Jessi's Girls (1975) Review

I love westerns, I'm sure I've mentioned that before, but I love the genre. There's just something so unique and engaging about it. With that said, this is probably not the best western I've ever seen.

Not much of an intro this time around, let's just get to it.

A Tale of Vengeance

Also called Wanted Women, Jessi's Girls is a western that was released in 1975 and it's a rough watch.

The film starts off with newlyweds Seth and Jessica Hartwell as they're travelling through the wilderness to start a life together. One night, while they're setting up camp, they run across a gang of outlaws. Seth is murdered and his wife is gangraped and left for dead.

Jessica survives, however, and quickly recruits three other women to help her avenge her husband's murder.

What Works?

Okay, so...in truth, not much works here.

Sondra Currie is great as Jessica Hartwell, the vengeful bride. She portrays the traumatized widow very well. Regina Carrol, Ellen Stern, and Jennifer Bishop play their parts as Claire, Kana, and Rachel respectively just as well. The same can in fact be said for all of the performances.

The movie has a relatively steady pace and flows relatively well. Apart from that, I can't think of anything else that I really liked.

What doesn't Work?

There is actually quite a bit that I wasn't too keen on.

For one thing, as well done as the performances were, there are very few likable characters. Apart from Currie's character, there are almost no character motivations to speak of - everyone just does things for almost no discernible reason. The cinematography is decent, but hardly something to gawk at - although, that's more a personal preference thing.

The opening rape scene...oh boy, where do I start? It works and it doesn't. It's effective in showing the brutality of something like that and it does show just how bad our villains are. It also goes on for way too long. I think the whole scene was about 5 or 10 minutes or something - if not, it certainly felt longer. Now, I understand that it's supposed to be an uncomfortable scene to watch, but it also very nearly killed my enthusiasm for the film altogether.

It apparently took a full day to shoot because the director wanted the scene to be as realistic as possible - this obviously posed a problem for Sondra Currie who, as we've already said, was the victim in the scene. I can only imagine just how difficult that must've been for everyone involved in the actual scene. I don't know if it'll be a triggering thing for viewers to see, but it's definitely something that you should keep in mind, before watching the film.

Not the Best Western I've ever Seen

Now, I love westerns, I really do; but this is not one that I'll be watching again. It's slow-paced, the characters have little to no motivations (as I said), and there isn't really a lot of substance to the film overall. The actors tried, they really, really tried to bring some depth to the film.

Sadly, their efforts were only half-successful. It almost feels like the film was proverbially hamstrung by studio interference - but I can't find any sign of the studio interfering with the production at all.

My experience with westerns is usually pretty positive, but Jessi's Girls is one of those westerns that is unlikely to be a quick re-watch. This is also one film that I probably wouldn't recommend for viewing if you're looking to get into westerns. There are better entry-level westerns to watch - Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, for example - so go for those ones instead.