Nu ji zhong ying (1973)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Chih-Hung Kuei

Release Date:

August 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | War

Plot:

A nurse in a Japanese women's POW camp during World War II masterminds an escapee. |

Plot Keywords:

Women's Prison | Women In Prison | Dead Woman | Nipples | Death

Cast

Birte Tove	...	Jennifer
Lieh Lo	...	Tsui Kuo-Tung
Hsieh Wang	...	Inoue (as Wang Hsieh)
Terry Liu	...	Mako
Roska Rozen	...	Mary
Niki Wane	...	Elizabeth
Hsia-ying Lo	...	Huang Hsia
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shen Chan	...	Bald moustaced Japanese soldier
Feng Chen Chen
Chi Cheng
Ho Ai Chiang
Dana	...	Tortured inmate (as Tsen Shu-Yi)
Mei Sheng Fan
Chen Feng
Tessa Finch
Yu Wo Fu
Peter Gordon
Robert Hoffman
Hsiung Kao
Sang-mi Ko
Keung Law
Hai-shu Li	...	Hung Yu-Ian
Min-Lang Li
Ya Ying Liu
Pei-Chu Ou
Yu Pai

Also Known As:

Bamboo House of Dolls (Hong Kong: English title)
Bamboo Women's Prison (Europe: English title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese | Danish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | Portugal:M/18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | UK:(Banned)

Company:

Shaw Brothers

Movie Connections:

Features Il giardino delle delizie (1967)

A very entertaining exploitation film that's not outdated

I bought this film on DVD (from xploitedcinema.com) and expected an over-the-top, Women In Prison exploitation ride that would have me guffawing and slapping my knee as I had a good old time watching the girls get taken advantage of. It's a guy thing. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that BHOD kept me glued to the screen from beginning to end. It's an exploitation film no doubt, but it's done very well!

Even if a story is just loaded with plotholes, it's still a good movie if the characters are enjoyable. The female prisoners are very attractive, and the actors portraying the villains are really digging into their roles - you can tell they're having a good time. The sex scenes, when violent, are choreographed very well, and are done tastefully. Many of the erotic scenes have a comedic nature, and are welcome pauses in an otherwise non-stop action fest.

Though this film is now 30 years old, it looks like a recently-shot film. Hairstyles look fresh and modern, and there aren't really any props or items that mark this as an early 70's film. Very nice attentions to detail, even if it was unintentional.

What makes this film great is that its appeal is a lot broader than one might think. I love exploitation films and tend to watch them by myself, as my friends are into mainstream movies. But House OF Dolls is captivating enough to be watched all kinds of movie buffs. Just warn them of the impending nudity and enjoy the show :)