Mama's Dirty Girls (1974)

Memorable, crazy movie

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Mama's Dirty Girls (1974) ** (out of 4) Mildly entertaining exploitation film has Gloria Grahame playing Mama, a single mother who with the help of her sexy daughters marries rich men and then kills them. The gang sets up shop in a small town where mama finds a hotel owner with some cash but one of the daughter's falls for a local cop.MAMA'S DIRTY GIRLS features a great title and a great poster and, to be honest, that's all you needed back in the day to get some people to view your low-budget movie. Director John Hayes put his footprint all over 70s exploitation and while this film isn't a classic it's at least entertaining enough to make it worth watching if you enjoy such trash.The biggest problem with this film is that it has a very weak screenplay that's pretty much one-note from the start to the finish. The film opens up with an extremely good sequence as we see mama and her girls take care of a man who finally breaks down and goes after one of the daughters. I thought this sequence was well-directed and crossed the line into horror territory but sadly nothing that follows is near as good. There are way too many stretches where not much is happening and after a while the film just begins to drag.With that said, it is fun seeing someone like Grahame eating up this exploitation role. By this time there were countless movies out there where former stars, now up in age, turned to playing bad people and the actress does a good job with it. The supporting performances are decent for the most part but the main thing is that the ladies get naked. After all, this is an exploitation movie.

Shrewd con woman Mama Love (an impressively fierce portrayal by the redoubtable Gloria Grahame) and her three lovely daughters -- shameless strumpet Becky (the ravishing Candice Rialson of "Pets" and "Hollywood Boulevard" fame), lusty Addie (delectable redhead Sondra Currie), and meek Cindy (pretty Mary Stoddard) -- fleece unsuspecting rich men out of their money. After their latest victim proves to be a bust, the gals move on to a desolate desert community to continue their naughty ways: Mama marries shady resort owner Harold (an excellent performance by Paul Lambert), Becky ruthlessly teases slow-witted handyman Willy (solid Joseph Anthony), and Addie falls for the hunky, but married Sheriff Roy Collins (a sound turn by Christopher Wines). Director John Hayes, working from a suitably sordid and mean-spirited script by Gil Lasky, makes no bones about the film being an unapologetic piece of low-grade trash that blithely panders to the lowest common denominator: From the gloriously sleazy and leering opening shot of a deliciously topless Rialson checking herself out in the mirror to the extremely grim conclusion in which everybody gets their just desserts, this picture certainly delivers the satisfyingly seamy goods. While the majority of the characters aren't remotely appealing, it's still a nasty blast to watch this nest of vipers prey on each other. Better still, there's a generous amount of tasty female nudity courtesy of the aforementioned Rialson and yummy brunette former "Penthouse" Pet of the Year Anneka di Lorenzo as Collins' bitter and possessive estranged wife Charity. Henning Schellerup's plain, but acceptable cinematography, the alternately bluesy and funky score by Don Bagley and Steve Michaels, and tough, gritty tone all further enhance the considerable scuzzy entertainment value of this worthwhile drive-in item.

If this film had been directed by Russ Meyer it would have been so much better. The gals sure look good and the guys are either dumb or studs (or both) and Meyer's cartoon style of film making would have turned this threadbare romp into good fun. Oh well, one can't have everything and we do have down on her luck Hollywood old-timer Gloria Grahame in good form as the feisty 'Mama' looking for gullible men to marry so she can bump them off for their money. When she is not on screen however, boredom stretches to the horizon and you may want to read a newspaper or find something else to do until she returns.

Mama's Dirty Girls is a grimy, murder melodrama about a despicable woman (Gloria Grahame!) and her three sexy daughters whom she uses to seduce and manipulate men for money. It doesn't offer much in the way of performances. The actors often look like they wish they were elsewhere. The story though has some interesting twists and the fact that there isn't really anyone to root for makes the film fun in a sleazy, low class kind of way. It has an early 70s, soap-opera-ish pace to it but it's OK to watch if you have nothing better to do.