A Celebration of Roberta Collins!
Cult cinema has many Actresses who appeared in a lot of great films, but who aren’t as well remembered as they should be.
My latest “2020 Sex Kitten Countdown” focuses on an Actress who epitomizes the great Cult Movie Queens of the 70’s!
She’s been called “brassy’n’beautiful” – the gorgeous Roberta Collins was a terrific Actress who enlivened a bunch of “down’n’dirty” 1970’s drive-in movies with what critics called her “earthy good humor, boundless vitality, superior acting ability, strong, forceful personality and smoldering sex appeal!”
Roberta Collins was born on November 17, 1944, and broke into acting in the late ’60s. One of her first films was the sexploitation classic “The Arousers!”
“The Arousers” was also released a year later as “Sweet Kill” – it’s a 1972 psycho thriller written and directed by Curtis Hanson. It was Hanson’s directorial debut – he went on to direct “The Hand That Rocks The Cradle” and “LA Confidential!”
Collins really made a splash in one of the early “women in prison” films of the 70’s as well – a film that helped launch a “women who shower” trend in cult cinema!
Collins was the “fiery’n’feisty” prison inmate in Jack Hill’s “The Big Doll House”, sharing a shower with Pam Grier!
Check out the trailer for this terrific 1971 film:
The plot was simple – and perfect! Beautiful women prisoners are abused in a Philippine prison, until 5 of them plot an escape by taking the evil female warden hostage with the reluctant help of 2 male fruit vendors.
OK then!
Sid Haig starred in this one – and later I will tell you how you can see more “women in prison” mayhem, but back to Roberta!
She was one of “The Roommates” in 1974 – five lovely young ladies who decide to spend their summer vacation at Lake Arrowhead, where they hit the party circuit. However, things go awry when the gals find themselves the targets of a mysterious murderer.
Roberta was also terrific as the bawdy, sex kitten inmate in Jonathan Demme’s gem “Caged Heat” in 1974! Yes, another “women in prison” picture!
These films all have a similar plot – and lots of shower scenes…check out the trailer for this 1974 film:
As you can see, Roberta was on a roll: appearing in a number of classic cult films from the 70’s – including one of the greatest ever!
Death Race 2000!
That’s right, Roberta was in this classic – a cross country race that awarded you points for things like hitting pedestrians!
She was hilarious in this 1975 black comedy!
Here is the trailer:
Yes, she appeared along with Sylvester Stallone in this wild cult gem that is still a blast to watch today – it’s the pure definition of a “drive-in” classic from that era!
She had a nude scene in the film along with cult Actress Mary Waronov…and next up, she starred along with Claudia Jennings in “The Unholy Rollers”!
These are great cult films folks!
Here is a short clip from the film, as Jennings kicks some serious ass in the roller derby ring:
Well, how can you argue with that?
Jennings was best known for her film “Gator Bait” – and she died a tragic death…click here to see more about this iconic star:
Collins appeared with Jim Brown in “Three the Hard Way” and many more cult films during that decade – but, like Jennings, she seemed destined for tragedy…
Roberta’s career slowed down in the 1980s, with smaller parts – her time in the spotlight was definitely the 70’s…
Tragically, Collins died at age 63 from an accidental overdose of drugs and alcohol in 2008…what a shame, because she was such a cult movie queen…still she left us with great moments from a slew of terrific cult cinema…
She appeared ion two the best “Women in prison” films, but if you want to see more of them, click on my look at the genre here:
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Categories: 70's Films, Camp Cult Classics, Classic Action Films, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Grindhouse, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites
I remember her from Death Race 2000, which is the only one of those I have seen. Sad that she died relatively young.
Best wishes, Pete.
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It’s a sad trend it seems Pete…not trying to do so many sad stories, but when I do the research, many of the cult movie stars have a hard time adjusting to life after fame…
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