“The family that slays together stays together”. Roger Corman wraps a Jacobean tragedy in a gangster movie as he presents the sordid true saga of Kate “Ma” Barker and her four sons, brutal criminals who terrorized Depression-era America. Shelley Winters puts in a blistering performance as Ma, abandoning her weak husband and leading her brood off on a brutal crime spree. Alongside Ma, the family unit comprises sadistic Herman (Don Stroud), masochistic homosexual Fred (Robert Walden) fresh out of prison and accompanied by his junkie lover Kevin Dirkman (Bruce Dern), drug-addict Lloyd (Robert De Niro) and wallflower Arthur (Clint Kimbrough): all held together by incest and murder. When Ma decides to kidnap wealthy local politician Sam Pendlebury (Pat Hines), the family dynamic is torn asunder as he unwittingly becomes the father figure the boys never had, and finally enables them to stand up to her. Hailed as a breakthrough in early exploitation cinema Bloody Mama is also notable for featuring Robert De Niro in his first major onscreen role.

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