Fitz of Horror Review: Scream Factory’s Jackals (2017)
Written by Bryan Fitzgerald (Fitz of Horror)
Synopsis– Set in the 1980s, an estranged family hires a cult deprogrammer to take back their teenage son from a murderous cult, but find themselves under siege when the cultists surround their cabin, demanding the boy back.
First off, this movie is much better than what iMDB (4.7) or Rotten Tomatoes (36%) gives it credit for. It’s not groundbreaking and it’s not entirely original but it is a fun and intense watch.
Jackals starts fast and never really lets up. We are introduced briefly to our main character Justin (Ben Sullivan) and “Cult deprogrammer” Jimmy (Stephen Dorff) who is leading a group of people who care about Justin, to kidnap him and bring him home so they can isolate him from his cult “family”.
Ben Sullivan’s portrayal of Justin can’t be overlooked. He turned in an amazing performance as the troubled/psychotic son. The father (Jonathan Schaech) also was an interesting character that seemed to have above average skills at dispatching bad guys, which gave me the feeling that this wasn’t his first time dealing with these kind of individuals, but that backstory was never explored any further unfortunately.
I felt the really effective part of this movie was the nature of the cult. The numerous faces were never shown and they were never given any sort of feelings other than pure evil and mayhem. I appreciated that director, Kevin Greutert, kept it serious and dark. It’s a straight forward gut punch that hits you with a feeling of despair when you see what this family is up against.
I does seem like there is much more story to be told but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I personally feel that this is another solid Scream Factory release and is well worth a watch.
Check them out on Facebook at Jackals where they are always doing fun contests!
The movie is available on Amazon, iTunes, Scream Factory and other online retailers.
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Bryan Fitzgerald
I am a huge fan and supporter of independent horror and the dedicated people involved. I grew up watching all of the great slasher films of the 80s and also have a love for creature features and anthology horror. As horror fans the best way to help indie horror is to talk about it and to spread the word.