Pam Grier and Margaret Markov look more beautiful than ever in the women in prison film "Black Mama, White Mama" thanks to Arrow Video's Blu-ray!
Released by: Arrow Video
Release Date: March 22, 2016 (US) / April 4, 2016 (UK)
Production Year: 1973
Region Code: ALL
Running Time: 1:26:38
Audio: English LPCM Mono
Video: 1080p (1.85:1 Aspect Ratio)
Subtitles: English SDH
THE FILM - [ 3.5 / 5 ]:
CHICKS IN CHAINS ON THE LAM FROM A PRISON HELL!
Before her iconic turn in Coffy, Pam Grier starred alongside Margaret Markov in a grindhouse spin on Stanley Kramer’s The Defiant Ones, fusing the Women in Prison film with the emerging Blaxploitation movement for a riotous romp of bullets, babes and blood!
Lee (Grier), a tough prostitute and Karen (Markov), a revolutionary, are admitted to a tough women’s prison where almost immediately (after some playful showering that prefigures Porky’s) they clash. Packed off to a maximum security prison, their transport is ambushed by Karen’s guerrilla friends and the two escape into the Filipino jungle. Chained together and with differing escape plans their clash intensifies as Lee wants to retrieve a stash of stolen cash to get her off the island and Karen wants to re-join her revolutionary group. Escape isn’t easy as they come up against a series of obstacles including a corrupt cop, a bounty hunter, a sadistic Drug Lord and guerrillas who threaten to turn everything upside down.
Chock full of girl fights, gun battles, nudity and humor, Black Mama White Mama, which was also known as Women in Chains and Hot, Hard and Mean, lives up to all its titles as well as featuring a brilliant Sid Haig ("Spider Baby," "House of 1000 Corpses") as a cowboy bounty hunter and Lynn Borden ("Frogs," "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry") as a lesbian guard from a script co-written by Jonathan Demme (Caged Heat) and a score sampled by Quentin Tarantino for "Kill Bill."
Well, where else to start when talking about a women in prison film but the women. This fun slice of exploitation is not lacking when it comes to beautiful women. You don't have to wait terribly long for an obligatory shower scene and thank you for that. Our primary stars are just two among a sea of beauties that some are sure to agree, we don't see enough of in "Black Mama, White Mama." Lynn Borden as Matron Densmore wore her prison guard outfit well as she looked very attractive. Maybe I'm going through Ilsa withdrawal. Anyhow, the prison setting doesn't last too long though as Karen's (Markov) revolutionary friends soon help take care of that after a prisoner transfer doesn't quite go as planned.
Soon our heroines find themselves on the run, which they do a lot in this film, as they cross paths with a number of unsavory individuals including among them Ruben (Sid Haig), a loathsome bounty hunter. Sid Haig did a terrific job in his role. Quite an unlikable character and Sid filled the role very well with no shortage of ballsy attitude. Another nasty individual was the disgusting and vile, Vic Cheng (Vic Diaz) who is a drug lord and pimp. He has no problem doing what it takes to acquire information including torture, as you will see.
The film features a few action sequences and even though the action isn't abundant, they are certainly entertaining and the level of action increases as the film goes on including a surprising finale. We are treated to a number of shots of the jungle and lush countryside which was a nice contrast to the drab prison surrounding. The assortment of oddball nasty characters is to me, really makes this film all the more enjoyable. They are not mere cardboard cutouts who just spew their lines. No, they carry their scenes with ease and do such a good job playing sleazy characters that you almost need a shower to get their greasy sweat off of you as it oozes off the screen.
I had never had the pleasure of seeing this film until this Blu-ray arrived and let me say, thank you Arrow Video and MVD Entertainment Group. What a way to see this film for the first time.
AUDIO - [ 4 / 5 ]:
The Arrow Video Blu-ray includes an English LPCM Mono audio track. English SDH subtitles are included as well. The audio for the film sounded excellent. From the sounds of the women shrieking in the prison to the rapid fire sound of machine guns, the sound quality of this Blu-ray is very good and it is nice to have it in the form of original mono audio. Sound levels seemed to remain mostly even and consistent and the dialogue, score and sound effects which there are plenty of, all sounded good throughout the film. I did not encounter any problems such as hissing, pops or dropouts.
VIDEO - [ 4 / 5 ]:
"Black Mama, White Mama" escapes its SD prison on to Blu-ray thanks to Arrow Video. The film is presented in 1080p with a 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. Despite not being newly remastered, the film looks remarkably good with a strong amount of detail present. In the outdoor finale, the film looks even better. Colors are amazing and really jump off the screen. From the ladies yellow prison clothes to the colorful clothing of Ruben, primaries and pastels all look terrific and stand out. In brighter scenes the film truly shines and shows off its colors and level of detail. Film grain looked fine and never seemed to appear too heavy. Skin tones looked spot on. There are occasional white specks but they appear so seldom they are not very noticeable.
SPECIAL FEATURES - [ 3.5 / 5]:
Audio Commentary - Filmmaker and Filipino film historian Andrew Leavold provides the commentary on the film. He served as associate producer on the documentary "Machete Maidens Unleashed." Mr. Leavold did a great job on this track at keeping me entertained with his vast knowledge of the stars in the film as well as commenting on what is happening on the screen at the time. You can easily tell that Mr. Leavold thoroughly enjoys the film which makes the commentary track even more enjoyable. From his comments about the prison shower scene to the colorful outfits of Sid Haig's Ruben, this was a fun and informative commentary.
White Mama (14:01) - In this interview filmed for Arrow Video in September 2015, Margaret Markov discusses her film career and home life leading up to becoming an actress. Miss Markov talks about working with Roger Corman and speaks fondly of her "Black Mama, White Mama" co-stars. She also talks about how she met her future husband on the set of "The Arena."
Sid Haig's Filipino Adventures (15:51) - In this interview filmed for Arrow Video in September 2015, Sid Haig discusses films he made in the Philippines including "The Woman Hunt," "The Big Bird Cage," "Black Mama, White Mama" and "The Big Doll House." He speaks about his time spent working with Pam Grier over the years including a couple stories from the sets of "Jackie Brown" and "The Big Bird Cage." As Sid talks about the amount of time he spent in the Philippines, he also talks about the often, terrible working conditions due to the environment such as snakes, spiders and the weather.
The Mad Director of Blood Island (14:38) - An archive interview with "Black Mama, White Mama" director Eddie Romero as he discusses his career with filmmaker Andrew Leavold. They talk about some early films in his career such as "Blood Creature" where a stuntman (who later became a big action star) almost died when they set him on fire for the film. A very relaxed interview. It was nice to see Mr. Romero, who sadly passed away in 2013, having a good time with the questions and reminiscing about his films.
Trailer (1:54)
Gallery - Includes promotional images and the original press book.
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips.
DVD
IN CONCLUSION:
This Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack has excellent audio and video quality and offers some great extras in the form of a commentary track and interviews. Pam Grier fans, this is a no-brainer and if you even think you might like this film, I'd buy it as it's an entertaining film, very reasonably priced plus it is a high quality release by Arrow Video.
OVERALL RATING - [ 3.75 / 5 ]
