Big Bad Mama II (1987)

Director: Jim Wynorski

Writers: R.J. Roberts, Jim Wynorski

Composer: Chuck Cirino

Starring:  Angie Dickinson, Robert Culp, Danielle Brisebois, Julie McCullough, Bruce Glover, Jeff Yagher, Ebbe Roe Smith, Jacque Lynn Colton, Charles Cyphers, Nick LaTour

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Mama makes money the old-fashioned way...she steals it!

Plot: When their home is repossessed, Wilma McClatchie's husband is killed and she and her two nubile young daughters set out to rob anything belonging to the owner of the bank concerned. With their exploits being chronicled by a newspaperman who has fallen for Wilma, the girls kidnap the banker's son who in turn falls for the younger daughter and joins in the gang's exploits with increasing enthusiasm.

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

From the man that brought to you PLEASURE SPA & SHARK BABES!  This sequel probably shouldn't exist.  BIG BAD MAMA (1974) was a shitload of fun.  It had a great cast (besides Dickinson and her glorious cans you had Tom Skerritt, William Shatner and Dick Miller), fast pacing, lots of good action and nudity.  Even though a certain someone didn't survive the first film, they were brought back for the sequel 17 years later.  I'm not bothered by that but I am disappointed that part II is nothing more than a watered down retread of the original.  It's boring, the action isn't fun, the pacing drags and the bad guy is a politician.  Now I digs me some Bruce Glover but there's not much there except to be a run of the mill crooked politician.  Robert Culp is a nice addition and he and Dickinson are the only good reasons to watch this.  There's a little bit of nudity to satisfy the boob hounds.  This time out Dickinson has a body double for her nude scenes.  Rats.  At least we've got the '75 classic to watch again and again. 

Lawless (2012)

Director: John Hillcoat

Writers: Nick Cave, Matt Bondurant

Composers: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan, Chris McGarry, Tim Tolin, Gary Oldman, Lew Temple

More info: IMDb

Tagline: When the law became corrupt, outlaws became heroes.

Plot: Set in Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a trio of bootlegging brothers are threatened by a new special deputy and other authorities angling for a cut of their profits.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

What the hell is up with Guy Pearce's accent?  This might be the first time I didn't like Pearce's performance.  And I didn't care for Hardy, LaBeouf or Chastain.  Oldman was good, though.  It's an OK movie but it felt like a missed opportunity all the way around.  This era is so rich with history and aesthetic that it's a shame to let something potentially compelling get cocked up by bland acting (when folks aren't overacting) and the director's fondness for the color brown (including the overuse of grading the film in shades of brown as if the world was transitioning from black and white on it's way to color by way of sepia tone).  It's a shame this was so disappointing.  I wanted to like this.  I expected more from the creative team who brought us the brilliant THE PROPOSITION (2005).  That reminds me I haven't seen that in years.  It's time to dust of the Blu-ray.

Manhunter (1974)

Director: walter Grauman

Writer: Sam Rolfe

Composer: Duane Tatro

Starring: Ken Howard, Gary Lockwood, Tim O'Connor, James Olson, Stefanie Powers, John Anderson, L.Q. Jones, Ford Rainey, Robert Hogan, R.G. Armstrong, Luke Askew, Marie Windsor, Ben Frank

More info: IMDb


Plot: Pilot for the short-lived TV series set in the 1930's about a World War I ex-marine-turned-bounty-hunter, named Dave Barrett, who goes after two Bonnie-and-Clyde style bank robbers who murdered his former girlfriend.

My rating:  6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

The problem with TV movies and shows, mostly, is that they feel like they were made for TV.  Take a subject like this and it's easy to have that aesthetic which also looks like low budget theatrical movies.  This 71 minute pilot movie feels like one of those low budget BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) knock offs that proliferated the late 60s and early to mid 70s and it's not bad.  I've lived near and have driven through hundreds of the small rural towns that look about like they did nearly a hundred years ago so that's neat.  Ken Howard makes for an imposing bounty hunter standing at 6'6".  The cast has a whole bunch of great character actors whose faces and names you've probably seen.  There's nothing special about the story but it was probably rare to be a TV series back then that dealt with Depression Era gangsters (and I'm sure they were all made up characters).  The series lasted for one season with 23 episodes (not including this TV movie lead-in).  If I caught this when I was a kid back then I probably would've liked it a lot more.

