including 65 theaters in Arkansas. The film grossed $1.5 million in U.S. rentals. Critical response The film holds a score of 17% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 6 reviews. Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote that "Miss Winters is plain wonderful" in the film, which although similar to Bonnie and Clyde in subject matter, "happens to be more honest and less pretentious, with no grudging admiration for criminal 'rebels.' What hoists the picture into real substance toward the home stretch is an eerie and fascinating by [sic] credible sequence with the Barker clan holding as captive a blindfolded millionaire, strongly played by Pat Hingle." Peter Schjeldahl, also writing for The New York Times, described the film favorably as a "low budget, unpretentious, extraordinarily brutal little movie about the pathology of 'senseless' murder." Arthur D. Murphy of Variety wrote, "Corman's production has the naturalistic look sought, but the occasionally poor looping and uneven color and textural qualities add up to a liability. His direction is passive, unpretentious, unambitious and therefore nearly nonexistent." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 1 star out of 4 and called it "92 minutes of sado-masochism, incest, satyrism and voyeurism woven into a disgraceful screenplay ... In fact, the whole treatment might be called embarrassed 'Bonnie and Clyde'." Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times stated, "It is such a close if mocking tribute to a celebrated movie of a couple of years ago that it could be subtitled 'Mommie and Clyde.' It is a sleek, vile exercise ... Indeed, Bloody Mama is a piece of pop art from which you emerge feeling depressed, degraded and diminished." Kenneth Turan of The Washington Post wrote, "Its lyrical pastel shades—even the blood blends deftly into the color scheme—show that infinite pains have been taken with the film's visual aspect, a Corman trademark. Unfortunately, another Corman trademark—atrocious acting—is well-represented here, making it hard to recommend the film to people who can hear as well as see." The film was AIP's highest-grossing film of the year. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Gangster Film Censorship The film was initially banned in France and New Zealand, although these bans were subsequently lifted. The film was initially refused certification by the BBFC in the United Kingdom, but despite this, was screened at the National Film Theatre. Screenwriter