Jackals

The second Stephen Dorff film of the weekend certainly had a good premise on paper but did have ‘Home Invasion’ written all over it, and we all know how many of those have been done. Whether this could offer something original was the real test. Set in the 1980’s this tells the story of Justin (Ben Sullivan) who has been brainwashed and become part of a murderous cult.

 

In a bid to take back their son, Justin’s parents – Kathy (Deborah Kara Unger) and Andrew (Jonathon Schaech) – hire deprogrammer Jimmy (Stephen Dorff) to bring their son out of his stupor but before long they find themselves hauled up in their home, surrounded by the sadistic cultists who will stop at nothing to get him back.

 

Kevin Greutert’s (SAW VI, SAW 3D) feature starts off well, it’s not obvious where it’s going or what is actually going on for the first half an hour but then it all starts to peter out somewhat. The family are trapped and the murderers are caving in on them so it’s only a matter of time before they start getting picked off. Unfortunately this has all been done before but so much better – You’re Next, The Strangers. The kills aren’t very original and it almost becomes boring to watch.

 

The acting is also a mixed affair. Stephen Dorff, - similar to his role in the aforementioned LEATHERFACE – is rough and ready and does what he can with a pretty poor script but is rather wasted here. Deborah Kara Unger and Jonathan Schaech on the other hand just don’t seem to care at all and don’t even try to give a good performance. Instead they come off stiff and uncomfortable. You can’t blame them really. One of my lecturers at university re-enacted a famous quote that said: ‘Steal from the best, borrow from the mediocre’, clearly the crew hadn’t heard of that one.

Director: Kevin Greutert

Released:  1st September 2017

Running Time: 85 minutes

Age Rating: 18

 

Reviewer: Sarah Cook