Jackals Review: A cult de-programming goes horribly wrong in eighties-set home invasion thriller, Jackals.
Jackals Review
An estranged family reunite in their cabin in the woods. They are meeting for a very special reason, to rescue their youngest son from the clutches of a cult. They’ve hired ex-soldier Jimmy (Stephen Dorff), a man with experience with cults, to perform de-programming, but all must be on hand to provide moral support. It soon becomes clear that the family all have different views about the treatment, but they quickly have to put their feelings aside as the cult wants him back, and they’re willing to do anything to get him.
Kevin Greutert is best know for directing Saw VI and Saw VII. With that knowledge in mind one might expect that Jackals would be full to the brim with blood and body parts, but it isn’t. There are of course scenes of gore and injury, but Jackals is much less concerned with casting these elements to the foreground. Rather, Jackals follows a narrative and atmosphere more closely resembling The Strangers, which Greutert worked on as an editor. Keeping the bloodshed in the background throws the central story into the spotlight, and sadly that’s where the film is let down.
There’s just not enough scope within any of the cast of characters to really maintain full audience attention. Pretty much every one of them falls into a stereotype that we’ve seen oh so many times before. We have the divorced parents – mum’s a drunk, dad’s sensible and serious, the cocky brat of a son/brother, and the sickly sweet girlfriend with infant in tow. These characters don’t really progress, the only ones that do are Dorff’s Jimmy, and the reason for the venture, Justin (Ben Sullivan). Even then, it’s not much of a progression, but is still more than just the one note.
Jackals Review
The ‘Jackals’ themselves fail to come off as the mean and menacing presence that they are meant to be. We barely see much of them, the story instead honing in more on the family dynamic, with captive Justin being our main look at a cult member. The only other member of the tribe that is granted any screen time is one listed as Fox Girl (Alyssa Julya Smith), whom just comes off as a murderous Tekken’s Kunimitsu as she twirls around with various sharp objects.
The idea – trying to de-programme someone brainwashed by a cult – is an interesting one, and adds a new spin on the home invasion film, it just fails to really land what it wants to achieve. Jackals has the ingredients to be something special, but falls short of high expectations.
Jackals review by Kat Hughes, August 2017.
Jackals is currently playing as part of the Horror Channel Frighfest 2017 programme.
