the leading man is my tpye

Wow! Such a good movie.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Trashy gangster picture from Roger Corman about Ma Barker and her criminal sons. It's very loosely based on the real people. I won't say it's uninteresting but it sure isn't much fun. It's violent, schlocky, and quite frankly, gross. I didn't care about anybody in the movie, which made it hard to become invested in the plot. It does have a nice cast, though. Shelly Winters gets a lot of flack for this movie but I thought she was pretty good. Robert De Niro appears in an early role. I missed his name in the credits so when I saw him I couldn't believe it was really him. Bruce Dern, Don Stroud, Pat Hingle, and Scatman Crothers are among the other solid actors in the cast. Like I said, it's not much fun but it's worth a look. I did love that corny theme song.

Roger Corman, who specialized in low budget films show an ambitious side in directing "Bloody Mama" a sort of loosely based biographic picture about the criminal family that terrorized rural America during the Great Depression. Mr. Corman evidently took liberties in telling the story, the way he presents it, more as an entertainment than a factual account of the Barkers.Ma Barker, a hillbilly from the backwoods is tired of living in poverty. Her four sons clearly adored her because otherwise it would make no sense of following the old lady into a crime spree unlike the ones the country had seen up to then. The four sons, Herman, a trigger happy individual, Arthur, the quiet one, LLoyd, the junkie and Fred, an openly gay man, way ahead of the times he was living. Herman brought along his girlfriend Mona, and Fred, his lover, Kevin Dirkman, who is one is to believe the material, also serviced a horny Ma Barker.The director achieved a coup just in the mere casting of the film. Shelley Winters, who played Ma Barker, made a terrific contribution to our enjoyment. Don Stroud, Clint Kimbrough, Robert Walden and a young Robert Deniro are seen as the four sons. Diane Varsi and Bruce Dern are the two of the people the family attracted.

Bonnie and Clyde was a big hit in 1967, and I don't doubt that Hollywood's great money-spinner, Roger Corman, had that on his mind when he decided to direct a film based on another of America's great crime legends. The story of "Machine Gun Totting Ma Barker" is a well known one; I won't profess to know the ins and outs of it, but the basics are common knowledge. The film would only appear to be loosely based on the classic story, however, and Corman seemed keener to put the focus on the situation within the group rather than actually telling a story. The plot focuses on Ma Barker; a strong matriarch with four sons. The story takes place within depression era USA and Ma and her sons find themselves with little to live on and so turn to crime. The troupe carries out robberies, commits murder and does other such illegal acts and it soon gets dubbed as a 'crime spree'. However, more interesting than that is how the group itself works; perversion is rife as we get to witness things such as incest and homosexuality within the group.The film is rather entertaining throughout, but for me; something about it just doesn't work. Corman's directing style is very cold and despite excellent performances from the cast - the film fails to be involving and nobody really steps up to take the 'antihero' role effectively. It's a good job, therefore, that the film is entertaining for most of the duration as there isn't much in the way of distraction when it comes to the less entertaining parts. Corman has got himself together a good cast of actors; chief among them obviously being Shelly Winters. Winters looks decidedly less glamorous than in previous performances - but fits into her role here very well indeed and really convincing that she is the character she is portraying. The rest of the cast is fine too, featuring good performances from the likes of Don Stroud and Bruce Dern, as well an early performance from the great Robert DeNiro. There's not a great deal of highlights in the film; but Pat Hingle's role is entertaining and it all boils down to a very well working final shootout scene. Overall, this is decent enough; but I'm not surprised that it hasn't gone down as a great film and would only recommend it to those who happen across a copy.

Bloody Mama (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Roger Corman directed this Depression era film about Ma Barker (Shelley Winters) and her four sons who go on a crime spree. I've been wanting to see this film for quite some time since it features a young Robert DeNiro playing one of the sons. The film isn't a total success but it's still a lot of fun in spots even though it drags on a tad bit too long. The best part of the film is Winters who really sinks her teeth into the role and perfectly captures Barker's craziness as well as her tenderness with her sons. The supporting cast is very good with DeNiro, Bruce Dern, Don Stroud, Clint Kimbrough, Robert Walden, Alex Nicol and Scatman Crothers. The action is a lot of fun and there are plenty of shootouts, which were all clearly influenced by Bonnie and Clyde. There's also quite a bit of silly nudity and sex but the most bizarre scene also contains the darkest humor and that's when the four boys rape a woman and their mother lines them up, slaps each of their faces and then warns them that women are dirty beasts.