Big Bad Mama II (1987)

Director: Jim Wynorski

Writers: R.J. Roberston, Jim Wynorski

Composer: Chuck Cirino

Starring: Angie Dickenson, Robert Culp, Danielle Brisebois, Julie McCullough, Jeff Yagher, Bruce Glover, Ebbe Roe Smith, Jacque Lynn Colton, Charles Cyphers

More info: IMDb

Tagline:Mama makes money the old fashioned way...she steals it!

Plot: When their home is repossessed, Wilma McClatchie's husband is killed and she and her two nubile young daughters set out to rob anything belonging to the owner of the bank concerned. With their exploits being chronicled by a newspaperman who has fallen for Wilma, the girls kidnap the banker's son who in turn falls for the younger daughter and joins in the gang's exploits with increasing enthusiasm.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I LOVE BIG BAD MAMA (1974).  It's funner'n'hell.  The pacing was fast, the action was good, it's loaded with casting awesomeness (which even included Wiliam Shatner) and it had that 1970s drive-in movie energy that a film like that should have.  It's just a real hoot of a picture.  Cut to 13 years later and this sequel is made and it's a shadow of its predecessor.  The dialogue is pretty bad, the performances are OK with some people and poor with others, there's a little bit of nudity (which is welcome in pictures like this) and the big action chase sequence is a montage completely lifted from the chase scenes from the first picture (!!!).  The music is synthesizer cheesy and there's a lot that's over-the-top.  Oh, and I can't let it go that SPOILER ALER, Mama died in the first one and now she's back.  There's no soul to it.  I can't tell if the film makers were even realized what made the first one so much damn fun.  But then this is 1980s Roger Corman and not 70s.  He's still, first and foremost, looking to make money but it's like that 70s film making spirit is gone from this flick.  The only thing I really liked about it was Robert Culp.  He's fun in every scene he's in but that's really it.  I liked seeing Bruce Glover again (as always) but he's hamming it up almost like a silent film era villain.  Yeah, it's a cheap picture but it's a cheap 80s picture versus a 70s one and that often makes a difference in my book. 

The DVD set from Shout Factory has great looking anamorphic prints for both BBM films.  There's a bunch of extras.  For BBM1 you get a commentary with Corman and Dickenson, another commentary with the director Steve Carver and DP Bruce Logan, Leonard Maltin interviewing Corman (it's only 5 minutes long but there's a lot in it and it's all too short), a 14 minute making of featurette called Mama Knows Best, the theatrical trailer (anamorphic widescreen), a TV trailer and a photo gallery.  For BBM2 you get a commentary from Jim Wynorski, 2 more minutes with Corman and Maltin, a 10 minute interview with Bruce Glover (filmed in 2010) the anamorphic widescreen trailer and an anamorphic widescreen trailers for CRAZY MAMA (1975), SMOKEY BITES THE DUST (1981), JACKSON COUNTY JAIL (1976) and THE LADY IN RED (1979).  Despite BBM2's failure to recapture any of what made the first film so good, this disc is great just for BBM1 and the boatload of extras.

Big Bad Mama (1974)

Director: Steve Carver

Writers: William W. Norton, Frances Doel

Composer: David Grisman

Starring: Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, Tom Skerritt, Susan Sennett, Robbie Lee, Noble Willingham, Dick Miller, Tom Signorelli, Joan Prather, Royal Dano, Sally Kirkland

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Men, Money And Moonshine: When It Comes To Vice, Mama Knows Best.

Plot: Mama and daughters get forced by circumstances into bootlegging and bank robbing, and travel across the country trailed by the law.

My rating:8/10

Will I watch it again? YES!!

This movie is a total gas.   It starts off with a bang and within minutes Mama and her gals are off to a life of crime (or at least for the next 80 minutes).  The cast is fantastic and fun and it's loaded with lots of familiar character actor faces.  There's no escaping that this picture is riding the, albeit late, popularity of BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) and it's Roger Corman low budget origins, but it's still a fun ride.  The pacing is pretty damn solid.  You don't get to spend too much time in any one place and there's a good deal going on. Dickinson is just plain smokin' hot.  Forget that she gets naked a lot...

