I was very surprised to find that the Director, Justin G. Dyck, and the Writer, Keith Cooper, of Anything for Jackson primarily live in the movie world of Christmas and other Rom-Com. They have tons of those under their belts! From what I can tell this is their first toe dip into the Horror Genre.
And I say, “yes please, may I have another"! They need to switch gears and live in our beloved genre more often.
Anything for Jackson is neatly done from head to bloody toe. Carefully crafted, bloody without it being the focal point of the movie, subtle dark humor intertwined, and great acting make up for this well-made addition to the Exorcism/Possession subgenre. And, although it falls within that category, it comes with a twist on the genre, which exemplifies the movie’s originality.
The Walsh’s, Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) and Henry (Julian Richings), are grieving Grandparents, as they have recently lost their only daughter and grandson, Jackson, in a car accident. This loss and grief drive them to become Satanists who are hell-bent (pun intended) on bringing Jackson back to life, at any cost. Going as far as to procure an ancient demonic book full of dark rituals, relinquishing their full retirement fund for it, traveling to Jerusalem to obtain the book, and not letting anything get in their way, including kidnapping a pregnant woman, or death of others.
Their individual motives to perform such evil acts differ from each other and are revealed in remarkable revelations throughout the movie. These motives were important to character depth, the overall story, and to the writer, since the Walsh’s typically, sans tragic death of their beloved, would be pleasant, loving, down-to-Earth Grandparents. This becomes apparent throughout Anything for Jackson in their deep caring for the kidnapped Shannon and their love for each other. However, and regardless of the unethical plan and actions, they are determined to stick to their dark plan no matter what.
And that plan is to resurrect Jackson into an unborn child that is still within a mother’s womb. Enter the kidnapping of one pregnant woman, Shannon Becker (Konstantina Mantelos). It turns out that Shannon has been seeing Henry as her Gynecologist through her pregnancy. So has Audrey and Henry’s planning of her abduction and resurrection ceremony.
Many people online that talking about Anything for Jackson are calling this a “reverse exorcism”. That sums up pretty well what Audrey and Henry are trying to accomplish by bringing Jackson back from the dead.
Put the spirit back in the bowl!
They complete the ritual they believe will do the deed. However, strange things start occurring shortly thereafter. Audrey, Henry, and Shannon all start to experience paranormal episodes, each encounter transpiring with their own high-level of creep factor. There seem to be different spirits or haunts that are tormenting the living inside the house. People start abruptly killing themselves around the Walsh's. These appear to be random at first, but it becomes apparent that there is something assisting the couple in their task.
One of the spirits that haunts Shannon, while she is handcuffed to her bed, is none other than Troy James playing that of an extremely disturbing contortionist ghost with a bag over its head. Arms, legs, and body moving in ways that aren’t natural or humanly possible. Then you add in some joint/bone crackling sound effects…yowza!! So creepy! If you read my review of Black Box, you’ll see that Troy plays the same type of role there and was also the Jangly Man in Scary Stories to Tell…I think he’s found an important role in Horror movies!
Through a cohort named Ian, from the local Satanist Group with which they’ve associated themselves, the Walsh’s discover that they only performed half of the ritual to bring Jackson back. Meanwhile, opening a doorway between our world and the world of spirits, demons, the dead, the what-have-you.
They look to Ian as a guide to help them finish the resurrection of Jackson, to which he agrees. However, Ian has his own plans…and things get bloodier and deadlier from there.
Anything for Jackson is a nice breath of fresh air with its different take on the occult, exorcism, and possession realm. The cinematography was great, dark and dreary, as was the mood and pace. However, there's a nice underlying humor woven throughout to lighten the tone slightly, but not ruin the evil events and spooks that happen.
As I mentioned, the acting was great, which was true across the board. The storyline and flow were seamless and strong. There were cringe-worthy bloody scenes, and the ghosts were creepy and very thought-out.
One thing I’ve seen people knocking Anything for Jackson for was the ending. There are mixed feelings, as well as a mixed understanding of what the conclusion meant. I thought it was an ingenious wrap-up to the movie. When thinking about the overall gravity of what transpires, from the rituals that the Walsh’s and Ian completed, it does round out the story nicely. Slight spoiler…there’s promise of Hell to come, but with a slight happy ending twist. Puts a smile on my face!
I will say that The Dark and the Wicked was muuuuuuch darker and scarier, if I was to compare the two. Anything for Jackson still did a great job overall. I will also think of this movie EVERY time I floss my teeth…and I will shudder at the thought...
I highly recommend Anything for Jackson and will definitely find this one in my version of Top 15 Horror movies from 2020. As you see from my Bloody O’ Graph below, the movie is solid in all the categories, rated high in our Bloody O’ Graph rating, as well as receiving a 4 Bloody Reels out of 5 from Mark’s Dark Corner.
I hope you enjoy this one!
Anything for Jackson
Released: 12/3/2020
Rating: NR
Director: Justin G. Dyck (Oddly a TON of romance movies: A Christmas Exchange, Love by Accident, A Witches’ Ball)
Writer: Keith Cooper and Justin G. Dyck (Seemingly worked on a lot of the same romance/Christmas movies as Justin: A Witches’ Ball, Christmas Wedding Planner)
Stars:
Sheila McCarthy (The Day After Tomorrow, Die Hard 2 which you may remember her as the reporter in Die Hard 2 who offers to have McClane’s baby)
Julian Richings (Man of Steel, Urban Legend)
Konstantina Mantelos (Paranormal 911, Lakesong)
IMDB Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%!!
Metascore: N/A
Streaming with Subscription on these Apps as of this Blog posting: Shudder exclusively
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