Coventry This exhilarating, fast-paced and typically 70s exploitation- adventure ranks as one of the most popular Roger Corman productions among his fans & admirers, and righteously so I daresay, because "Big Bad Mama" guarantees wild and unscrupulous entertainment from the very first opening seconds until (and included) the closing credits. What's the secret formula? Not a whole lot, in fact… Sexy young girls as well as mature women not too prudish to show some flesh, dumb redneck men in ugly redneck villages, a bit of gratuitous violence and – of course – banjo music… Lots and lots of banjo music! The opening scenes are the best, in my humble opinion. During the Great Depression era, in Texas, Wilma's cute but naive teenage daughter Polly is about to get married to a dumb farmer with an even dumber family. During the ceremony, however, Wilma gets hysterical and shouts out that she wants a better life for her and her two daughters. Her idea is to head for California and grab every opportunity they can get along the way. She starts off with taking over her dead lover's bootlegging business, but gradually enrolls into bank robberies, horse race gambling, various con activities and even kidnapping. Thanks to her pretty face and luscious curves, Wilma can easily persuade every man to do what she wants, and her young daughters Billy Jean and Polly inherited those same talents! Roger Corman and director Steve Carver demonstrate that they are perfectly in touch with their B-movie loving audiences, as they extensively deliver what the crowd wants to see. "Big Bad Mama" is clearly inspired by "Bonny and Clyde", as well as several other gangster epics of the late 60s/early 70s, but without the boring romances and numerous speeches/dialogues. Admittedly the film does become quite tedious around the hour, as the script contains quite a few repetitive routines and even nudity becomes commonplace. Angie Dickinson terrifically leads the delightful ensemble cast that also features impressive names like William Shatner and Tom Skerrit (albeit before their major breakthroughs) and, of course, Roger Corman favorite Dick Miller. However, I fully agree with another reviewer who stated that the coolest and most memorable roles are played by the young daughters, and particularly Susan Sennett stands out as the cocky and untamed Billy Jean.

Richard Brandt I met director Steve Carver when he came to town to shoot "Lone Wolf McQuade," and I'm something of a fan, but even with screenwriter Bill Norton aboard, this lacks the wit and cool characters that enliven his Chuck Norris movies or even "Steel." Dialog is particularly lacking, in some scenes even leaving Tom Skerritt with nothing to do but mutter incoherently, or a game Shatner mugging as if he's about to say something but either gets cut off or thinks better of it. The two actors do their best, Skerritt all steely-eyed intensity and Shatner oozing lily-livered Southern charm, as do Royal Dano as a flustered preacher and a shockingly young-looking Noble Willingham as a lecherous bootlegging "uncle." As for the actresses, they certainly deliver the goods, and frequently, especially Angie Dickinson. Yowzah. If you're worried, Angie gets progressively more naked as the plot moves along. Look close for a young and quickly unadorned Sally Kirkland.Plotwise? Angie, rural 1932-vintage single mom, saddled with two unmanageable daughters (one way too naive and one way too not so), after extricating one daughter from a hasty wedding, dips her toe into crime (bootlegging and DAV-smoker-jacking), then gets mired in it after hooking up with bank robber Skerritt. An encounter with down-and-out Southern gent Shatner seals their fate, as he proves to be their little gang's weakest link. Along the way, much blood, clothing and inhibitions will be shed.Considering the budget and shooting time, the action is boisterous enough but haphazard and disjointed, with a lot of repetitive car chases featuring Dick Miller and a sidekick (representing the entirety of the FBI) in hot pursuit, miraculously always one step behind our anti-heroine and her mob. One shudders to see how many vintage autos run up dirt ramps and flip over. Even if you know that the Hollywood hills don't actually look a lot like East Texas (the geography of where our characters are supposed to be at any moment in the plot isn't always made abundantly clear), the small-town locations and antique cars do an impressive job of keeping the movie in its Depression-era period.Look quickly for second-unit director Paul Bartel as a party guest, following in the footsteps of Francis Coppola in "The Young Racers."

moonspinner55 Roger Corman-produced junk which struck a chord with audiences in the early years of cable-television. Depression-era Texas widow with two sex-happy daughters plans to rob and swindle her way to California, picking up a two-bit gangster and a penniless con-man on the journey west. Some of the hillbilly dialogue, as well as an early sequence where Mama tries door-to-door moonshining, is very funny (perhaps due to the script contributions of the estimable William Norton); otherwise, there isn't much to this narrative apart from the embarrassing overtures to "Bonnie & Clyde" and Angie Dickinson's intermittent nude scenes. Self-conscious, ugly-looking picture flails sloppily away at would-be action scenes with energy but no talent. The direction, the editing, and most of the acting is positively atrocious. Followed by a sequel in 1987. * from ****

mothfodder I was so enjoying this film. I had rented two films, both from the seventies, one a big budget comedy and then this low budget Corman show. I hated the big budget and loved this one, until the political demon started barking up the plot's far-left sleeve. The heart on the sleeve, that is. I mean, we all enjoy watching films when the rich are being taken from, and the poor get to steal it. That's the basis of all crime movies and why we like them; and why we root for the bad guys so much. But this movie actually mentions such things, and they are mentioned by the "filthy rich", and you can tell when certain lines are uttered, they're in it for a reason other than dialog/conversation. In one scene a rich guy at a party mentions about how bad taxes are because they "tax the rich" (as if the rich are the only ones taxed), in another a guy gives a speech about how bad socialism is: both characters are filthy disgusting villainous types and are made to look stupid. And in the end, or towards the end of the film, a rich girl with an inheritance is kidnapped by the main characters who'd been having a blast robbing banks before, and from that point the movie goes from a fun romp into a mean spirited film with social envy written all over it. Oh well. For an hour I had fun. Till it all started getting see-through. And then, I saw through. As usual. Pity too. I love watching movies. I just wish they'd all keep their agenda to themselves or else better obscured so that we can all enjoy ourselves, not just those in the blue states.