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The Women in Cages Collection: Roger Corman's Cult Classics Triple Feature
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (17th September 2011). |
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The Film
 To a generation of film fans, the name New World Pictures means something important. Whether it was seeing the logo adorning the front of some fantastic VHS cover art (DVD companies could stand to learn A LOT about how to design a film’s promotional package art) or watching it pop up in the opening moments of your favorite genre classics, Roger Corman’s production company has seemingly been around since the dawn of cinema. But, where did it all begin? Shout! Factory’s latest release in the spectacular “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” series provides the answer. Way back in 1970, after having spent the better part of the past two decades producing and directing numerous low-budget pictures, Corman founded his production/distribution company, New World Pictures. He knew the company needed to produce sizeable hits on a shoestring budget if they were to survive. Now, there wasn’t anything new about women in prison features, but Corman felt the market was ripe for a sleazy drive-in classic full of hot babes in distress, so he commissioned the script and work got underway. Less than a year later, his first babes behind bars feature, “Big Doll House” (1971), was released to rabid grindhouse audiences who ate it up, giving the film huge return grosses and paving the road for Corman to continue making prison exploitation films throughout the 70's. Three of the most popular of these features have been collected here, presented in high-definition widescreen for the first time. And let me tell ya, going to prison never looked so good. "Big Doll House" (1971): This was it - the first prison exploitation feature to determine whether Corman’s New World Pictures would sink or swim. Of course, knowing Corman and his shrewd skills with a film’s budget, it was almost assured to turn a profit for the fledgling production house. The script, written by Don Spencer, originally took place in a Los Angeles prison, but Corman was quickly talked into shooting in the Philippines when it was discovered that he could make the picture look larger in scale and it would cost far less. So, he sent director Jack Hill and a bevy of women to Manila to make the picture. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t the then-new Pam Grier who leads the film. In fact, it plays much more as an ensemble film, with no one woman taking center stage. We’re first introduced to Collier (Judy Brown), a woman sentenced to 99 years for murdering her husband. After arriving at the prison she’s thrown into a cell with a rough bunch of women, tenuously led by Alcott (Roberta Collins). A couple of her new cellmates think she might be a prison spy, so they plan to assault her, but not before Grear (Pam Grier, in her first role) tells them to lay off. Although they have to live together, the women are forced into divulging inside information by the sadistic head of prison guards, Lucian (Kathryn Loder). Her methods are… unconventional, to say the least. Women are routinely suspended – nude – and beaten, whipped, electrocuted and threatened by poisonous snakes in order to extract what information they might know. The women are, understandably, getting tied of all the abuse. The decision is made to plot an escape, and they recruit the aid of two local produce sellers (and perverts), Harry (Sid Haig) and Fred (Jerry Franks). But with heavily-armed guards at every post, it’s not going to be easy for them to make it out alive. This film was everything I loved as a kid. I may have even seen this before, but my adolescent memory is fuzzy when it comes to these soft-core prison films. I half expected Rhonda Shear to pop up and welcome me to “USA Up All Night!” (1986–1997), one of my favorite late-night, parents-shouldn’t-know-I’m watching-this-stuff programs. This is drive-in grindhouse cinema at its finest. Everything about this picture is meant to play heavily to an audience of kids smoking dope in their cars, chugging a few beers and trying to make-out with whatever girl they were lucky enough to convince to ride along. Corman knew how to attract them – some of the women might not be the best actresses, but they’re so enchantingly beautiful that you’ll be half tempted to have a sex change and commit a crime in Manila just to get thrown in with them. And they’re all vicious bitches. Pam Grier and Roberta Collins have a mud wrestling match that, well… you’ve just gotta see it. Boob aficionados will be pleased with the ample amount of jugs on display, although Grier manages to make it out with only a lot of sideboob action. If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like to see a topless woman chained up and threatened with a cobra bite, this is your film. The torture reminded me of something you’d see in the "Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS" (1975), only with less Nazi propaganda. It’s a damn fun film, with lots of great lines, crazy characters, catfights, food fights, shower scenes and Sid Haig reminding everyone why Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino have such a hard-on for him. It’s because the man spent years making these grindhouse classics that, often times, are elevated simply by his performance alone. Haig has been a regular actor in director Jack Hill’s films, having appeared earlier in “Spider Baby” (1968) and later on in Grier’s blaxsploitation classics “Coffy” (1973) and “Foxy Brown” (1974). I really think that with any other cast and crew, this film wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable as it is. Hill has an eye for what sells, and he knows how to make his films intriguing, exploitative and memorable. Paired with Haig’s acting abilities and Grier’s stunning beauty, the three have been responsible for some of the most-watched drive-in films of that era. I do have to make one mention, though, and that’s the film’s final line. The ending has the appearance that it was meant to go one way, but the final line, which has been poorly edited into the movie, completely changes that notion. I find it a fitting end to the film, however, since it embodies much of what makes these films so damn fun. Film rating: B- "Women in Cages" (1971): Once “Big Doll House” proved to be a commercial success, Corman quickly began production on another women in prison film set in Latin America. This time around, the story revolves around Carol Jefferies (Jennifer Gan), A naďve American woman who winds up sentenced to 10 years hard labor when cops find her carrying a stash of drugs her boyfriend, Rudy (Charlie Davao), gave to her. She quickly learns life on the inside is rough thanks to the cruelty of the warden, Alabama (Pam Grier), a strong black woman with lesbian tendencies and a love of smoking pot and beating women. And then there’s Stoke (Roberta Collins), a junkie who’s commissioned to kill Sandy in order to get her fix and possibly time off her sentence. When the women finally have enough of Alabama’s wicked ways, they decide to escape the prison and set out into the jungle, hoping to escape any way they can. Of the three Corman-produced films in this set, I’d have to say this was my least favorite. That’s not to say it’s bad, but it’s lacking in a few key areas that the other two films excelled in. For one, the film’s lead, Jennifer Gan, is kinda annoying. She always has this pained, whiny, duck-lipped face that you want to see Pam Grier’s warden take a fist to. Her character is incredibly stupid, spending the film in total belief that her drug dealer/pimp boyfriend is out there waiting for her. It’s also not as heavy sadistic as “Big Doll House”, nor does it have any of the humor that made “The Big Bird Cage” so much fun. I found it to be very middle-of-the-pack for a film of this ilk. Alabama is a wicked and cruel warden, but she’s also trying to turn these women into her lovers, so she’s slightly less abrasive in her punishments than we’ve seen in these situations before. The women don’t have as much personality here, either. I don’t expect anything but a one-note character from most of them, but we don’t have a large ensemble that gave the other films a more diverse crop of ladies. I’d give the edge to Roberta Collins for being the best of the bunch. She’s got a great cafeteria fight scene with a Filipino woman that’s decently-choreographed and mildly titillating. I feel that the lack of director Jack Hill took a toll on this production. He does a great job of making his exploitation films with the right balance of thrills and humor, but the director of this picture, Gerardo de Leon, seems to have tried playing things too straight. The end result is probably still one of the better female prisoner films to come out of the 70's, but it can’t hold a candle to Corman’s other works. There isn’t enough diversity in the screenplay or direction to give it that little extra something to stand out amongst the pack. Film rating: C "The Big Bird Cage" (1972): Here’s the final Jack Hill-directed, Roger Corman-produced Filipino women in prison film, and it’s right up there with “Big Doll House” in terms of sheer enjoyment, perhaps even a bit better. After seeing how “Women in Cages” misfired on some levels, it’s obvious that Hill brings something special to these pictures with his sense of direction and story. In addition, we’ve also got a Pam Grier and Sid Haig back together again, furthering the proof that alone they can still make good movies, but together they have a chemistry that really gels on screen. Pam Grier has gone from being inmate to warden and, now, she’s got a team breaking in to break her out! One night during a political dinner, two revolutionaries, Blossom (Pam Grier) and Django (Sid Haig), stick up the joint and take a woman, Terry (Anitra Ford), hostage. When the police catch up with them, Django escapes, but the cops go ahead and arrest Terry even though she was the one who got kidnapped! Seems she has some powerful friends – and enemies – who want to see her locked up behind bars. She’s sent to work at the Big Bird Cage, a prison that houses women who work on a massive sugar cane factory. While Terry schemes up a way to get out, Blossom manages to get herself locked in after a political assassination attempt literally fizzles out. But there’s no way Django is gonna let his lady suffer, so he finagles a job with the on-site security team and soon a plan is underway for everyone to join the revolution and escape the grounds. I really had fun with this entry for a number of reasons, but first and foremost is Sid Haig’s performance as Django. He’s a carefree spirit leading a ragtag bunch of men, but his primary interests seem to lie in eating and screwing (although, when Pam Grier is your lady who can blame him?). He’s also got a wicked sense of humor. Haig is one of those actors who I could watch in anything, but he really earns his keep when it