Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Jackals Blu-ray Movie Review

Submit or don't survive.

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson October 23, 2017

As Jackals opens, there is a time card announcing that it's March 1983 as the camera takes on a roving point-of-view to the front of a suburban home. The prowler stops to retrieve a key before proceeding through the door and up the stairs. It's plainly evident from this continuous subjective shot that director Kevin Greutert and cinematographer Andrew Russo are making an homage to the original Halloween (1978) but it's also fascinating to note the inversions that Jackals makes to the Carpenter classic. Later in Halloween, Michael strangles the dog Lester to death but in Jackals, the incoming intruder pets and caresses a cat gently. Upon coming into his own house, young Michael grabs a butcher knife before heading upstairs for his target, sister Judith. In Greutert's film, Mateo (as he comes to be called) initially seems to be after money as he sifts through the bedroom drawer. Mateo also meets his sister and like Michael, he's also wearing a mask as seen in the mirror reflection.

Following this prologue and a family gathering in a cabin, Greutert and his two editors cut to two young men in a car along a country road. The driver is forced to pull over because something's wrong with the tire. Sure enough, he has a flat and just as he's inspecting it, two individuals with ski masks fly out of a blue van. They punch and kick the two guys till they're on their knees. The driver is taken at gunpoint and thrown into the van. His friend is able to get away, though. The van travels to the same cabin in the secluded woods as the previous scene. The young man is taken to a room upstairs where he is tied up and gagged. Present are the two men who abducted him, a middle-aged woman, a guy in his twenties, a young mom and her baby. At this point, it's difficult to discern what's happening in the first act. It turns out that the group is staging a family intervention. The abductee bound in the chair is purported to be Justin Powell (Ben Sullivan) but he proclaims his name is now Thanatos (the namesake of Freud's death drive). Justin is surrounded by his biological family members: his father and mother as well as his older brother. Also present is his estranged girlfriend, Samantha (Chelsea Ricketts), and the infant Justin fathered with her. The Powell family has also hired Jimmy Levine (Stephen Dorff), an ex-marine who works as a cult deprogrammer. Justin has been brainwashed by a murderous cult (i.e., the titular characters) and Jimmy has been brought in to snap him out of it. In the disc's audio commentary, scribe Jared Rivet acknowledges Ted Kotcheff's 1982 drama Split as a formal influence on his script. That film starred Peter Fonda as the lead cultist and also featured Michael O'Keefe, Karen Allen, and Brian Dennehy in key roles. James Woods played the bounty hunter/deprogrammer. Dorff's character is named after Woods, whose friends and industry collaborators call him Jimmy. Dorff delivered a wonderful performance as the son of Jack Nicholson and Judy Davis in Bob Rafelson's Blood and Wine (1996). It's perhaps the best work Dorff's given in arguably the finest film he's appeared in so it's a mystery why Fox hasn't released it on Blu-ray or any HD format. Dorff is rock solid as the drill sergeant type here and makes the most of his screen time. His character takes a turn for the worse when he decides to venture in the forest at night.

The Jackals have arrived at the Powells' cabin to take back one of their adopted sons.

The second act of Jackals transforms into a familial psychodrama. The Powells are a relatively affluent family but they're trapped inside and left with limited options when the phone lines are cut. Thirty-odd darkly cloaked figures with animal masks and weapons have the cabin surrounded as they have come to round up their adopted son, Justin. The claustrophobic predicament forces the Powells to confront their internal divisions. Patriarch Andrew Powell (Johnathon Schaech) was a successful businessman but ego and greed caused him to commit infidelities and neglect Justin. Andrew is divorced from his former spouse, Kathy (Deborah Kara Unger), but bringing Justin home has brought them back together but at the most inauspicious of circumstances. Kathy has resorted to drinking to escape the harsh realities of her youngest son. She lives with Samantha who Justin impregnated when the couple was sixteen. There is a lot of regret to go around. Justin's yuppie brother Campbell Powell (Nick Roux) has been privileged as well as spoiled and blames the family's lack of unity on his dad.

