BLOODY MAMA (1970)

I first saw BLOODY MAMA prior to its English cinema release when it was shown at the National Film Theatre in London on the same day as Roger Corman;s John Player Lecture. At the time Corman could do no wrong for me and I liked the film a lot more then than I did this time around. Don't get me wrong, it has lots going for it. The film is a wildly inaccurate retelling of the story of "Ma" Kate Barker and her killer sons diring the American depression. There is no evidence that Ma was ever involved in her sons' crimes and the image of her as a gun-toting gang leader (as depicted in this film) is a product of an FBI cover-up to excuse their killing of an old lady in a hail of machine gun fire. But, as John Ford, said "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend" and that is the route Corman takes. He totally refuses to glamourise the Barkers - Ma is incestuous, her sons are psychopaths, incestuous, sado-masochists, drug addicts etc. and parts of the film plays out like some perverted Greek tragedy. The killings are nasty (the drowning of an innocent irl who has wandered into the gang's clutches is particularly disturbing) and the crimes petty. Performances are excellent with Shelley Winters showing no trace of parody (she would later play the character for laughs as "Ma Parker" in the BATMAN tv series.) Pat Hingle is terrific (as always) as a kidnap victim whose eyes disturb the gang (the eye motif an ever present element here and in many other Corman films) and the sons include Don Stroud, a young Robert De Niro and Robert Walden. Alex Nichol has a memorable scene as "Pa" Barker and the always welcome Scatman Crothers has a small role. Bruce Dern is outstanding as a very creepy member of the gang inspired by the real life, aptly named Alvin "Creepy" Karpis. As I said, this time around it didn't quite come together for me but I can see what Corman was striving for. The script by Robert Thom was novelised by him and is a historically much more accurate depiction of the Barker gang. Although there have been other films inspired by Ma Barker - THE GRISSOM GANG, MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD, PUBLIC ENEMIES (not the new Johnny Depp film but the 1996 production starring Theresa Russell as Ma) and, of course, the famous WHITE HEAT, the definitive film on the subject is still to be made. Rating ***

THE WILD ANGELS (1966)

It is hard to believe that both Roger Corman's THE WILD ANGELS and THE TRIP were banned in England and back in 1967 I had to join Derek Hill's cinema club to see them. As a Corman devotee at the time who thought the great man could do no wrong I kind of liked them. Seen today they are both not only not very good but a bit embarassing. Like many films that were considered "hip" at the time they have not aged well. This even applies to EASY RIDER and that film is a couple of notches above THE WILD ANGELS. The plot is virtually non-existent. A gang of motorcycle freaks set out to bury one of their kind who was killed during a pursuit by the cops. They break up the church and their leader realises that their way of life is pointless. And that's about it. If you are a Corman fan there are a few things that just about make it watchable....Dick Miller as an oilman, watching Bruce Dern steal the films as a a strangely flexible corpse, Frank Maxwell as the preacher and if you look closely at the climax of the film you might spot a very young Peter Bogdanovich as one of the townsfolk (the only one with dialogue) and another performance by my favourite, Barboura Morris (Corman's regular innocent bystander) - remember her lovely bit with Fonda in the launderette in THE TRIP? It ain't a patch on Laslo Benedek's THE WILD ONE with Brando and Lee Marvin strutting their stuff through similar territory twelve years earlier. Rating **

FIVE GUNS WEST (1955) / GUNSLINGER (1956)

I actually saw FIVE GUNS WEST - Roger Corman's first credited work as a director - when it was origally released but recall nothing of the plot from that first viewing. I did catch up with it again about ten years back but my memories are very slight. Seeing it again it turns out to be an adequate low-budget Western. The plot prefigures Aldrich's THE DIRTY DOZEN with five condemned Confederate Prisones being pardoned to go on a mission for their Union captors. John Lund is o.k. as the leader whose secret is not hard to figure out and there is a nice performance by Touch Conners (later to gain fame in TV shows like TIGHTROPE and MANNIX with a name change to Mike Conners. Corman regular Jonathan Haze over acts like mad as usual and Dorothy Malone is the ranch gal whose presence is a catalyst to the group. Nothing special but Corman completists won't care. All in all it reminded me of a low budget, lack lustre version of Budd Boetticher's Randolph Scott Westerns. Rating **. Jonathan Haze turns up again as another mixed up character in GUNSLINGER made a year after FIVE GUNS WEST. Starring the reliable John Ireland, GUNSLINGER, is more off - the - wall than the first film as it features Beverly Garland as the widow of a murered sheriff who grabs a six gun at her husband's funeral and guns down one of the mourners before pinning on the lawman's badge and cleaning up the town. Another nice twist is that the saloon owning villain (a standard character in B-Westerns) comes in the shapely form of Allison Hayes. Other pluses are a woefully inept and under choreographed set of chorus girls and an ending that echoes the final shootout in the vastly superior DUEL IN THE SUN. Rating **

THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES (1955)

Just as I was beginning to get starved of trash along comes old Roger Corman to save me. Corman was the uncredited Executive Producer (and part director) of this classic piece of sh....well, shlock! Is it bad ? It sure is. Is it fun ? You betcha - if you are in the right mood. Made on a budget of about $3.00 the film tells of an alien mind creature whose planet is dying (aliens always use this lame excuse to explain their invasions) who comes to Earth in what looks suspiciously like a salvaged water boiler and takes over the minds of a rancher's family, the mute handyman and their animals. Not exactly an exciting concept but whatever entertainment value this movie (and I use the term loosely) comes in the how rather than the what. Special effects are quite stunning - in one of many scenes that spookily prefigure Hitchcock's THE BIRDS - a woman is attacked by chickens! I can already hear your heart beating faster! No CGI here - the effect consists of actress Lorna Thayer screaming while some unlucky hens are thrown in her face - YES, REAL CHICKENS! The alien itself is seen very briefly and resembles nothing more than a glove puppet gremlin. Although the alien only seems to have only two eyes the producers make a gesture towards the million eyes of the title by superimposing a third eye. Acting is of the highest order (no, I am joking) with Corman regular Paul (NOT OF THIS EARTH) Birch as the rather philosophical rancher, Lorna Thayer (later to appear in FIVE EASY PIECES) is great fun as the mother who seems to be living out some daughter hating, cake baking fantasy but the very worst performance comes from the totally talentless dog - a German Shepherd who is not fit to chew on Rin Tin Tin's discarded dog bisquit. If all this isn't enough to get you excited - there is also a scene in which silent film comedian Chester Conklin being savaged by a milk cow and the most over-the-top musical score I can recall. Rating **