When the orgy breaks out at Loser’s funeral, his old lady is drugged and then raped by two fellow Angels. She later apologizes to his dead body. Everyone comes off terrible, so who is the viewer supposed to empathize with? A much better look at the Hell’s Angels is depicted in Hunter S. Thompson’s book on the subject.
Blues’ speech at Loser’s funeral has been used in songs by a number of bands, Primal Scream’s “Loaded” and Mudhoney’s “In and Out of Grace.” It continues the film’s duality of seriousness and farce regarding these subjects. When the preacher asks Blues what he wants, he responds, “We wanna be free! We wanna be free to do what we wanna do. We wanna be free to ride. We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man! And we wanna get loaded. And we wanna have a good time. And that's what we are gonna do. We are gonna have a good time... We are gonna have a party.”
Disc 3 is a crime double feature. Bloody Mama (1970), most likely inspired by the success of Bonnie and Clyde is a southern exploitation film that tells the tale of Ma Barker, played by Shelley Winters, and her sons’ crime spree. The film is an odd mess. At the beginning of the film, Ma runs out of town after the boys rape a girl. Ma cuddles with her grown sons, but thankfully it’s not shown. After a county fair robbery gets bungled, Fred ends up in jail and develops, although never stated, a homosexual relationship with cellmate Kevin Dirkman who joins the gang upon release. In one of his first roles, Robert DeNiro plays son Lloyd, a junkie.
This is the weakest entry in the set. Corman and the gang failed to realize that although they were criminals, Bonnie and Clyde were appealing to watch and even root for. Every member of the Barker gang is an unappealing degenerate that garners no sympathy. It’s 91 minutes you’ll wish you had back.
Bucket of Blood (1959) also takes its inspiration from another film. Charles B Griffith used the premise of House of Wax (1953) to comment on the world of art. Dick Miller stars as Walter, a shy bumbling busboy working at a beatnik coffee house. He wants to be a sculptor although he has no skills. One evening he accidentally kills his landlord’s cat, and to hide what happened, he covers the cat in clay and turns it into a sculpture that impresses many people. One fan gives him some heroin unbeknownst to him, which is noticed by an undercover cop. When the cop tries to arrest Walter, he kills the cop and turns him into a piece. As Walter becomes increasingly successful, he is driven to create more “work.” The film fell into public domain and can be seen online.
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