Big Bad Mama (Buena Vista)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C+ Film: C+
Angie Dickinson decided to put Police Woman aside
and try for something a little more outrageous when she did Roger Corman’s Big
Bad Mama in 1974, and she co-starred with no less than William Shatner (in
great post-Vintage Star Trek B-Movie mode) and Tom Skerritt (making his
own rounds in film and on TV) in what sometimes feels like a big screen version
of Shelley Winters as Ma Barker from the 1960s Batman series with
nudity, violence and bad language.
This was Corman’s chance to cash in on the still popular
Arthur Penn classic Bonnie & Clyde (1967) and it remains one of his
few true hits. The script and
situations are a howl and the stretching of the low budget is fascinating unto
itself. Craziest of all, the title
character is heading to Waco, Texas!
Needless to say that ads a whole new layer to the craziness as you
watch, even if the film is over 30 years old and set in the 1920s. Can “Mama” teach her girls the facts of life
and how to live right, or will she have to pull out her Tommy Gun? Look out!
The 1.33 X 1 image looks like the same lame and hazy
analog transfer from the last DVD version, with softness throughout accompanied
by some color poorness. The Dolby Digital
2.0 Mono is too soft when it is not being a bit harsh in places. The extras help, including the trailer, a
behind the scenes featurette and audio commentary by Corman and Dickinson,
which is good. This DVD is worth for
the laughs and the extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
