a review of 大鸟笼

2020 Cult Movie Challenge Week 21: Filipino Exploitation Week This one turned out to be more of an ensemble piece than I was expecting, with Grier and Haig relegated to a supporting role as revolutionaries trying to stage a Bastille-style mass prison break. It doesn't necessarily transcend certain exploitation tropes, specifically the omnipresent threat of rape as a plot device. But the movie at least seems to be making an attempt at presenting the women prisoners as distinct characters with their own personalities, motives, and agendas. Like a lot of these kinds of movies, I wish that maybe there was a little bit more of the characters wreaking vengeance on the warden and guards and less time spent depicting the awful treatment they suffered beforehand. The audience already has sympathy for these women, so it shouldn't have required as much onscreen extremity to get us there.