a resounding… More
"Aw, you can't rape me - I like sex." Ridiculous to the extreme as a pitiful band of revolutionaries attempt to liberate a women's work camp which goes so horribly wrong it makes The Great Escape look like a resounding success. As for the women, no matter your type there's someone for you - uglies, beauties, black, white, Filipino, sassy chicks, crazy chicks, short chicks, a giantess, brunettes, and a blonde. (No fatties though, it's a labor camp after all.) My favorite was the sex-starved blonde who would't mind doing the time as long as she could get her freak on now and then - unfortunately for her all the guards are gay! Goofy thing is I can't identify her, the closing credits list character names but I'm sure over half of them aren't mentioned during the actual movie because apparently that would just confuse matters. I can pick out statuesque Anitra Ford as she has the most screen time as a model who is notorious for bedding around with government officials, and deliverer of the quote that opens this review. Disappointed Pam Grier is only in the movie quarter of the time despite top billing, but she makes the most of it. Sid Haig has fun as Django who goes queer eye for the revolutionary guy in order to infiltrate the camp. Top honors go to the warden for shouting every single line he's given in the way that every warden should in an exploitation flick, and naturally his best line is "I AM NOT AGITATED!!!!" And what better way to make your introduction as the meanest of the mean than by kicking a puppy? (Offscreen, don't worry!) If knife fights, shower scenes, skimpy clothes, campy acting, mud wrestling, choppy editing, attack dogs, patchy plotting, horny inmates, jive talking, and sugar cane fields are your idea of a good time, then you'll be sweet on The Big Bird Cage.
Ed Fucking H

Awesome Women in Prison flick from Jack Hill, brought to you by Roger Corman. Stars the lovely Pam Grier, Sid Haig and Anitra Ford (who some of you might recognize from Messiah of Evil.) Basically just a damn good time. Involves a revolutionary group in an unnamed South American… More
Awesome Women in Prison flick from Jack Hill, brought to you by Roger Corman. Stars the lovely Pam Grier, Sid Haig and Anitra Ford (who some of you might recognize from Messiah of Evil.) Basically just a damn good time. Involves a revolutionary group in an unnamed South American country. Their doing big things, but they realize there is one thing holding their revolution back. Scantily clad women! Where can you find lots of those? The womens prison of course! Pam Grier and Sid Haig get themselves into the prison (Sid Haig by posing as a gay prison guard, which was hilarious) and organize a coup d'etat. Cat fights, mud wrestling, torture, girl on dude rape, and plenty of showers ensue. The women in prison genre is mysoginist by nature, but this is a lot more fun and less mean spirited than the WIP films that, say Jess Franco made. Can;t really find anything to complain about here. Loved it!.
Patrick D

Roger Corman + Jack Hill x Women in Prison = an incredible piece of celluloid magic. Yah, it's misogynist, violent and offensive, but not with a tongue firmly lodged in it's cheek. It's so camp it's at risk of being slashed. If that's not enough then how… More
Roger Corman + Jack Hill x Women in Prison = an incredible piece of celluloid magic. Yah, it's misogynist, violent and offensive, but not with a tongue firmly lodged in it's cheek. It's so camp it's at risk of being slashed. If that's not enough then how about a dose of Pam Grier's film performance on film (save for an extra on Beyond the Valley of the Dolls) or maybe a little Sam Haig is your taste? Really, if you want exploitation, this exploits everything, even the Philippines where Jack and Roger used to film a film cheap. So why haven't you seen this yet?