A poverty-stricken psychotic woman goes on a rampage against society along with her homicidal children, robbing banks, kidnapping the wealthy and resorting to murder at the drop of a hat. Thriller based on the story of the infamous Ma Barker, starring Shelley Winters, Robert De Niro, Robert Walden, Don Stroud, Clint Kimbrough. Pat Hingle and Bruce Dern.

Sexually abused as a young girl, Kate "Ma" Barker grows into a violent and powerful woman by the 1930s. She lovingly dominates her grown sons and grooms them into a pack of tough crooks. The boys include the cruel Herman, who still shares a bed with Ma; Fred, an ex-con who fell in love with a fellow prisoner; and Lloyd, who gets high on whatever's handy. Together they form a deadly, bizarre family of Depression-era bandits.