Mean Mother

During his career directing movies, Al Adamson has created an infamous list of films to his credit. I would clearly put him on the list of 10 worst directors in history, with garbage pictures like "Psycho A Go-Go", "Angels' Wild Women", "The Naughty Stewardesses", "Horror of the Blood Monsters", and "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" to his credit (or discredit). Aside from, perhaps, William Grefe, Ray Dennis Steckler and Ed Wood...I honestly can't think of a worse director! But deciding which of these is worse is akin to choosing between having Ebola, cancer or a flesh-eating virus...they're all very nasty!

Well, with "Mean Mother", Al's at it again. But instead of his usual garbage film, this time he secured the rights to a Spanish film. He then hacked the movie apart and inserted a few new scenes and, voila, an all-new blacksploitation movie!! If this isn't a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is!

Oddly, "Mean Mother" stars Dobie Gray....a man known for singing pop tunes like "Drift Away". And, you can tell that Gray is no actor, with stilted delivery of his lines and some hilariously bad fight scenes that look as if they're all being done in slow-motion! And, most of the time he just appears to be slapping his enemies silly!

The story begins in the 1970s but then there's a long flashback where you see Beauregard Jones (Gray) meeting up with a white guy and becoming friends with him in Vietnam. Years pass and they each go their separate ways...but both paths lead to a life of crime. Now, back in the present, the two are reunited.

Aside from seeing the gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi (a Bond villainess in "Thunderball"), there isn't a lot to recommend here. The fight scenes are silly and completely unchoreographed, the acting is amateurish and the overall picture, despite the action, is awfully slow and dull. Heck, the sound is even bad--with some characters sounding a bit loud and others being almost impossible to hear! Still, for an Adamson film my complaints are NOT that severe. Now I am not saying any of this is good...it isn't. But it's not among the director's schlockiest...though this isn't saying much!