Jessi's Girls (1975) Online

Al Adamson could have pushed the boat out with this and made a really good movie because it has a lot of potential. Sondra Currie is excellent as a woman bent of revenge after being raped by a group of marauding outlaws who also slaughtered her husband. She meets up with Rod Cameron who shows her how to shoot and gives her tips on how to deal with the murderers once she finds them. Rod Cameron is really great in this part, grizzled and authentic despite being saddled with a ridiculous false beard. There is a definite chemistry between these two players and their story should have been developed. As it is, Sondra wonders off to rescue three women convicts from imprisonment and tracks down the outlaws with their help and dispenses her own brand of justice. The final showdown is excellent with some great stunt work but the final twist is just a little unbelievable. A little more work on the script could have made this Adamson's best film but, well considering the rest of his output, this is as good as it gets.

JESSI'S GIRLS is a fairly well put together western from Al Adamson, the notorious cheapie director responsible for more cinematic trash than most men. This one veers into softcore exploitation more often than not, with the plot slowing down for a series of lengthy sexual encounters featuring topless, top-heavy women, not least Adamson's real-life wife, Regina Carrol. It feels like you're watching a Russ Meyer flick at times. Otherwise, this is a standard low budget revenge western, with Sondra Currie playing up to her POLICEWOMAN tough character and lots of murderous shooting. It's too cheap to be disturbing a la LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT; instead, it's rather light and even mildly enjoyable at times.

Spoiler Alert You may recall super sexy Rachel Welch playing "bad a--" Hannie Coulder. The premise for that movie was brought over to this movie, with Sondra Currie enlisting the help of really mean spirited women outlaws that she turns into her gang. I watched Sondra Currie shoot man after man in cold blood and said to myself, she is really shocking. THE ULTIMATE BAD GIRL. The problem I had with the movie is Sondra never smiles. She is nasty but in a very disturbed kind of way, like a tortured soul (ala Sondra Locke in Sudden Impact). I am certain that type of person exists, but they usually do not start killing.

Frankly, I really do not ever recall Sondra Currie smiling in any movie she made, for example Police Woman. I guess she alway was the tortured soul.

I liked Hannie Coulder better, because, Sondra is quiet and tortured and we really do not find a person under that, while Rachel as Hannie, is really a person, just looking for justice and ready to go back to life, if she can, after justice has been served. I rooted more for Rachel as Hannie. But I watched this Jessi's girls a dozen times for the shocking portrayal of female violence.

Jessi's Girls (1975)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jessica (Sondra Currie) and her husband, a Mormon couple, are heading out West to start a new life but all of that comes to a stand still when they are attacked by a group of men. The husband is murdered after being forced to watch Jessica get gang raped. The bandits think they have killed her too but she survives the ordeal, gets trained to use a gun and goes out for revenge.

JESSI'S GIRLS is one of director Al Adamson's least seen pictures and I'm really not too sure why because it turned out to be one of his better pictures. I've seen the majority of Adamson's work and there's no question that he had a desire to make movies more than an actual talent. He created some very memorable drive-in pictures but I don't think there's anyone out there that would try to convince you that he was a great director.

This film here is basically DEATH WISH but in a Western setting and with a woman doing the revenge. The film actually benefits from being very sleazy, which wasn't something that a lot of Adamson pictures could say. The opening gang rape sequence is fairly brutal and there's a great deal of violence throughout the picture. Adamson also allows plenty of nudity and sex throughout the picture and I couldn't help but think some of this sleaze would have helped pictures like BRAIN OF BLOOD or HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS.

Currie was fun to watch in the lead and we also had the likes of Regina Carrol, Jennifer Bishop and Rod Cameron show up. The cinematography is a tad bit rough and there's no doubt that there's very little here that is original. With that being said, if you're a fan of the director then this here is worth seeking out.

This "Western" is one of the cheapest movies I have ever seen. Highpoint of this otherwise absolutely dreary film is without question the appearance of former western-moviestar Rod Cameron, equiped with an unbelievable, grey St.Nicholas feltbeard. This scene is a true screamer. The rest is pure tedium with a few harmless sex scenes and some violence. The music only heightens the torture, because it seems that the composer came up with only one melody which is used to the point of exhaustion. After this film, you are ready for the sanitarium.