The Big Bird Cage: The Roger Corman Collection

This sequel to 1971's The Big Doll House is another exploitation movie by Jack Hill, a stalwart of the blaxploitation subgenre, and features many of the same actors, themes and style.

No one should go into a film like this expecting it to make a great deal of sense. The plot, at least as far as there is one, involves a socialite, Terry, and two revolutionaries, Blossom and Django.

In an unnamed South American country, there is a guerrilla uprising run by African-Americans Blossom and Django who hold up a nightclub and rob the patrons before making their escape. Unfortunately for them, the police are hot on their tail and whilst Blossom and the rest of the gang get away, Django only manages to escape by hijacking a car and taking a hostage. When the police have him surrounded on a bridge, he jumps off and leaves the hostage, Terry, behind. The cops don't believe that Terry was a hostage and think that she is part of the revolution so lock her up.

As Terry, who has slept with just about everyone important in this unnamed South American country, she has to be kept out of sight so that she can't spill the beans to one of her former conquests so she gets sent to a government run prison camp, the titular big bird cage, which is as tough a place as there is with sweltering heat, tough guards and harsh penalties for stepping out of line.

Blossom and Django come up with a plan to free the prisoners which involves a fake attack on the government to put Blossom into the camp to help bring it down from the inside. The first part of the plan works perfectly when she throws a grenade at some high-ranking officials and is promptly arrested. Endearing herself to the other prisoners and organising a mass breakout is another matter indeed...


Jack Hill is a master of getting the most out of almost nothing and is a key figure in the exploitation films of the 1970s such as Foxy Brown, Coffy and The Big Doll House to his name. Similarly, Pam Grier is a blaxploitation icon and worked with Hill three times. Sid Haig, who plays Django, is a cult actor and something of an icon, as is his character, and he's still going strong working with the likes of Rob Zombie. They are all excellent in this film, showing why they are still so highly regarded.

The Big Bird Cage is a riot of a film with some outrageous dialogue that is firmly set in that era, there are some nicely directed action sequences and it contains the right amount of sadism for a 'woman in prison' film. As of the fourth of this Roger Corman collection, it shows the great man's diversity and will be of great interest to those who like exploitation movies or wonder why Pam Grier is regarded as such an iconic actress.

The Disc

The Picture
The full frame transfer is fair enough though there is some detritus such as graining and the odd scratch but the lush colours are beautifully presented and the jungle scenes are terrific. The flesh tones are very good and there is plenty of skin on show to illustrate this!

The Sound
The soundtrack, a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono one, is clear and presents the dialogue well along with a suitably funky score which changes from the club scenes to the chase sequences and the scenes in prison. Considering the film is fairly low-budget, there is little to criticise as the soundtrack is fairly undemanding but there is still some crackling and background hiss, though this isn't loud enough to detract from your enjoyment of the film.


Final Thoughts
The Big Bird Cage is a classic piece of 1970s exploitation cinema and follows on from The Big Doll House very well. With top performances by Pam Grier, Sid Haig and Anitra Ford, with the supporting cast doing a sterling job, this is an enjoyable and fun watch for those who know what they're in for and, for those who don't, this is a good starting place.