OK, don't forget it.  By the way, there's a good deal of naughty fun in this flick.

I'm willing to be that's more of Shatner than you ever expected to see.  This film is no masterpiece but it's a great example of how awesome 1970s drive-ins must have been.  Oh, to be able to go back and experience it first-hand.  Sigh.  The DVD set from Shout Factory has great looking anamorphic prints for both BBM films.  There's a bunch of extras.  For BBM1 you get a commentary with Corman and Dickenson, another commentary with the director Steve Carver and DP Bruce Logan, Leonard Maltin interviewing Corman (it's only 5 minutes long but there's a lot in it and it's all too short), a 14 minute making of featurette called Mama Knows Best, the theatrical trailer (anamorphic widescreen), a TV trailer and a photo gallery.  For BBM2 you get a commentary from Jim Wynorski, 2 more minutes with Corman and Maltin, a 10 minute interview with Bruce Glover (filmed in 2010) the anamorphic widescreen trailer and an anamorphic widescreen trailers for CRAZY MAMA (1975), SMOKEY BITES THE DUST (1981), JACKSON COUNTY JAIL (1976) and THE LADY IN RED (1979).  Despite BBM2's failure to recapture any of what made the first film so good, this disc is great just for BBM1 and the boatload of extras.

Bonnie and Clyde (2013)

Director: Bruce Beresford

Writers: John Rice, Joe Batteer

Composer: John Debney

Staring: Emile Hirsch, HOlliday Grainger, Saray Hyland, Elizabeth Reaser, Lane Garrison, Dale Dickey, Austin Hebert, Holly Hunter, William Hurt, Jack Thompson, Nick Cardona

More info: IMDb

Plot: Based on the true story of Clyde Barrow, a charismatic convicted armed robber who sweeps Bonnie Parker, an impressionable, petite, small-town waitress, off her feet, and the two embark on one one of most infamous bank-robbing sprees in history.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I'm going to sound like another broken record by saying this but the truth is far more fascinating than the crap the writers came up with for this THREE HOUR MOVIE.  What a disappointment.  Not only was it wildly inaccurate (if you're remotely interested in the B&C story you must read Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie And Clyde by Jeff Guinn - it's fascinating and considered to be THE definitive true story) but it's shockingly dull and silly.  Bonnie was not the brains nor the driving force behind Clyde and his gang (which, by the fucking way, where was the gang? B&C were rarely alone and they almost always had several other members).  Clyde's premonitions was a huge load of crap.  The whole idea of condensing the media down to one reporter (who gets an armed visit from Bonnie insisting she be mentioned in her articles and plays a larger role) is so poorly done.  I mean seriously, she tells her editor that she predicts (after Bonnie was captured, testified in court that she was innocent, and released) that Bonnie will re-join Clyde and there will be lots of car chases and violence ahead and with her pulling the trigger.  Wow.  William Hurt does a good job as Robert Hamer, the man who hunted them down to the last.  They even have a scene early on where Clyde meets Hamer before either had reason to know the other's name.  This is an utter waste of time not only historically but cinematically.  This film is a waste of time and resources.  You're much better off watching the still wildly inaccurate BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967).  At least that one is one helluva great film regardless of truth... and that's OK by me.

The Grissom Gang (1971)

Director: Robert Aldrich

Writers: Leon Griffiths, James Hadley Chase

Composer: Gerald Fried

Starring: Kim Darby, Scott Wilson, Tony Musante, Robert Lansing, Connie Stevens, Irene Dailey, Wesley Addy, Joey Faye, Michael Baseleon, Ralph Waite, Hal Baylor, Matt Clark, Alvin Hammer, Dots Johnson, Don Keefer, Mort Marshall, elliott Street, Dave Willock, Alex Wilson, Raymond Guth, John Steadman

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The psychotic killer, the young heiress...the kidnapping that becomes a love story.