Critics who have seen Jackals proclaim that the Powells make stupid and mindless decisions as they try to figure a way out. However, they are resourceful in at least two aspects (which I won't divulge) and I take their impulsive actions to be mere panic and impatience in the face of a dire situation. The ensemble cast's acting is at least average and by no means poor. In addition, reviewers have blamed Rivet for shortchanging the audience by not giving the Jackals a backstory or explaining the cult's origins. Rivet and Greutert quip in the commentary that a historical exploration of the cult would be rife for a Jackals sequel. The cult members don't talk and this is keeping with a trope that was recurrent in eighties slasher films in which the masked maniacs would hardly utter a word. The second half of Jackals is extremely dark but what makes the picture consistently watchable is the inner dynamics of Justin, Samantha, and their child Zoe. What is the ultimate fate of each? That makes for gripping and suspenseful viewing beyond all the madness and darkness.

Jackals Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jackals makes its inaugural debut on Blu-ray worldwide on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 courtesy of Scream Factory. Shout! Factory's imprint gives the main feature an average video bitrate of 29990 kbps while the full disc amasses a total bitrate of 38.00 Mbps. Jackals appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1. Daylight scenes at the Powell cabin are gloriously photographed (see Screenshot #20) and cast a warm glow on the setting. Evening scenes are pitch black and illuminated by candles and fires. I thought that the spare lights brought out individual details well on the actors' faces: see capture #s 5, 14, and 15. There is an eerie glow to the Jackals in the yard (see the central screenshot). I maybe noticed macro-blocking in one shot but authoring and compression are top notch.

Scream Factory has made a dozen chapter selections accessible through the main menu or via remote.

Jackals Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jackals comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (2326 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downconversion (1605 kbps, 24-bit). Dialogue is audible and pretty clearly spoken throughout. The surround channels really came to life when they make use of Anton Sanko's atmospheric and pulsating score. The blowing horn produced a throbbing sound to the point that the subwoofer and side channels made the floor rumble. Satellite speakers also showed range as the Jackals and Justin howled in near unison. This is one of the better lossless audio efforts from an IFC Midnight production.

Optional English SDH can be accessed from the menu or activated by remote.

Jackals Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with Director Kevin Greutert and Writer Jared Rivet - recorded on July 2 of this year, this feature-length commentary track has the director and writer of Jackals discussing the evolution of the script, editorial choices, cast, costumes, and music. There aren't any gaps on this terrific and informative track. In English, not subtitled.

• "They have come for me": Interviews with the Cast and Crew of Jackals (19:48, 1080p) - interviews with director Kevin Greutert, producer Tommy Alastra, scribe Jared Rivet, as well as actors Stephen Dorff, Ben Sullivan, Nick Roux, Johnathon Schaech, Chelsea Ricketts, and Deborah Kara Unger. Their remarks are intercut with clips from the film. In English, not subtitled.

• Original Theatrical Trailers - Trailer 1 (1:59) and Trailer 2 (1:49) of Jackals are each framed in 2.39:1 and presented in anamorphic widescreen (1080p, DTS-HD MA 2.0).

Jackals Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The screenplay for Jackals was first penned in 2006, which coincided with a wave of torture porn films. The resultant film also has that vibe and is part of the home invasion thriller subgenre. Viewers will probably be more surprised at the ordinal arrangement of plot devices rather than with the familiar conventions contained within the story. As Justin, Ben Sullivan goes in and out of character with aplomb. He initially convinced me that he had some type of split personality disorder. He reminds me of a younger Michael Pitt and has a bright future. Jackals is especially recommended to fans of Adam Wingard's You're Next. We also recommend similarly themed films about cults and/or Satanic rituals such as Race with the Devil, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Faults. Also be sure to check out The Strangers, which was edited by Kevin Greutert.