Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

BIG BAD MAMA is an outrageously cheesy 1930s-era crime comedy from producer Roger Corman; think of it as an over-the-top riff on BONNIE & CLYDE and you'll be right. The slick, speedy storyline involves Angie Dickinson as the titular character, a machine gun-toting criminal who, along with her teenage daughters, wreaks havoc throughout rural Texas. Other notable additions to the cast include Dick Miller as a dedicated lawman, Tom Skerritt as a wildman, and the great William Shatner as a shady character who falls in with the outlaws. The film is very much an exploitation picture, with a simple plot, lots of action and movement, and plenty of nudity from the female cast members. It builds up to an insanely violent climax that attempts to go one better than BONNIE & CLYDE and succeeds admirably.

Angie Dickinson as a kickass bankrobber, her nubile daughters and the men they charm into their beds (Tom Skerritt and William Shatner). Storywise, that pretty much nails it. Add in an array f nude scenes and gunfire and that's "Big Bad Mama". I've heard good things about this movie - mostly the trashy fun and the magnetism of its star - and for me it was consistently amusing; mostly head-scratching. But I will absolutely agree that Dickinson rules, Shatner's hilarious and its pacing is a full-on sprint.6/10

I met director Steve Carver when he came to town to shoot "Lone Wolf McQuade," and I'm something of a fan, but even with screenwriter Bill Norton aboard, this lacks the wit and cool characters that enliven his Chuck Norris movies or even "Steel." Dialog is particularly lacking, in some scenes even leaving Tom Skerritt with nothing to do but mutter incoherently, or a game Shatner mugging as if he's about to say something but either gets cut off or thinks better of it. The two actors do their best, Skerritt all steely-eyed intensity and Shatner oozing lily-livered Southern charm, as do Royal Dano as a flustered preacher and a shockingly young-looking Noble Willingham as a lecherous bootlegging "uncle." As for the actresses, they certainly deliver the goods, and frequently, especially Angie Dickinson. Yowzah. If you're worried, Angie gets progressively more naked as the plot moves along. Look close for a young and quickly unadorned Sally Kirkland.Plotwise? Angie, rural 1932-vintage single mom, saddled with two unmanageable daughters (one way too naive and one way too not so), after extricating one daughter from a hasty wedding, dips her toe into crime (bootlegging and DAV-smoker-jacking), then gets mired in it after hooking up with bank robber Skerritt. An encounter with down-and-out Southern gent Shatner seals their fate, as he proves to be their little gang's weakest link. Along the way, much blood, clothing and inhibitions will be shed.Considering the budget and shooting time, the action is boisterous enough but haphazard and disjointed, with a lot of repetitive car chases featuring Dick Miller and a sidekick (representing the entirety of the FBI) in hot pursuit, miraculously always one step behind our anti-heroine and her mob. One shudders to see how many vintage autos run up dirt ramps and flip over. Even if you know that the Hollywood hills don't actually look a lot like East Texas (the geography of where our characters are supposed to be at any moment in the plot isn't always made abundantly clear), the small-town locations and antique cars do an impressive job of keeping the movie in its Depression-era period.Look quickly for second-unit director Paul Bartel as a party guest, following in the footsteps of Francis Coppola in "The Young Racers."

Roger Corman reaffirms himself as one of America's coolest directors with the trashy-but-great "Big Bad Mama". It's 1932 Texas, and Wilma McClatchie (Angie Dickinson) has just lost everything. No problem! She and her daughters take to the road and go around robbing banks and messing with society, bilking the system for all that it's worth. Along the way, crook Fred Diller (Tom Skerritt) and gentleman William Baxter (William Shatner) join up with them, while snide lawman Bonney (Dick Miller) chases them. It's like "Bonnie and Clyde" taken to the next level! Maybe this really isn't the sort of movie that could ever get ranked among history's most "important", but it's a thrill every step of the way. And it's always great to see movies poke fun at religious wackos and focus on the important issues of the Depression. This is truly a movie that you won't want to miss.