Plot: Barbara Blandish, a young Kansas City heiress, gets kidnapped by some inept local hoodlums for the diamond necklace she is wearing, and then gets kidnapped a second time by the Grissom gang demanding a million dollar ransom. The Grissoms, a family of depraved, ruthless poor white trash, is led by Ma Grissom who wants the girl dead as soon as the ransom is delivered. But plans go haywire when her psychopathic and dim son Slim falls in love with Barbara. Her billionaire father hires Dave Fenner, a cynical private detective, to find her.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It's not that bad of a picture.  The acting is pretty good and there's a good deal of story but what holds it back is the cheap look and feel of it.  Maybe BONNIE AND CLYDE ()1967) ruined it for the modern Depression-era gangster film but many scenes look like they were shot on a studio backlot and the interiors are obviously sets.  The colors pop like you'd expect for a TV show.  But sometimes it works.

And Gerald Fried's score feels like it's for TV (he did lots of TV back then).  He's a fine composer but the music sometimes feels weak or cheap.  I'm guessing all of this was due to budgetary limitations.  It's weird also because Robert Aldrich has made some great looking pictures before and after.  I'm perplexed.  The MGM widescreen DVD print looks great but it's without extras. 

Road to Perdition (2002)

Director: Sam Mendes

Writers: Max Allan Collins, Richard Piers Rayner, David Self

Composer: Thomas Newman

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Rob Maxey, Paul Newman, Liam Aiken, Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Craig Spidle, Ian Barford, Stanley Tucci

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Pray for Michael Sullivan

Plot: Set in the Depression era a mob hitman (Hanks) unravels after his wife is murdered and his son finds out exactly what his father is. Now Hanks takes it personal and takes revenge.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Great flick.  It's gorgeous and it takes its time.  The performances are splendid and Thomas Newman delivers a wonderful score but I can't help but feel I've heard that theme before and it was from Carter Burwell.  The Conrad Hall's cinematography is just stunning.  It's so good that you don't want the film to end.  Obviously it does and it's a good one.  Even though Hanks is playing a gangster on the wrong side of the law, he's still a good man who, as far as we know, only kills bad people.  Has Hanks ever played a villain or a really bad man?  I can't think of any.  Anyway, not much to say about this one except it's fantastic and I'd almost forgotten how good it was in the ten or so years since I last saw it.

Mobsters (1991)

Director: Michael Karbelnikoff

Writers: Michael Mahern, Nicholas Kazan

Composer: Michael Small

Starring: Christian Slater, Costas Mandylor, Richard Grieco, Patrick Dempsey, Robert Z'Dar, Michael Gambon, Anthony Quinn, Chris Penn, F. Murray Abraham, Seymour Cassel, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joe Viterelli, Titus Welliver

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They had what it took to build an empire...They just built it on the wrong side of the law.

Plot: The story of a group of friends in turn of the century New York, from their early days as street hoods to their rise in the world of organized crime. As their crime empire expands, they have to deal with many problems, including their own differing opinions on how to run their business, the local Godfather, and the psychotic Mad Dog Coll.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Oh boy is this underwhelming and cheesy as shit.  Did you get a load of that trailer?  Wow.  It's hard not to laugh at it (they made better trailers for it but this one was the first one I watched on the DVD and I about fell out of my chair in disbelief of how bad it was).  It felt so contrived that I'm compelled to look up the facts just to see how fast and loose they played with them.  The connect the dots plot was often paper thin.  They tried to cover a couple of decades in the span of 100 minutes and with a cast of pretty boys.  Some of their acting was OK and some pretty sloppy.  It shouldn't have been so for a high profile Hollywood picture.  And I get why they throw the true story out the window, but did they hit the plot tropes that go with the rise and rise of a crime figure.  Knowing that so much of this is bullshit hurts in trying to enjoy the show but there are some things I dug.  The spinning newspapers and machine gun montages were outstanding and lots of fun.  Shit.  Now I'm trying to think of some other stuff I thought was nicely done and I can't think of any, even an hour outside of watching it.  Nuts.  I remember the love scene being unnecessary and bringing the film to a screeching halt.  F. Murray Abraham is awesome in everything.  That much I know.  It kind of felt like a gangster version of YOUNG GUNS (1988) with all of the popular pretty boys of the day.  If you're a Great Depression-era gangster fan like me, you're going to have to see this but for everybody else, watch a few seasons of the excellent BOARDWALK EMPIRE (2010) instead.  At least it's closer to the truth and they're all trying really hard to make something worthwhile.

