Jackson County Jail (1976)

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

JACKSON COUNTY JAIL is an acceptable thriller from producer Roger Corman; not particularly good, but at least remaining fast-paced and engaging enough to be worth a look for fans of 1970s-era grindhouse cinema. Yvette Mimieux (of THE TIME MACHINE fame) plays one of those movie characters who ends up thrown in the titular jail through no fault of her own, where she's subjected to one of the more unpleasant rape scenes of the era. Eventually she busts out with the help of youthful hoodlum Tommy Lee Jones, and the two escape cross-country, pursued by the corrupt cops. The rape scene aside, this is moderately entertaining, with Mimieux striving to invest her character with realism and Jones excelling in an early role. The gut-busting climax reminded me of DIRTY MARY, CRAZY LARRY.

Jackson County Jail (1976)*** (out of 4) Dinah (Yvette Mimieux) gets into a fight with her boss and when she returns home she catches her husband cheating on her once again. She's finally had enough and takes a job in New York and decides to drive cross country but after picking up a pair of hitchhikers everything goes to Hell. She's robbed by the hitchhikers and this leads to a run of bad luck, which has her thrown in jail with bad boy Coley Blake (Tommy Lee Jones).JACKSON COUNTY JAIL walks a fine line between a serious drama and the type of exploitation flick that were very popular at the drive-in during this era. I must admit that I'm really shocked at how well-made the film was and at how little exploitation there actually is. I say that because Roger Corman was the producer and we know what type of movies he was pumping out during the 1970's. Fans of good dramas should enjoy this picture.The greatest thing for the film are certainly the two lead performers as both of them deliver excellent performances. You just can't help but feel bad for Mimieux and she perfectly captures this character, her heartache and eventually her willingness to fight to try and live. Jones is also excellent in this early performance as the tough guy who was "born dead." The two actors share some great chemistry and really make for an entertaining team. We even have Robert Carradine in a small supporting role.The film features a pretty non-graphic but disturbing rape sequence, which is extremely well directed by Michael Miller. The sequence is quite tense without crossing the lines of bad taste. The film runs a very quick 83-minutes and there's really not a slow spot anywhere to be found. JACKSON COUNTY JAIL has a big cult following and it's easy to see why.

Fast paced, compelling chase thriller casts the lovely Yvette Mimieux as Dinah Hunter, who decides within the first few minutes of this story to head back to her old advertising job in NYC. She makes a couple of fateful decisions, however (starting with deciding to make the trip from LA to NYC by car), that land her in one unfortunate situation after another. Sadly, these circumstances are all too believable, and it's hard not to feel an immense amount of sympathy for her as she ultimately ends up a fugitive from justice, having killed a lecherous deputy after he forced himself on her in her jail cell. She's assisted by a natural born outlaw by the name of Coley Blake (Tommy Lee Jones); even while existing outside the usual legal boundaries, Coley is a man of some integrity and softly educates the somewhat naive Dinah on some of the cold, hard realities of their predicament. In fact, Coley is far more likable than the majority of the other characters; Jones, in his first substantial film role, displays a great deal of quiet charisma. And Mimieux remains feisty and likable throughout, as she's forced to deal with one rotten lowlife after another: a chauvinistic executive (Cliff Emmich), her unfaithful boyfriend David (Howard Hesseman), a sneaky waitress (Betty Thomas), a young pair of robbers (Robert Carradine and Nancy Lee Noble), a lecherous bar owner (Britt Leach), and, the real kicker, the rapist (Fredric Cook). The flavourful music score by Loren Newkirk is fine accompaniment for a straightforward story, written by Donald Stewart and directed with maximum efficiency by Michael Miller, who keeps the action flowing smoothly. Solid performances from a cast full of familiar faces helps, also featuring cuties Marcie Barkin and Patrice Rohmer (as the girl in the restaurant and Cassie Anne, respectively), the very amusing Severn Darden as the folksy sheriff, and the always welcome Mary Woronov as Pearl, one of Coley's associates. Look also for stuntman turned director Hal Needham as the Fallsburg police chief. The movie is exciting and involving all the way. What really makes it work is the interplay between the two leads, as highly unlikely outlaw Dinah gets to know Coley and care for him no matter how little time they actually spend together. The sequence where they have some down time before the climactic action kicks in is sweet and subtle, and is definitely the best. But trash lovers will still be reasonably satisfied with the level of female skin displayed and entertained with the standard unflattering depiction of the rural types / antagonists. The downbeat, violent ending is right in keeping with the ethos of the entire decade, with beautiful, melancholy music to follow it and play along with the end credits. Good fun overall; Miller remade it for TV two years later as 'Outside Chance' and it would be remade again as "Macon County Jail" in 1997. Eight out of 10.

The best thing this movie has to offer is checking out Yvette Mimieux bare-chested. I cannot believe anyone could otherwise like this film. Shallow, predictable plot, VERY poorly acted bad-ole-good-ole-boys film that never misses a cliché. I would never have viewed it but for some stills from the jail scene of Mimieux. She really lowers herself from the pedestal I'd put her on in "The Time Machine." Weena, where have you gone? ;- (And how did they get so many otherwise worthy actors? I hardly recognized Tommy Lee Jones and Carradine. As for Howard Hesseman and Betty White, where have their standards gone? I could understand it if it was a first film for these guys - it's as if a director put a gun to the actors' heads, threw up the script and gave them one reading and on to the next scene.And is it possible to get a worse soundtrack? This movie has cheap written all over it. I'm going to do vidcaps of Yvette in the jail scene and toss this thing before it festers and affects others.