So, besides the fact that I like to watch critically acclaimed films, action/martial arts films, I also like to watch what was called Blaxploitation films. These were films made during the Exploitation/Grindhouse era that featured predominately African American casts. Today’s film is not only a Blaxploitation film, but it’s also a women in prison film called Black Mama, White Mama. The film stars Pam Grier (Foxy Brown) as Lee Daniels, a former harem to a drug kingpin in the Philippines who is forced to team up with a revolutionary named Karen Brent (Margaret Markov) when they escape from a women’s prison while chained to each other. They’ll have to make it to a boat that is waiting for Daniels or meet up with a team of revolutionaries before they are caught by the kingpin or the police. The film also stars Sid Haig (The Devil’s Rejects) as Ruben, Lynn Borden (Dirty Mary Crazy Larry) as Matron Densmore, Zaldy Zshornack (Hotline) as Ernesto, Laurie Burton (Perfect) as Warden Logan, Eddie Garcia (The Devil’s Daughter) as Captain Cruz, Alona Alegre (The Black Dragon) as Juana, Wendy Green (The Big Bird Cage) as Ronda, and the film was directed by Eddie Romero (Beast Of The Yellow Night).
If you are expecting an Oscar worthy film from Black Mama, White Mama then you might want to move on from this review. The only award this film may get from me a Cheeseball Cinema Award for Gratuitous Boob Shot Scene. Like all Women in Prison (women in chains as it also known) films, there is always a shower scene with multiple women and they always end up fooling around (see picture to the left for example). This is practically soft core porn and that is why they were played at Grindhouse theaters. Of course, Pam Grier was sexy in the film and she did a good job with Margaret Markov who played the rich girl turned revolutionary. There is plenty of action in the film as far as corny fight choreography from the women, but some a couple of cool shootouts as well. The one question I always have with all these films is what are they doing in the Philippines? I know that it’s probably a cool place to visit, but why is there a women’s rehabilitation center run by white people on an island supposedly run by a Filipino drug kingpin?(According to the film). These are things that never make much sense to me, but then again I guess we can suspend our beliefs for the film. You have to take these films for what they are worth and I am just a fan of anything cheesy or great. That is why I watch these films when I get the chance to. So with all that being said, I am going to grade the film based on the Cheeseball Cinema scale. On a scale of one being close to an A-List Hollywood film and five being the cheesiest film of all time, I am going to give this one a 3.2 for a final grade.
There are things that I am a huge fan of with one being that I am a fan of Kurt Russell and the second thing is creativity. That is exactly what you get with the film Bone Tomahawk which stars Russell as a sheriff in this wild west/horror style film. Everything is normal in a small frontier town until a drifter (David Arquette) mysteriously shows up. What follows is something unholy as a deputy, a doctor, and the drifter are kidnapped by cannibalistic Indians. So, the Sheriff (Russell), the back up deputy (Richard Jenkins), A sharpshooter (Matthew Fox), and the doctor’s husband (Patrick Wilson) who happens to be a cripple, go on the journey to rescue all of them before they are eaten by the savages. The film also stars Lili Simmons (Banshee) as Samantha the doctor, Evan Jonigkeit (X-Men: Days Of Future Past) as Deputy Nick, Sid Haig (House Of 1000 Corpses) as Buddy, Maestro Harrell (The Promotion) as Gizzard, James Tolkan (Back To The Future) as Pianist, Kathryn Morris (A.I. Artificial Intelligence) as Mrs. Hunt, Zahn McClarnon (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron) as the professor, Sean Young (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective) as Mrs. Porter, and the film was written and directed by S. Craig Zahler.
This is definitely one of the most unique westerns I have ever seen in my life besides Cowboys & Aliens. When I said I liked creativity, this was exactly what I was talking about because I had been trying to develop a western that was also a horror film. I am just glad that someone finally did it and did it well. The film has some real brutal scenes like a body splitting scene that you will see as the cannibals are pretty brutal and cool looking as well. thing that gets me is they look like they belong somewhere else in the world and not in the wild west. Nevertheless, the film starts out like a western film where it takes time to develop the story and then as soon as they get close that is when all the good stuff starts to happen. Kurt Russell was as good as expected and this has me excited to see him The Hateful 8. The other star of the film is Patrick Wilson who as I said is a cripple trying his best to save his wife before it’s too late. Yes, its the stereotypical kind of story, but it works in this film and you feel for this character. You want him to succeed and you want him to get to his wife (plus his wife is super hot). If you’re a fan of cannibals, westerns, horror films, and Kurt Russell then check out this film. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 