Bloody Mama (1970)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Don Peters (story)
Robert Thom (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 March 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Tagline:

Say it with bullets!

Plot:

A psychological gangster film based on fact. Machine gun totin' Ma Barker lead her family gang (her sons) on a crime spree in the Depression era...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Drugs | Drug Addict | Ma Barker | Gangster

Cast

Shelley Winters	...	Kate 'Ma' Barker
Pat Hingle	...	Sam Adams Pendlebury
Don Stroud	...	Herman Barker
Diane Varsi	...	Mona Gibson
Bruce Dern	...	Kevin Dirkman
Clint Kimbrough	...	Arthur Barker
Robert De Niro	...	Lloyd Barker
Robert Walden	...	Fred Barker
Alex Nicol	...	George Barker
Pamela Dunlap	...	Rembrandt
Michael Fox	...	Dr. Roth
Scatman Crothers	...	Moses (as 'Scatman' Crothers)
Stacy Harris	...	Agent McClellan
Lisa Jill	...	Young Kate
Steve Mitchell	...	Sheriff

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (cut) (1972) | UK:X | France:-18 | Italy:VM14 | West Germany:18 | France:-12 (re-rating) | UK:18 (uncut version, re-rating) | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:18 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Company:

American International Pictures (AIP)

Trivia:

In a January 2003 interview with Esquire Magazine, Robert De Niro says he spent a lunch break sleeping in an open grave to help stay in character.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (#1.5)" (1999)

Trashy but hard to stop watching!

This is an incredibly tasteless tale that is reputed to be the story of the notorious Ma Barker and her demented criminal sons. Unfortunately, most of what you see in this Roger Corman production is pure hooey--with no basis in the real lives of this criminal family. The biggest problem with the story is that Ma is shown as the brains and motivating force behind the Barker gang, though most histories of the gangster era of the late 20s and early 30s completely contradict this. In addition to playing fast and loose with this, many other details of the film are pure fabrication, so if you are looking for a biography, don't bother.

However, if you are looking for a very guilty pleasure--sort of like "The Jerry Springer Show" combined with the Barker story, then this is for you! The story you'll see if almost completely depraved and rather shocking even today, as prison sodomy, senseless murders, drug abuse, rape and the most psychologically twisted semi-incestuous family on film is what you'll see. Now this might be really hard to take, but having the actors (particularly Shelly Winters) overact so severely actually made most of it seem rather funny instead of realistic. Still, given these topics, nudity and a lot of blood, it's certainly not for children or the squeamish. Entertaining but pure trash.