Big Bad Mama/Big Bad Mama II: Big Bad Double Feature

Boobs!  Bullets!  Bawdy Babes!  What’s not to love about Angie Dickinson in Big Bad Mama?!  Nothing!  Absolutely nothing!  And producer Roger Corman knows it which is why Big Bad Mama is a curvaceous cult classic.  The sequel made in 1987?  Well, not so much, but - hey- (going with the logic of the original classic) why have only one hand on Mama’s tit when you can have both hands on ‘em?! 

"this blu-ray twofer from Shout! Factory is a MUST-OWN and, considering that the release is limited to 1500 units, you better act fast!"


Which is why this blu-ray twofer from Shout! Factory is a MUST-OWN and, considering that the release is limited to 1500 units, you better act fast!  This pistol-packing mutha won’t hold still for long and neither will Shannon Christie’s striptease!

The Big Bad Double Feature begins with 1974’s Big Bad Mama, in which director Steve Carver takes audiences on a wild and zippy romp through Paradise, Texas alongside Wilma McClatchey (Angie Dickinson) and her two daughters, Polly (Robbie Lee) and Billy Jean (Susan Sennett), as they are forced into the business of bootlegging when Uncle Barney (Noble Willingham) is killed by a prohibition copper.  

And when that fails?  They turn to robbing banks!  Big Bad Mama is EVERYTHING you love about Roger Corman.  It’s wild, fantastic, and full of a great deal of cameos thanks to a familiar roster of Corman talents, including Dick Miller, William Shatner, and Tom Skerritt as Fred Diller, a bank robber who sets his sights on this rather useful gang of women.  Not to mention that everything in this dirt-poor romp SHOUTS and STOMPS of authenticity.

Hilarious and over the top bawdy fun, Big Bad Mama does not disappoint, continuing Corman’s gangster and cracker-rama offerings like Boxcar Bertha and Bloody MamaBig Bad Mama/Big Bad Mama II: Big Bad Double Feature

While the second film, made over a decade later, switches things up, fans still get more of Dickinson and her gorgeous daughters a decade later in a perhaps a lesser movie, but still enjoyable.  This time the daughters are played by Danielle Brisebois and former Playboy Playmate Julie McCullough and, together, the family most face an unexpected foreclosure from Morgan Crawford (Bruce Glover) which erupts in unexpected violence, killing Wilma's husband.

Now, a pissed-off Big Bad Mama, with director Jim Wynorski at the helm, goes gunnin’ for revenge!  

With only one lowly newspaper reporter, Daryl Pearson (Robert Culp) on her side, Wilma and her daughters go about robbing banks and trying to ruin one man’s chances of a successful bid at governorship.  While the film’s production values are great and some of the comedic bits are still there with the same witty banter found in the original film, the results are a little less, making this one worth a chuckle or two only.

Keep your legs together and shut up!  The Big Bad Mama flicks are now on blu-ray!

5/5 beers

Big Bad Mama/Big Bad Mama II: Big Bad Double Feature

Blu-ray Details

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray
- May 16, 2021
Screen Formats: 1.78:1, 1.85:1
Subtitles
:
Audio:
English 1.0 DTS-HD MA
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Offered exclusively on www.shoutfactory.com, Big Bad Mama is what happens when Wilma (Angie Dickinson) finds there is no money to be made in bootlegging, a chance meeting with bank robber Fred Diller (Tom Skerritt) leads to a new career. Along with her daughters, Wilma joins Fred on his next big heist. After meeting slick gambler William J. Baxter (William Shatner), Wilma recruits him and the rest of her gang to kidnap a millionaire's daughter in the hopes of collecting a big pay day.  In the second film, Angie Dickinson returns to her role as Wilma "Big Bad Mama" McClatchie in the sequel, Big Bad Mama II. She's still out to steal a better life for her two teenage daughters. This time the sexy trio sets their gunsights on revenge against a crooked politician by taking down his banks and kidnapping his son. Danielle Brisebois (Archie's Place) and Playboy Playmate Julie McCullough also star.

Video:

Shout Factory presents the Big Bad Mama flicks on 1080p with groovy results. The image is crisper than previously seen and far grittier. You can even taste the dirt. Framed in various aspect ratios (1.85:1 and 1.78:1), the transfers presented here are accurate when it comes to clothing and skin tones. Some scenes are a bit problematic considering the age of the film, but nothing that detracts from the sheer joy of its HD presentation. 

Audio:

The sound is presented in a clear English 1.0 DTS-HD MA track that makes robbing the banks during the Great Depression feel oh so very lively.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • See Special Features.

Special Features:

Fans are going to LOVE what this two-fer offers as we get the DVD commentaries and some fun featurettes.

BIG BAD MAMA

  • Audio Commentary With Director Steve Carver & Director Of Photography Bruce Logan
  • Audio Commentary With Actress Angie Dickinson & Producer Roger Corman
  • Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman
  • "Mama Knows Best" – A Retrospective Featuring Interviews With Roger Corman, Steve Carver, Angie Dickinson & Writer Frances Doel
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots

BIG BAD MAMA II

  • Audio Commentary With Director Jim Wynorski
  • Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman
  • Interview With Actor Bruce Glover
  • Theatrical Trailer

Blu-ray Rating

  Movie 1/5 stars
  Video  4/5 stars
  Audio 3/5 stars
  Extras 3/5 stars

Composite Blu-ray Grade

2.5/5 stars

 

Art

Big Bad Mama/Big Bad Mama II: Big Bad Double Feature