Killers Three (1968)

Director: Bruce Kessler

Writers: Dick Clark, Michael Fisher

Composers: Mike Curb, Harley Hatcher, Jerry Styner

Starring: Robert Walker Jr., Diane Varsi, Dick Clark, Norman Alden, Maureen Arthur, Tony York, Merle Haggard, Bonnie Owens, John 'Bud' Cardos, Beach Dicerkson, Jerry Petty , Clint Stringer, William Alspaugh, Douglas Barger

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It started out as a Country Picnic! But before it was over 37 men were dead.

Plot: Two backwoods North Carolinians, Johnny (Walker) and Roger (Clark) rob a bootlegger's safe, kill several people in the process, and head for California with Walker's wife, Carol (Diane).

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

What starts out as a 'revenuers against the moonshiners' low budget action flick turns into a 'criminals on the run' picture clearly inspired by the previous years' BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967). I much prefer the second half when the chase is on.  Normally in a picture like this you'd get lots of action while they gang's on the run but not this one.  It slows down quite a bit.  At first it was a contrast to the first half and it felt like it was going nowhere fast but there are some moments that make it worthwhile like when Carol goes to visit her mother for the last time (which reminds me of how much Clyde & Bonnie used to visit their families).  I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by the slow pace of the last half hour or so but I grew to really dig it.  There are small moments of excitement but that's the violence that erupted when the law crossed their paths.  The other times are spent worrying where they're going to go, how they're going to travel and eat, etc.  Real life problems, the most basic of needs have to be met...just like what happened with Clyde & Bonnie (if you're remotely interested in their story I HIGHLY recommend Jeff Gunn's wonderful book, GO DOWN TOGETHER: THE TRUE, UNTOLD STORY OF BONNIE AND CLYDE).  One of the big reasons why I've been wanting to see this (and it's on Netflix streaming of all places) is because Dick Clark wrote, produced and starred in it.  He does a really good job.  Hell, they all do just fine.  Merle Haggard sings a few ballads and has a small role.  I don't need to see it again but if I did, I think I'd start right when they blow the safe that starts their time on the lam.  That's the best part.

A Bullet for Pretty Boy (1970)

Directors: Larry Buchanan, Maury Dexter

Writers: Tony Huston, Larry Buchanan, Henry Rosenbaum

Composer: Harley Hatcher

Starring: Fabian, Jocelyn Lane, Astrid Warner, Adam Roarke, Michael Haynes, Robert Glenn, Annabelle Weenick, Camilla Carr, Jeff Alexander, Desmond Dhooge, Bill Thurman, Hugh Feagin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Defacing Public Property Is Against The Law... but so is Bank Robbing, Murder and the kind of Women Charlie Floyd loved.

Plot: The movie tells the biography of the gangster Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd who started his career young aged when he saw his father die and seeked out revenge by killing his murderer during a fight.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

 
There's a song that gets used repeatedly throughout the picture with lyrics like, "Got nowhere to go but I'm going.  Got nowhere to stay but I'm stayin'.  Sounds like he's got nothing to sing but he's a-singin' it anyway.  Alright, I'm must being silly but the somewhat catchy folk/country tune gets old and fast.  That's about how you can sum up this picture.  It's OK but it never achieves anything more than average (at best) drive-in fare.  The performances are OK, the low budget shows but it's not horrendous.  I mean, if I had access to a bunch of old cars and Tommy guns I could find a dozen sleepy towns that haven't changed much in 80 years and make my own Depression-era gangster picture.  It probably wouldn't be better than this but it's do-able, especially so in 1970 just a couple three years after the fantastic BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) which proved so popular that it spawned dozens upon dozens of copycat films trying to cash in on the Depression-era gangster picture fad.  It's pretty tame so you're not going to get much in the way of 'sploitation but you could do far worse.  Say, there's a winning endorsement if I ever saw one!  Put that on a poster!

