Jackson County Jail (1976)

Mr. Simms!!! How could you?

Silent Night, Deadly Night's doomed toy store owner Britt Leach as a drunk, rapist bar owner is just one member of the mind-blowing cast of this better-than-average, huckleberry pie slice of grindhouse hicksploitation fare in which all men are terrible except the career criminal. Jackson County Jail is also quite possibly the greatest advertisement for air travel. If she'd only flown...

There's Dr. Johnny Fever himself Howard Hesseman as the philandering, scumbag husband of our much put-upon heroine Yvette Mimieux who prompts her to drive all the way from L.A. to NYC, wherein she encounters all manner of vile riff-raff.

Robert Carradine (NERDS! NERDS! NERDS!) as a douchebag car thief with She-Devils on Wheels' Nancy Lee Noble as his pill-popping playmate. Troop Beverly Hills villainess and future director of Private Parts Betty Thomas as a deceitful waitress! Legendary stuntman and Smokey and the Bandit (and Megaforce, of course) director Hal Needham as a small town police chief! Miss Togar and beloved cult performer Mary Woronov as a tough-talking, butch country gal who don't mince words. And Severn Darden as a kindly but dim sheriff, taking a break from hassling primates in the Planet of the Apes franchise.

And then there's Coley Blake, a gruff thief with a hard exterior but a heart of gold. Tommy Lee Jones, in only his fourth screen role, is a goddamn star. While many of the ancillary characters are cartoonish and over-the-top, Jones is utterly convincing and brings a conviction and dignity to a fella who probably never got a fair shake in his life.

Future Silent Rage director Michael Miller has always been an underrated filmmaker. His no-nonsense shooting style and adroit sense of atmosphere ably elevates future Oscar winner and A-list screenwriter Donald E. Stewart's first screenplay, which at first appears to be cashing in on both the "women in prison" and hicksploitation craze but instead goes for a more tragic, darker tale. Be warned, a rape scene midway through the runtime is brutal and unrelenting. It ticks off the sick kick checklist box which grindhouse movies of the time had to adhere to, yet Jackson County Jail is too strong and well-made to be dismissed as merely bottom bill drive-in junk.