James Russo, born in 1953, is an American actor known for his compelling performances in cult cinema. He appears as the antagonist in Extremities (1986), a tense exploration of survival and revenge, where his presence amplifies the film's psychological intensity. Russo also stars in Bad Girls (1994), a Western that subverts genre expectations with its focus on female empowerment. With a career spanning several decades, Russo's contributions to these films highlight his ability to navigate complex characters within the realms of exploitation and genre cinema.
Bad Girls
Cody, Anita, Eileen and Lily work together in a brothel. When Anita is abused by a customer, Cody kills the man. Narrowly escaping from a lynch mob, they are pursued by Pinkerton detectives hired by the widow of the man they'd shot. A man they meet on the road, McCoy, warns them of the pursuit. They discuss riding to Oregon and starting a new life by taking up a claim to land inherited by Anita when her husband died of cholera. Cody offers to fund their new start from savings she has accumulated over the years. They go to the bank where Cody's savings are held. As she tries to close her account and make a withdrawal, the Pinkerton detectives catch up with her and try to arrest her. Leaving the bank manager's office, they find themselves in the middle of a bank robbery being staged by Kid Jarrett, a former lover of Cody's. He helps her escape from arrest but takes her money and tells her to find him. During the escape, Eileen is arrested. Cody decides to go after the money and Kid Jarrett, telling Anita and Lilly to wait in hiding. Anita and Lilly return to town to break Eileen out of jail. Cody's meeting with Kid Jarrett and Frank Jarrett does not go well. Kid Jarrett has not forgiven her for running out on him. He flogs her. Later, she is found unconscious by McCoy, who brings her to a healer in town and puts the Pinkerton detectives off her trail. McCoy, Cody and the other three women meet up on the ranch of a farmer who'd been guarding Eileen's cell (and whom they'd tricked into releasing her). Cody plans revenge on Kid Jarrett. They foil a train robbery and steal his loot, at the cost of Lilly being abducted. In turn, they abduct Frank Jarrett, Kid's father. Regrouping again on the ranch, Anita leaves the others, frustrated with their revenge-motivated misadventures. She goes to a lawyer in town and finds out that the claim to land is only valid in the hands of her husband - as a woman, she cannot claim the land in Oregon. Frank Jarrett antagonizes his captors until McCoy shoots him. Cody sends McCoy away. Meanwhile, Lilly is being raped by her captors. McCoy stages a one-man rescue attempt and is captured, but Lilly escapes. Reunited, Cody, Anita and Eileen go to rescue Lilly and meet her on the road. When she tells them that McCoy has been captured, they continue towards Kid Jarrett's hide out, and offer to trade the stolen loot for McCoy, who has been flogged and tortured. Kid agrees, then shoots McCoy as soon as the loot is handed over. He gives Cody the money he stole from her (although in close up it clearly is mid-20th century currency). While retreating, one of Lilly's would-be rapists taunts her, triggering a shootout that results in the deaths of Kid's entire gang. After the shootout, Eileen marries the rancher, while Lilly, Cody and Anita head west to start a new life, mentioning the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. On the trail they overtake the Pinkerton detectives, who do not see them.