Melvin Purvis G-MAN (1974)

AKA: The Legend of Machine Gun Kelly

Director: Dan Curtis

Writers: John Milius, William F. Nolan

Composer: Bob Cobert

Starring: Dale Robertson, Harris Yulin, Dick Sargent, Margaret Blye, Matt Clark, David Canary, Elliott Street, John Karlen, Steve Kanaly, Woodrow Parfrey, Bruce Davidson

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He wrote his name in bullets in the history of crime!

Plot: Agent Melvin Purvis is placed in charge of running down notorious killer Machine Gun Kelly, and sets out to do just that.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nope.

I didn't realize this was a made for TV movie until after it was over.  It's an AIP film so it's going to have that low budget yet trying look to it.  Anyway, if you're looking for some great action, violence, raw language and nudity in your exploitation crime pictures, you won't find it here.  What you get is a watered down version of what you'd want, but it's at least somewhat entertaining.  There are a lot of familiar faces even if you don't know the names. The pacing is OK and it's about what you'd expect for a TV movie but it's not out to set the record straight about any of these real life characters.  I'm not sure how much of it sticks to the truth but it's watchable and that's what most movies strive for at the very least.  The most interesting note about this picture that it's written by the great John "CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)" Milius.  Badass, that guy.  Pure USDA badass.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Director: Roger Corman

Writer: Howard Browne

Composers: Lionel Newman, Fred Steiner

Starring: Jason Robards, George Segal, Ralph Meeker, Jean Hale, Clint Ritchie, Frank Silvera, Joseph Campanella, Richard Bakalyan, David Canary, Bruce Dern, Harold J. Stone, Joe Turkel, John Agar, Alex Rocco

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A WARNING! This motion picture depicts without flinching the most shocking event of America's most lawless era...

Plot: Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime. In a north-side garage his hoods, dressed as policemen, surprise and mow down with machine-guns the key members of Bugs Moran's rival gang. The film traces the history of the incident, and the lives affected and in some cases ended by it.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? Absolutely.

I LOVE the occasional narration by Paul Frees.  When you meet the principal characters he gives you a little bit of deadpan, ala DRAGNET, facts about their life and eventual death.  It's a great technique that I've never seen before and it works beautifully with this kind of picture.  Jason Robards does a fine job as Capone despite not looking an ounce like him.  For me, though, the scene-stealing performance came from George Segal as gangster Peter Gusenberg.  He's really laying it on thick but he's having fun with it.  So besides lots of gangster action and scenery chewing it's really neat that it's a Roger Corman picutre.  This is so unlike any of his other films.  The budget it larger, the subject is different and his direction is different.  And because it's a Corman picture you get some bit parts filled by the likes of Dick Miller and Jack Nicholson.  It's a fun flick and a must see for fans of Depression-era gangsters.

Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula (2008)

Director: Timothy Friend

Writer: Timothy Friend

Composer: Joseph Allen

Starring: Tiffany Shepis, Trent Haaga, Jennifer Friend, T. Max Grahm, Allen Lowman, Russell Friend, F. Martin Glynn, Anita Cordell

More info: IMDb

Tagline: When gangsters meet vampires, there's bloody hell to pay...

Plot: Two of history's most notorious outlaws face off against the most diabolical beast ever to stalk the night while looking for a place to lie low following a botched heist. Bonnie (Shepis) and Clyde (Haaga) are on the run. Their partner in crime mortally wounded, they must find a place to lie low and avoid detection. A secluded mansion seems like the perfect hiding place -- little do the fleeing outlaws realize this hidden safe haven is actually home to the malevolent Dr. Loveless. But it's the secret that Dr. Loveless has locked up in his cellar that really gets the bad guys running scared. Because somewhere in the bowels of this shadowy estate dwells Dracula, the Prince of Vampires, and he's thirsty for some fresh blood after being locked up in the darkness for far too long.

My rating: 3.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Bonnie...

I recently read a fantastic definitive book about B&C and not once did it mention her modern pube style.  When you're running from the 'laws' you're gonna want to be smooth where it counts.

