Anything for Jackson

Director - Justin G. Dyck (A Witches' Ball, Super Detention)

Starring - Sheila McCarthy (The Day After Tomorrow, Die Hard 2), Julian Richings (Supernatural, Spare Parts), and Konstantina Mantelos (Paranormal 911, Miss Misery)

Release Date - 2020

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "Fear your elders"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The RLJE Films and Shudder partner releases have really impressed me over the years.  Movies like The Cleansing Hour, The Mortuary Collection, Random Acts of Violence, Yummy, and so on were surprise hits.  I enjoyed watching them and I liked most of these movies so much that I actually took a dive by subscribing to Shudder.  When I saw that RLJE and Shudder were once again teaming up for the release of Anything for Jackson I had to check it out.  The trailer painted a movie that I really had to see so I reached out and was lucky enough to get a review copy of the film before it hit store shelves.  I want to thank RLJE for sending this one over.

     The film follows the elderly couple Audrey (McCarthy) and Henry (Richings) who lost their grandson after a horrible accident.  As Satanists they learned about an ancient book that could bring him back but they need an unborn child for him to take over.  Henry is a doctor and has a patient that is due any day now to deliver.  The two put a plan in motion to kidnap her and use the ancient book to bind him to the unborn child.  However, things don't go according to plan and they turn to another member of their church to help them through the ritual. 

     Anything for Jackson is a movie I was not expecting to see get a release in today's age where so many people are getting offended over the simplest things.  A movie centered around a family oriented elderly couple who are also Satanists is really bound to ruffle some feathers considering how in the U.S. anyone that isn't a Christian is painted as terrorists.  I really enjoyed this one and I'm sure most genre fans will feel the same way.  The acting in this one is great.  McCarthy and Richings are fantastic together as the elderly couple trying to bring their grandson back.  These two characters are what makes the film so much fun.  Their on screen chemistry is perfect for the story and they really do an amazing job at bringing them to life.  The supporting cast is just as great.  Their screen time is nowhere near as much as the other two but they make great use of the time they have.  The story for this one is a supernatural haunted house tale mixed with the occult.  I loved how we get an unconventional take on grieving grandparents.  In most films the elderly couple would turn to religion, which would most likely be Christianity, but here they turn to Satanism and the occult.  I fucking loved this aspect and how well it worked with the characters.  The movie is very well written and it works as a moody, and often times claustrophobic, genre film.  With that being said, I feel as if more of the ancient book and backstory could have been used in the film.  It's such a brilliant story with so much material that was never used.  Finally, the film has several death scenes that really do catch you off guard.  They hit when you don't expect them and are extremely brutal and bloody.  I wouldn't call these deaths gory but they are fun and very enjoyable.  Overall, Anything for Jackson is a must watch for horror fans.  If you dig haunted house flicks or movies centered around the occult then this is a no-brainer then.  I highly recommend it.