BIG BAD MOMMA II

US, 1987, 83 minutes, Colour.
Angie Dickenson, Robert Culp, Bruce Glover.
Directed by Jim Wynorski.

Big Bad Momma II is a sequel to (and a repeat) of the original gangster film with Angie Dickinson. Here she takes up her role two years later. There is the usual foreclosure by the bank, violence, Momma and her daughters taking to robbing banks in revenge. They kidnap the wealthy would-be governor's son and take him on their robberies. Robert Culp is a Philadelphia journalist who follows their action.

The film is familiar from the genre which was so popular in the early '70s - and seems somewhat out of place in the style of the late '80s. It was co-written and directed by Jim Wynorski, director of The Return of Swamp Thing.

1.The tradition of the gangster genre? The popularity of this kind of film in the '70s? A sequel in the late '80s?

2.Texas in the '30s, the countryside, the cities? Rich and poor?

3.The title, the opening, the robberies, Angie Dickinson reprising her role? The finale with the information about each of the characters and her look at the audience?

4.The bank situation, the foreclosure, the death of her husband? Her going to the robberies, the political meetings? On the run, meeting Pearson? The banquet, taking Jordan Crawford? The fair and the shootings? The chase, the arrests? The siege and the house on fire? The aftermath and the survival of the characters?

5.Wilma and her motivation, her daughters, love for her husband, skill in the robberies, with the gun, taking Jordan? The encounter with Pearson? Her being shot, going back to the house, the siege? The shootings?

6.Billie Jean and Polly, the exploitation touches with the creek, the bedroom sequences? In love with Jordan? The robberies, the fights, taken, the siege? Their survival?

7.Jordan and the echoes of Patty Hearst? Attitude towards his father, in love with Polly, having his photo taken as a gangster, at the final siege? The aftermath of his being a senator and marrying Polly?

8.The sketch of the bankers, the politicians, the would-be governor, their followers? Callous attitudes? Injustice?

9.Daryl, reporter, following Wilma, their taking his clothes, his relationship with Wilma, following her, sexual relationship? Arrested, prison, organising the broadcast? The later comment about his Emmy award?

10.The ambiguous attitude towards the main characters, moral values, the pressures of the Depression? The lengthy shoot-outs, the violence, the deaths? Part of the gangster genre?