comes time to get a job inside the prison. The guards who work there are all gay, so Django does his best to be “one of the boys”, laying it on thick with plenty of flirting, a heavily-lisped voice and some rather suggestive clothing. At times he had me rolling with his over-the-top portrayal of a revolutionary leader gone gay in order to get his lady love back. As I stated before, Haig and Grier have undeniable chemistry in their films, and that relationship only makes the pictures stronger. We get a much more interesting group of ladies this go round, with Anitra Ford leading the pack for a good portion of the film until Grier winds up in the slammer. After that point, Ford mysteriously disappears until the climax. It felt at times like director Hill wanted to up the ante from his last picture, “Big Doll House”, by throwing in more T&A and gratuitous catfights to make up for the lack of lesbian S&M. During one scene in particular there are no less than FOUR catfights taking place at once. In the mud. With scantily clad women. We’ve got Amazonian lesbians, jive-talkin’ sistas and sex-starved convicts who’ll do anything to get off one more time. This is a film that knows what audience it’s catering to, and it gives you everything you want… and then some. Grindhouse cinema at its finest, folks. Enjoy. Film rating: B+
Video
“Big Doll House” makes its debut on Blu-ray with a 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image that looks rough, but I have few doubts that it’s also the best the film has ever looked. Previously, the only available version was an unmated full-frame DVD that has been out of print for close to a decade, so to say this is an upgrade would be a major understatement. If I were to rank this transfer alongside all other Blu-ray available, it would get slayed. There are some definite positives to the image, though. Many shots, particularly those out in the baking Philippine sun, look very attractive. Detail is occasionally exquisite – you can count every tiny curl in Pam’s afro. Primary colors leap off the screen, partly due to their standing out among the drab confines of the prison. The fruit assortment in Harry and Fred’s cart appears succulent and ripe – the variety of colors contained on the cart pop with impressive clarity. Anyone who’s a fan of Sid Haig knows he’s got a complexion that could make Tommy Lee Jones’ face look smooth as a marble countertop – and every last craggy, moon-like mark is reproduced more faithfully than anyone should want to see! Now on to the bad… The print is a little worse for the wear. Numerous instances of cigarette burns, lines, scratches, white specks and dirt/debris rear up throughout the film. Personally, I don’t have a problem with this. It only adds to the grindhouse aesthetic that filmmakers today try to inject into their films digitally. This is the real deal, and it would actually look wrong in my eyes if the picture had been scrubbed and polished too much. The full 1080p picture allows many shots to be given a significant overhaul, but it’s been done judiciously enough to maintain the integrity of what the film represents. The transfers for both “Women in Cages” and “The Big Bird Cage” are similar enough in appearance, texture and definition that I would apply the above statements to them as well. All three films have the same aspect ratios and use the same video codecs. Each has been allotted a 25 GB space on their respective discs. I don’t think any one film stands out head and shoulders above the others, not do I feel any of them has a transfer more deficient than the rest. This note appears regarding the video transfer of “The Big Bird Cage”: Two separate film elements were used to put together a complete version of “The Big Bird Cage” – a CRI and the original negative, which had been cut at some point.
Audio
Expect little out of the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit. I’m sure Shout! Factory did all they could with the available elements they had been given. In fact, this note appears on the insert: We used the only available source material for the audio on "Women in Cages", which was not in pristine condition. Much of the audio for these films shot in the Philippines was done later in postproduction, so you’ll find not all the lip movements match the dialogue. Again, I don’t want/need my grindhouse classics to sound like they were mixed yesterday with state of the art equipment. I want these movies to sound gritty and unpolished, but with enough cleanup work done to ensure that they’re clear enough to understand and there aren’t numerous audio anomalies plaguing the track. While I had no qualms with the level used for dialogue – and it was never distorted or indiscernible – it can often sound very tinny and canned. I understand why, though, as Shout! Factory’s explanation is adequate and understandable. There is a hiss that permeates the track on “Big Doll House” at times, but it remains low and never rules over the proceedings. You should go into these films expecting some bad ADR work, obvious dubbing, occasional errors and poor sound effects. When the women are showering in “Big Doll House”, the sound of the water running resembles a busted speaker left on at a high volume. These are the things that make the moves what they are, though, and I think it would be unreasonable to expect much more out of them. The restorative work done for all three films has produced the best possible end result, and fans should be excited by the upgrade over what’s been available on the market until now.
