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Bloody Mama (1970) in the PNW

Details: Written by: Mortado; Category: The 1970s in Northwest Cinemas; Hits: 597

This is a collection of media from the initial runs of "Bloody Mama" (1970) in the Pacific Northwest. "The Devil's 8" was the second feature.

Click on images for larger versions.

Bloody Mama (1970)
"Bloody Mama" is a grubby little movie that takes pleasure in being ugly and never bothers to apologize for it. Shelley Winters chews the scenery with a kind of theatrical venom that makes you want to look away and keeps you watching anyway. The film is less interested in subtlety than in piling on the dirt until the whole thing smells like a cautionary tale left out in the sun too long.

The plot is simple and mean-spirited by design. A mother corrals her broken sons into a life of crime, and the camera follows with a clinical curiosity that often feels like cruelty dressed up as realism. The supporting cast includes names you will recognize later, and their presence gives the movie a weird ballast. They do what they can with material that prefers shock to insight.

Technically, the movie is rough around the edges but not sloppy. The period details and the lean running time keep it moving. What lingers is the tone. Roger Corman seems to be daring you to be offended while also asking you to admire the audacity of the spectacle. That tension never resolves into anything like moral clarity. Instead, the film wallows in its own nastiness and expects you to take the ride.

If you want a polished study of maternal pathology or a careful historical portrait, you will be disappointed. If you want a nasty, pulpy piece of cinema that wears its nastiness like armor, you will find it oddly satisfying. Either way, "Bloody Mama" is not trying to be likable. It is trying to provoke, and it succeeds at that in the most blunt and unapologetic way.

Director: Roger Corman
Writers: Robert Thom, Don Peters
Stars: Shelley Winters, Don Stroud, Pat Hingle, Bruce Dern
Buy "Bloody Mama" (1970) bluray on Amazon (SPONSORED)
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May 24, 1970 ad (Seattle)

May 25, 1970 photo (Seattle)

May 26, 1970 ad (Portland)

May 26, 1970 ad (Seattle)

May 27, 1970 ad (Portland)

May 27, 1970 ad (Seattle)

May 27, 1970 review (Seattle)

May 28, 1970 photo (Portland)

May 28, 1970 ad (Portland)

May 28, 1970 ad (Seattle)

May 28, 1970 review (Seattle)

May 29, 1970 ad (Portland)

May 30, 1970 ad (Seattle)

June 2, 1970 review (Portland)

Bloody Mama (1970) poster

My own laserdisc, signed by Roger Corman himself.

Bloody Mama (1970) trailer
Buy "Bloody Mama" (1970) bluray on Amazon (SPONSORED)
Buy "Bloody Mama" (1970) DVD on Amazon (SPONSORED)

The Rebel Rousers (1970) in the PNW

Details: Written by: Mortado; Category: The 1970s in Northwest Cinemas; Hits: 471

This is a collection of media from the initial runs of "The Rebel Rousers" (1970) in the Pacific Northwest. This one only seemed to run in Seattle. "The Witchmaker" (1969) was the better second feature.

Click on images for larger versions.

The Rebel Rousers (1970)
Watching "The Rebel Rousers" is like finding an old tattoo on someone you barely remember and realizing the ink never meant anything in the first place. The film was directed by Martin B. Cohen in his only outing behind the camera, and it wears that inexperience like a badge of honor and shame at once. What saves it from being a total waste are the faces in the frame: Cameron Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, Jack Nicholson, and Harry Dean Stanton show up and chew scenery with the kind of commitment that makes the production values look even cheaper by comparison.

The plot is simple and mean-spirited in equal measure. A man tries to put his life back together while a local motorcycle gang brings chaos to town. The script leans hard on macho posturing and the idea that violence is a form of social currency. The film was shot in 1967 but did not reach theaters until 1970 after the success of Easy Rider, which is why it feels both dated and opportunistic.

Some moments flirt with something interesting. László Kovács lensing gives the movie a look that hints at a better film trying to break out from under a pile of bad choices. Nicholson, in particular, is a small bright coal of menace and charisma that suggests why he would later become a star. But those sparks are smothered by clumsy pacing, a score that insists on telling you how to feel, and a moral seriousness that never quite decides whether it is condemning or celebrating the ugliness on screen. The running time is a brisk 78 minutes, which helps because the movie has nothing to say that needs more air.

If you go in expecting a polished classic, you will leave annoyed. If you go in expecting a trashy midnight movie, you might find a few guilty pleasures in the performances and the occasional raw shot of Americana gone sour. Either way, the film feels like a product of its moment and of a production that never had the budget or the nerve to make anything more than a noisy, mean little fable about male entitlement and small-town cowardice. It is worth seeing only as a curiosity piece for the cast and as an example of how charisma can almost rescue a bad movie.

There are no spoilers here because the film is less about plot twists and more about tone and temperament. If you want to study early performances and the way a film can be carried by actors even when everything else is failing, then "The Rebel Rousers" will give you that lesson in a blunt and occasionally ugly way.

Director: Martin B. Cohen
Writers: Martin B. Cohen, Michael Kars, Abe Polsky
Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Bruce Dern, Jack Nicholson
Buy "The Rebel Rousers" (1970) DVD on Amazon (SPONSORED)

May 19, 1970 ad (Seattle)