Great title, right?  Yeah, well...that's about all they have.  The picture looks good as in the film makers had good cameras and equipment.  But the film is pretty bad.  If you're looking for some B&C going up against Dracula action then you will be sorely disappointed.   B&C don't even meet Dracula until 10 minutes before the end credits roll and even then the confrontation is brief.

Clyde...

So what you're left with is lots of cutting back and forth for the previous 75 minutes between B&C mostly hiding out in farm houses and such and Dr. Loveless (Lowman) bringing Dracula (Russell Friend) back to life with the help of his innocent and childish sister (I think that's her relationship with Loveless), Annabel (Jennifer Friend).

versus...

B&C eventually make their way to the Loveless house and that's where the confrontation happens.  Until then you get the feeling it should have been called, BONNIE & CLYDE and DRACULA.  It's a big let down.  The acting is OK, there's very little action and no robberies or crime. 

Dracula...

The problem is with the do-little story and dialogue.  There isn't much traveling for the characters which puts us seeing B&C in a house, barn, etc., which gets old. Dracula and Loveless never leave the house. At least Jennifer Friend did a good job (considering what the role allowed) as Annabel.  I didn't care for the childishness of the character but her payoff is nice.  I get the feeling that if this were made in the early to mid 70s it would have been much better.  At least then it would have been shot on film and have a weathered look to it.  I'm not sure what I expected from a picture with this title but this movie isn't it.

At least we got to see a side of Bonnie we hadn't seen before...

The American Gangster (1992)

Director: Ben Burtt.  Yes, THAT Ben Burtt.

Starring: Dennis Farina and lots of bad guys from the first half of the 20th Century.

More info: IMDb

Plot: They fixed the World Series. They built Las Vegas. They terrorized America with their vicious murders and fearless robberies. They are men named Bugsy Siegal, Al Capone, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Lucky Luciano. And, for the first time, The American Gangster tells the true story behind their ruthless rise to wealth and power. Filled with vintage film and actual photographs, The American Gangster is a gripping look at the birth of organized crime. From prohibition to prostitution, from gangland massacres to gambling empires, their most infamous deeds are chronicled in shocking detail. Even more explosive than the movies they inspired, such as Scarface and The Godfather, are the true histories of the brilliant, brutal gangsters who turned the American Dream into an ongoing nightmare.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Probably

First of all you've got the great Dennis Farina narrating the picture and then you've got a solid 45 minutes of pictures and footage of tons of famous gangsters of the 20s, 30s and 40s.  It begins with Prohibition in 1920 and goes through to the downfall of the men still left in the 40s.  It's impossible to get too in depth with a tremendous subject as this in 45 minutes but writer Ray Herbeck Jr. packs in a shitload of information.  This isn't your typical Discovery Channel documentary where the narrator speaks slowly, repeats information and drags out something that should have only been 20 minutes long.  No, this one moves fast and presents an excellent overview of the rise of organized crime focusing on people like Capone, Siegal, Luciano, Lansky but not forgetting to mention briefly about the Depression-era criminals like Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, etc.  I was shocked to see that Ben Burtt (you know, the sound guy for shit like STAR WARS (1977) and tons of other amazing films) directed this.  You can pick it up for under five bucks on Amazon.  Sadly there are no extras.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Director: Arthur Penn

Starring: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Evans Evans, Gene Wilder

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They're young... they're in love... and they kill people.

Plot: Bonnie Parker is bored with life and wants a change. She gets her chance when she meets a charming young drifter by the name of Clyde Barrow. Clyde has dreams of a life of crime that will free him from the hardships of the Depression. The two fall in love and begin a crime spree that extends from Oklahoma to Texas. They rob small banks with skill and panache, soon becoming minor celebrities known across the country. People are proud to have been held up by Bonnie and Clyde; to their victims, the duo is doing what nobody else has the guts to do. To the law, the two are evil bank robbers who deserve to be gunned down where they stand.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? duh.

