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

Directed by
Chih-Hung Kuei

Produced by
Run Run Shaw	....	producer
Tien Wu	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Fu-ling Wang

Cinematography by
Chi Yu

Film Editing by
Henry Chang
Hsing-lung Chiang

Art Direction by
Mao-lung Lin

Costume Design by
Chi-Yu Liu

Makeup Department
Hsu-Ching Wu	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chi Cheng	....	assistant director
Chih Hsiung Kuo	....	assistant director

Stunts
Yasuyoshi Shikamura	....	action coordinator (as Shikamura)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fen Chen	....	lighting technician
Ming Sheng Wu	....	lighting technician

Other crew
Jing Fang	....	production assistant
Cheng Peng	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Shaw Brothers

Distributors

• Peppercorn-Wormser (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Cinefear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH (West Germany) (VHS)

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)

Big budget exploitation effort is a little too sloppy to praise

Big budget exploitation effort from Shaw Brothers is a little too sloppy to be praised, but it's a decent time waster. It is bizarre to see softcore Scandinavian sex siren Birte Tove ("Bedroom Mazurka", "Bedside Dentist") in a key role as prisoner/Red Cross envoy Jennifer. Ms. Tove gets beaten around a lot in this violent WIP (Women In Prison) flick and reveals more than her fine legs.

In fact, director Chin Hung Kuei appears to be obsessed with women's legs and underthings. Hardly a moment goes by that we aren't looking up a fallen prisoner's dress or watching another poor soul have have clothing torn off by an evil Japanese officer.

There is a confusing plot concerning hidden gold and some anti-Japanese propaganda, but the main focus of this exploitation epic is rape, beatings, catfights, escape attempts and torture. It's all done with tongue in cheese at times and is usually too extreme to be taken seriously. Though the film does have a TF Mous vibe at times (reminding this viewer of "Lost Souls" in particular), Mous's shocking exploitation classic didn't hit cinemas until 1980, six years after this was produced.

The film's scope is quite wide and events in the third act move to rural and coastal locations outside the central prison set. The climax is rather ludicrous and totally illogical, but by then, exploitation fans will have gotten their money's worth, if not any food for the brain.