Woodyanders Haughty celebrity Terry (a delightfully brash performance by slinky brunette minx Anitra Ford) gets arrested and sent to a brutal women's prison work farm. Gutsy revolutionary Blossom (robustly played with splendidly sassy aplomb by the one and only Pam Grier) decides to engineer a break out from the outside in. Ace B-flick writer/director Jack Hill relates the entertaining story at a constant quick pace, stages the action set pieces with real flair, and maintains a winningly easy'n'breezy tone throughout. Moreover, the eager cast have a field day with the wacky material: Carol Speed as the scrappy Mickie, Teda Bracci as raucous top con Bull Jones, Candice Roman as sex-starved strumpet Carla, Karen McKevic as fearsome and predatory lesbian Karen, Andres Centenera as the strict and sadistic Warden Zappa, and Marissa Delgado as the fragile Rina. The always terrific Sid Haig is in fine lively form as merry bandit Django while legendary Filipino sleaze movie mainstay Vic Diaz almost steals the whole show with his hilarious turn as mincing gay guard Rocco. Better still, this film covers all the pleasingly sleazy grindhouse bases: a group shower scene, torture and degradation of women, a sizable smattering of tasty bare distaff skin, fierce catfights, and an exciting last reel revolt and subsequent escape. However, it's Hill's trademark sly humor that really gives this movie an extra uproarious lift (Django has to pretend to be a flamboyant homosexual in order to get hired as a prison guard and poor Rocco winds up being raped by the ladies during the thrilling climax). Philip Sacdalan's pretty polished cinematography does the trick. The funky score by William Loose and William Castleman hits the get-down groovy spot. An absolute blast.

sonya90028 This film was the one of the first, of the 70s women-in-prison film genre. This movie was incredibly violent, with lots of sadistic torture being inflicted on the inmates. The film takes place in the Phillipines, which looks like a horribly ugly country. No doubt, the producers used this factor to their advantage, to emphasize the gruesome situation that the prisoners were in.Blaxploitation movie queen Pam Grier, has the starring role in this movie. She plays Blossom, a renegade who gets thrown in the vile women's prison, on trumped-up charges. Her boyfriend, played by Sid Haig, tries to rescue Blossom. He and Blossom are part of a political guerrilla faction, and Blossom's incarceration was orchestrated by the corrupt, Phillipino government.Pam Grier and Sid Haig, stand-out amongst the otherwise lackluster cast. The film itself, put way too much emphasis on violence perpetrated against the prisoners. Their captors just used them solely as objects of their sadism. This got boring real fast. This movie could've used more interesting plot-lines, and subtlety. This is not one of Roger Corman's better pictures. The many women-in-prison films that followed this one, were much better all around. I'd recommend The Big Bird Cage, only to Pam Grier fans.

Justin Kelly In the 70s, a popular exploitation sub genre known as women in prison produced low budget schlock after low budget schlock. Somewhere in the shuffle, there were a few enjoyable gems. Pam Grier (The L Word, Jackie Brown) seems to have a lock on these, as her "Women in Cages," "The Big Doll House," "The Arena," and this one, "The Big Bird Cage" all seem to be the most fun. I'm sure Roger Corman is to thank for these hilarious movies as well.There really isn't much to the plot. A bunch of broads are in a prison and used as slave labor. They are trying to get out. They have some in fighting and it usually involves mud. The guards are gay stereotypes. Pam Grier doesn't take any crap. Sound like your cup of tea?If you go into this movie expecting "The Godfather," you may not enjoy it, but if you are looking for an enjoyable flick to catch, this is the one. Pam Grier and Sid Haig(The Devil's Rejects) steal the show here, as their over the top performances anchor the rest of the mostly there to exploit, but serviceable cast. If you like your women in prison exploitation films to be more bouncy fun and less disturbing torture, I highly recommend you start here. If only they still made flicks like this.

Minsky95 This was the typical women prison movie. I thought the women were very sexy and the outfits were great. All the camera did was focus on the women and the women were always in provocative poses for the camera and they were always scantily dressed(which I loved). This is your basic prison/breakout movie of the 70's. All I can say about this film is that it's extremely cheesy, but the women are gorgeous and their butts are great!