Great flick.  Don't watch it for a large amount of accuracy because from what I heard, they stray from the facts and often.  I'll know soon enough.  I just ordered Jeff Guinn's book, GO DOWN TOGETHER: THE TRUE, UNTOLD STORY OF BONNIE AND CLYDE, which I hear is pretty definitive.  Anyway, I'm not going to get into what's right and what's not.  This movie kicks ass.  I really dig the look of the film, not to mention the wonderful performances, style, cinematography, script, violence, etc.  One small contention I have is when the gang picks up Gene Wilder.  I LOVE Wilder but let's face it, he's over the top here.  While I like seeing him, I could do without the comedy. It felt out of place.  The shootout at the end is off the charts awesome!  And that half minute of silence that follows is golden.  The only other Depression-era gangster like this that comes close is the fantastic DILLINGER (1973) with Warren Oates, written & directed by John Millius.  I'd pay a pretty penny to see these two as a double bill on the big screen.  And can you imagine how amazing it would be to see them back to back at a drive-in?  I'm going to go masturbate now.

All the Lovin' Kinfolk (1970)

Director: John Hayes

Starring: Jay Scott, Mady Maguire, Ann Ryan, Janice Douglas, Donna Young, William Guhl, Ruth Stanley, Marland Proctor

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They's more than kissin' cousins

Plot: Two backwoods high school grads, Mady Maguire and Jay Scott, try their luck in the big city. Their luck runs out in a hurry as they're slickered and conned. Meanwhile, kissin' cousins Mady and Jay go well beyond kissin'.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

This one's a head-scratcher.  It's not your typical low budget exploitation picture.  It's The South and it looks like it's set in the early 30s and there are lots of great old cars and an attempt at recreating that time and place.  The acting is pretty good for what it is and there was some though that went into the story.  Then there's what makes it an exploitation flick; frequent nudity but most of it (and the best of it) is with Uschi.

NOT Uschi

One thing that surprised me was they did a fairly good job on the accents.  I've lived most of my life in The South.  I'm not saying they nailed it but when you consider this is a low budget exploitation flick, they made a good effort.  But no matter how hard they tried, it's still a titty flick and overall it's not something you're likely to watch again although it comes close. I almost forgot about the music.  There's a song that gets used frequently that's a good sound alike for the Harry Nilsson tune from MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969), Everybody's Talkin'.  It works in the picture but there's no escaping the tune they're copying.

Over the weekend I decided it was time to start a project for one of my favorite exploitation hotties, Uschi Digard.  She shows up in the first twenty minutes with an out-of-nowhere soft core sex scene in a chicken coop.  It's pretty short and it ends with her holding an egg and crushing it at the point of climax.

I was a little bummed out that they got the Uschi in and out so quickly but I was pleasantly surprised when she showed up near the end as a prostitute in a brothel.  She's got a few lines this time (I LOVE that Swedish accent) and does the naked thing once again.

The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago (1969)

Director: Greg Corarito

Starring: John Alderman, Maria Lease, James E. Myers, Vicki Carbe, Daryl Colinot, Whitey Wozniak, Gary Kent

More info: IMDb

Tagline: .....he blazed a path halfway across the country - hustling his illegal booze - bouncing from soft beds to violent brawls - making his own laws - living his own life - doing it all his own way!!

Plot: Sex pays as much as crime in David Friedman's prohibition tale, set in 1927 and telling the story of a bootlegger who sends his sexy dame to his rival to get precious information, but the plan backfires when the bootlegger's daughter is raped.

My rating: 3/10

Will I watch it again? I'm throwing it away.

THE FABULOUS BASTARD FROM CHICAGO is loaded with naked women and sixties haircuts...just like they had 'em in the Roaring Twenties! I almost always go into movies with an open mind. I knew this was a low budget exploitation picture and I figured I was going to have a reasonably good time but I had no idea that it was loaded with the 3 B's - bullets, boobs and boring. Fucking hell this picture bored the piss out of me and my friends. It was all good fun for the first twenty minutes, making fun of it and all but after a while I was ready for ANYTHING besides this and it goes on for an hour and a half or so. The fast forward button was our friend for the final third of the picture and even at 10x speed it was dull. I hate to do that to a flick (even one like this) but I felt forced to. The cars and the boobs were nice, though.