69
Metascore
6 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Time OutTime OutDespite such sleazy subject matter, the cast is outstanding, dominated by a fierce Shelley Winters, and Corman pulls no punches, delivering a searing Jacobean tragedy of a gangster movie.
- 80EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanA lurid gothic gangster psychodrama from Roger Corman, this is Shelley Winters’ finest hour-and-a-half, cast as Arizona Clark ‘Ma’ Barker, a role it would be impossible to overplay.
- What hoists the picture into real substance toward the home stretch is an eerie and fascinating by credible sequence with the Barker clan holding as captive a blindfolded millionaire, strongly played by Pat Hingle.
- 70Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrRoger Corman's 1970 retelling of the story of Ma Barker and her three loony sons in Depression-era America is completely out of control, but the smash-and-grab stylistics are exhilarating.
- 25TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineIt's fun for awhile, but soon the sheer lunacy of it all wears thin as Corman keeps trying to top himself.