Extras
The 2-disc set comes with a minimal amount of extras, most of which have been relegated to “Big Doll House”. There are a couple of audio commentaries, a documentary, theatrical trailers, TV spots and interviews. The original DVD release of “Big Doll House” included an interview with Roger Corman hosted by Leonard Maltin, which has not been included here. I don’t believe much behind-the-scenes material is available for these films, and I’d suspect what we’ve gotten is likely the best Shout! Factory could do. DISC ONE: "Big Doll House": Director Jack Hill provides an audio commentary that is a real pleasure to absorb. I’ve had the pleasure of attending screenings of Hill’s films where he was on-hand to do a Q&A session afterwards, and the man has such a soothing cadence to his voice that I could listen to him speak for hours. He is extremely insightful, knowledgeable and has a lot of anecdotes about the production to share. It’s fascinating to learn what he was able to do with the budget he’d been given. It’s a highly recommended track. The film’s theatrical trailer (1080p, but looking very worse for the wear) runs for 2 minutes and 8 seconds. A TV Spot (1080p) runs for 55 seconds. “From Manila with Love” (1080p) is a documentary that runs for 49 minutes. Red Shirt Pictures produces this excellent piece on the making of Corman’s three Philippines-set prison films. We’re treated to interviews with Roger Corman, Jack Hill, Sid Haig and many more, but conspicuous by her absence is the star of it all, Pam Grier. It feels slightly incomplete without her participation, but the remaining talking heads have some great recollections about shooting their respective films. You’ll find the running time flies right by as you sit in awe, listening to the tales from on set. Interview with star Judy Brown (1080p) runs for 7 minutes and 13 seconds. The eccentric actress sits down to talk a bit about her life and career in the industry. Photo galleries are included with publicity and behind the scenes shots for all 3 films: - “Big Bird Cage Behind the Scenes” contains 31 images. - “Big Bird Cage Publicity Photos” contains 18 images. - “Women in Cages Publicity Photos” contains 15 images. - “Big Doll House Publicity Photos” contains 20 images. - “Big Doll House Behind the Scenes” contains 5 images. DISC TWO: "Women in Cages": The film’s theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 1 minute and 29 seconds. A TV Spot (1080p) runs for 1 minute and 1 second. "The Big Bird Cage": There’s another audio commentary with director Jack Hill, this one just as enjoyable as the first. It’s more of the same – lots of production notes interspersed with anecdotes from filming. His discussion about Sid Haig’s gay mannerisms is particularly funny. The film’s theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 2 minutes and 44 seconds. A TV Spot (1080p) runs for 1 minute and 10 seconds.
Packaging
The 2-disc set (one 50GB disc and one 25GB disc) comes housed in a Blu-ray keepcase with the discs secured to a hub opposite one another. The cover art looks appropriately gritty, with the theatrical posters showcased beneath the “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” banner. Inside, the art on the back of the sleeve features a production shot from “The Big Bird Cage”. An insert is included with a note from Roger Corman on each of the three films. Inside the insert, there is a sampling of some international poster art for all the films. It’s a nice (dirty) little package.
Overall
Grindhouse and exploitation fans are likely to have this set either sitting on their shelves already, or they’re waiting for reviews to decide whether or not to pull the trigger. My advice? Do it. These Blu-rays are showing you the films in a way they’ve probably never been seen before; they destroy the old unmated full frame DVD's in both video and audio quality. And on top of it, you get the same commentaries from those discs as well as a few new supplements produced exclusively for this set. The films themselves are fun, cruel, sadistic, arousing, hilarious and totally exploitive. Considering the package can be had for around $30, that’s only$10/piece for some classic 70's sleaze cinema. How can you say no to that?
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