Five women plot a perilous escape from a brutal Philippine prison ruled by sadistic guards.
BIG DOLL HOUSE
Their bodies were caged, but not their desires. They would do anything for a man - or to him.
Beautiful women prisoners are subjected to sadistic torture in a Philippine prison, until 5 of them plot an escape by taking the evil female warden hostage with the reluctant help of 2 male fruit vendors.
Quick Answer
Big Doll House is a 1971 United States/Philippines action-drama-thriller film directed by Jack Hill about a group of female prisoners who endure sadistic torture and plot an audacious escape from a brutal Philippine prison.
Programmer's Pick
Where else do you get Pam Grier wielding attitude behind bars and fruit vendors roped into a prison break? Big Doll House delivers B-movie grit, steamy cellblock clashes, and a grindhouse sense of fun that’s as hard-edged as it is audacious.
— SassyFlix Programmer
Overview
Why This Matters
This film helped launch a cycle of women-in-prison movies in the early 1970s, with its cast, story, and shooting location reused in subsequent films like Women in Cages and The Big Bird Cage.
Cast & Crew
View all →Why Cult
A defining entry in the women-in-prison subgenre, loaded with genre staples like sadistic guards, steamy showers, and gritty escape schemes.
Pam Grier brings intensity and swagger as the formidable Grear, hinting at the blaxploitation queen she’d soon become.
Kathryn Loder’s Lucian dishes out creative tortures, making every cellblock scene a powder keg of menace and defiance.
The inmates’ desperate breakout—complete with hostages and unlikely allies—escalates the stakes and the suspense.
Scene Gallery
Threat File
Collier’s arrival and ongoing inmate clashes
Torture by sadistic guard Lucian
Physical and psychological abuse of prisoners
Philippine women's prison
Questions from the Vault
When was Big Doll House released? +
Big Doll House was released in 1971.
Who directed Big Doll House? +
Big Doll House was directed by Jack Hill.
How long is Big Doll House? +
Big Doll House has a runtime of 95 minutes.
What genre is Big Doll House? +
Big Doll House is an action, drama, and thriller film.
Where can I watch Big Doll House? +
Big Doll House is available to stream on SassyFlix.