Bamboo House Of Dolls (1973)

Directed by
covers all the bases
Reviewed by Simon on 2005-02-13
Kuei Chi-Hung covers all the bases in this Women In Prison exploitation film (set in a concentration camp rather than a criminal prison). Shades of Great Escape, but with lots and lots of naked flesh. WIP films are always a popular choice for exploitation films, probably because they're a good excuse for the film-makers to place women in degrading and debasing situations... you wouldn't see Steve McQueen getting raped or tortured by a gay prison guard, but in a female prison film it seems to be mandatory. This particular WIP film is actually pretty well made, with a decent story and some good performances - perhaps most interesting for the fact that 3 of the main characters are white women, and other than a brief mention of their ability to speak Mandarin they are treated no differently to the Asian cast. This was pretty uncommon at the time... hell, it still is.