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.

"Jackson County Jail" is raw, tough and compelling mid-seventies exploitation coming from the nearly inexhaustible vaults of producer Roger Corman. The film definitely isn't as violent or sleazy as many contemporary and similarly-themed movies, like for example "I Spit on your Grave", because the emphasis here merely lies on the thoroughly unpleasant atmosphere of hopelessness. So, instead of a nasty and gratuitous rape 'n revenge flick, this is more of a powerful drama centered on the suffering (physically as well as mentally) of the poor protagonist and the cruel injustice of this world. Underrated actress Yvette Mimieux is truly terrific as the strong leading lady Dinah Hunter. She's a feisty publicity woman in Los Angeles, avidly defending women's position in marketing, but her clients don't share her visions. When she also catches her husband with a much younger and exotic wench, Dinah impulsively decides to meet up with her sister in New York. She also decides to travel by car for this cross-country trip instead of by plane; a choice that she will deeply regret quite quickly and for the rest of her life. In a very short while, Dinah's car and everything in it gets stolen by youthful thugs, she's nearly assaulted by a filthy restaurant owner and then she's the one put in jail because she doesn't have any papers! But in jail the nightmare only gets worse, as Dinah is barbarically raped by the crazy deputy Hobie. She manages to kill him and escapes together with convict Coley Blake, who witnessed the whole thing, but from this moment onwards they are considered fugitive cop-killers by all police department of the neighboring counties. "Jackson County Jail" fully relies on a solid script by Donald Stewart (frequent adapter of Tom Clancy novels), tight direction by Michael Miller and stellar performances from both Yvette Mimieux and Tommy Lee Jones (still in the earliest phases of his awesome career). There are a couple of moments of adrenalin- rushing action, like the chase with the sheriff and the climax, but the strength of the film lies within the grim portrayal of America's underbelly-society. Highly recommended for fans of genuine 70's cult cinema.

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.