Big Bad Mama II (1987)

The Worst Film Ever

Simply Perfect

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Angie Dickinson is back! And she's bigger and badder than before. It's 2 years later, and Wilma McClatchie and her two daughters are at home with her boyfriend . All the peace ended when a land baron foreclosed the home, and boyfriend dies in the shootout. Wilma, Biilie(Danielle Brisebois) and Polly(Julie McCollough) go on a state run of crime to avenge her boyfriend and the poor. They come across a journalist(Robert Culp) who is just going along with the ride. They even kidnapped son of the next governor. He was more willing to help the ladies rather than his father. This movie is has more comedy to it. But I remembered Brisebois from "Archie Bunker's Place". It won't be the same. Wilma McClatchie is a legend in her own right. In the first one, she took over a business. In this one, she was more like the female Robin Hood. This one is funnier than the first one. And a little more fun. Too bad they couldn't do a third one. Oh, well what can you do. 2 out of 5 stars.

The first Big Bad Mama was a quickie Bonnie and Clyde wannabe on a much lower budget and a much shorter shooting schedule. Angie looked good and seemed to be enjoying herself in a rare bad girl role, and there were enough car chases and shoot-outs to keep the viewer from falling asleep.Big Bad Mama II is more (and less) of the same. Mostly less, since writer- director Jim Wynorski aims for camp, but can't manage to get laughs with anything. (This was a career-long failing for him.) Angie is back, but she's now over 50, and the Depression gangster genre has put on a few years too. With nothing new in the way of story ideas or screen visuals, there seems to be no point too having made a sequel beyond cashing in on the original for its video notoriety. More car chases, more guns, but little point. The sequel is only for die hard Angie fans. Collectors of celebrity nude will be disappointed that Angie's nude scenes were doubled (by former Penthouse model Monique Gabrielle).

Big Bad Mama II (1987) *** (out of 4) This "sequel" to the 1974 cult classic is more of a remake since the events in the first film are overlooked and the characters are pretty much starting from scratch. This time out after her husband is murdered, Wilma McClatchie (Dickinson) takes her daughters Billie Jean (Danielle Brisebois) and Polly (Julie McCullough) on a crime spree so that they won't have to go to bed hungry at night. Mama decides to get even with a crooked politician (Bruce Glover) by kidnapping his son (Jeff Yagher) but things don't go as planned. BIG BAD MAMA II was shot in about two weeks for an extremely small amount of money so one should keep that in mind. What's so funny is that director Wynorski knows that this isn't going to be an Oscar-winner so instead of trying something fancy he just keeps the film moving at a nice pace and throws in as much action as he can. The movie certainly isn't high quality and there's no question that it's not nearly as good as the first movie but I think the characters are so memorable and the cast do such a good job with them that you can't help but have fun as long as you don't mind this type of "B" film. Dickinson does a fine job in her role as she has no problem playing tough and she's still quite believable in the part. Robert Culp plays a reporter/love interest and he too does a fine job. I've read some reviews that said he looked embarrassed but I don't agree at all as it seems he's having a wonderful time and he has some nice chemistry with Dickinson. Brisebois is fine playing the tough daughter while McCullough is awfully cute as the good girl. Even Yagher is enjoyable in his part and fans of HALLOWEEN will enjoy seeing Charles Cyphers in a quick bit. Glover really steals the film as the sleazy bad guy as you can't help but get a real kick because he's certainly a no-good snake that you love to hate. The director keeps the film moving at an incredibly fast pace and we're treated to all sorts of action with non-stop bullets going around and we even get several explosions. In true Roger Corman fashion we even get a sequence where some new footage is mixed in with mostly scenes from the original movie. The nudity on display, especially that of McCullough, just adds to the fun. One strange thing is that in 1987 just about anything could go in the direct to video market (this did hit a few theaters) but this film is actually a lot tamer than the original with much of the sleaze cut out.

1934. Shrewd and two-fisted no-nonsense matriarch Wilma McClatchie (a still lovely and sprightly Angie Dickinson) and her two nubile daughters -- brash Billie Jean (the insanely gorgeous Danielle Brisebois) and the sweet, but rather dim-witted Polly (adorable Julie McCullough) -- get revenge on crooked politician Morgan Crawford (a sublimely slimy Bruce Glover) by not only robbing various banks he owns, but also by kidnapping his nice guy son Jordan (likable Jeff Yagher). Director/co-writer Jim Wynorski relates the compact story at constant quick pace, offers a sharp line in amusing campy'n'cheeky humor, stages the exciting, if less than realistic action scenes with real gusto (said action includes a fierce sisterly catfight and a wild anything-goes brawl in a bordello), manages a few moments of humanity amid all the merry silliness, presents a credible enough evocation of the Great Depression era, and, of course, gives us a generous sprinkling of tasty female nudity (a skinny dipping sequence with Julie and Danielle rates as the undeniable yummy highlight). The solid acting from an able cast helps matters a whole lot: Robert Culp lends excellent support as helpful and compassionate journalist Daryl Pearson, Ebbe Roe Smith is appropriately hateful as Morgan's sleazy assistant Lucas Stroud, Charles Cyphers does well as ornery police chief Stark, and Kelli Maroney has a cool last reel cameo as fast-driving fugitive Willie McClatchie. Robert C. New's polished cinematography boasts plenty of neat cinematic flourishes (I really dug the bullet hole-style scene transitions). Chuck Cirino's twangy and jaunty score hits the harmonic spot. A hugely entertaining outing.