Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Jakob's Wife Blu-ray Movie Review

Religion's scary enough without vampires.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 7, 2021

The back cover of Jakob's Wife touts it as "the most fun vampire movie in years"... but I can't agree with that claim, and it's not really even that much of a vampire movie. It aims high, to be sure: religious drama, psychological horror, and black comedy seem to be its primary points of interest, with a few sorta-vampire elements in the loosest sense of the word. (More like "demon rats", if we're being technical.) While it is good for a few good laughs and does manage to serve up several genuine scares -- not to mention Sanjuro-level buckets of blood, if that floats your boat -- Jakob's Wife is kind of a mess, the type of movie that's enjoyable in some respects but mostly underwhelming.

Inarguably, the film's greatest strengths are the capable lead performances of Larry Fessenden and Barbara Crampton, who play Pastor Jakob Fedder and his silent wife Anne; separately, these two have appeared in horror films as diverse as Body Double, Re-Animator, Puppet Master, Habit, and The Last Winter (surprisingly, Fassenden even earned his own Scream Factory collection), and they clearly put in great work here. Both go for broke as a struggling married couple: under-the-thumb Anne gets more screen time early on after she steps out on Jakob, undergoing an extreme physical and psychological makeover as the movie progresses, while he ends up going through a pretty radical series of changes himself. The former finally reawakens her long-dormant sexuality and confidence with Jakob struggling to catch up, adding a welcome focus on the perils of male marital control -- in this case, stemming from his Christian beliefs -- but the film sidesteps it with vaguely vampiric elements that distract from the more compelling drama.

Collectively, their separate but similar transformations provide a solid "full circle" path that belongs in a more focused movie, because the bulk of Jakob's Wife just feels too ill-defined and vague to make any real impact. Its frequent dips into horror provide some fun jump scares and gross-out gore, to be sure, but they really don't add much beyond base-level thrills. That, combined with the reveal and intermittent presence of "The Master" (the main villain of Jakob's Wife, a campy Nosferatu-like rat-human played vigorously by Bonnie Aarons, most famous for The Nun), often just creates more questions than answers as the film pinballs towards a conclusion. Ultimately, it feels like a dog-pile of tonal shifts that only work half of the time, and possibly even less than that depending on your tolerance of wild mood swings. (Three separate writers are credited, including director Travis Stevens, which most likely has something to do with it.) It's clear that Jakob's Wife is technically well-made and rarely (if ever) boring but, as it progresses, the film struggles to carry any real emotional weight beyond that of its main characters and their evolving relationship.

But hey, that's just my opinion: our own Brian Orndorf gave the film much higher marks in his theatrical review, so by all means check this one out and judge for yourself. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray carries a solid A/V presentation and a few lightweight bonus features... but if you're a Shudder subscriber, I'd probably check it out there first.

Jakob's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Despite its low budget, Jakob's Wife looks fantastic and RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray follows suit with a solid, trouble-free 1080p transfer that mostly plays to the film's visual strengths. Image detail and textures are first-rate under the right lighting conditions, with many of its naturally-lit locales showcasing good shadow detail, contrast levels, and color saturation. Darker scenes, such as frequent trips to a run-down mill pivotal to the plot, are well-lit with bright shafts of light providing strong highlights with no blooming, black crush, or noticeable artifacts -- just a few hints of banding, which is almost expected on most Blu-rays. The film's mostly muted palette gives way to vivid bursts of color along the way (usually on clothes and background objects), which most scenes alternating between cool and warm temperatures depending on location and mood. All told, it's a solid effort that looks like the result of very careful work.

Jakob's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is also impressive, boasting a solid sound design that's unsurprisingly built on front-heavy dialogue, strong channel separation during more intense or crowded moments, propulsive support for the effects and original score (by Tara Busch, her first feature-length credit as a composer), and an overall presence that keeps your ears interested from start to finish. Even the quieter moments sound impressive, especially in more expansive or high-ceiling environments. No obvious defects, drop-outs, or sync issues were heard along the way.

Optional English (SDH), French, and Spanish subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Jakob's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with Whistler's Mother-esque cover artwork, a matching slipcover, and no inserts. Bonus features are limited but at least cover the basics in mild detail.

• The Making of Jakob's Wife (4:56) - This pretty standard EPK-style featurette features a few words from key cast members including Larry Fessenden, Barbara Crampton, Bonnie Aarons, and Robert Rusler, who all speak about their characters, what drew them to the project, and the movie's strengths.

• Deleted Scenes (13:36) - This collection of nine scenes includes "Jakob's 2nd Sermon", "Sheriff Mike Hess Intro", "Anne Works on a Mood Board", "Anne and Carol Talk Changes", "Naveed Al Amin Intro", "Naveed and Marianna at the Supermarket", "Post Dentist Run", "Anne, Jakob, and the Burning Bible", and "Marianna Gives Anne a Ride Home". All are presented in mostly finished form (1080p with color grading) and some even have music cues and transitions, although some of the audio is not fully mixed and it's presented in lossless stereo rather than 5.1. And yikes, one of these scenes might have the dumbest jump scare ever.

Jakob's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Travis Stevens' Jakob's Wife has two great lead performances and a potentially interesting premise, but it fumbles through much of the plot anyway with too many left-turn tonal shifts and too few answered questions. The result is rarely (if ever) boring and gore-hounds will appreciate the gushy red stuff, yet still rings kind of hollow. That said, RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray serves up a rock-solid A/V presentation and a few decent extras, and the ultra-low sale price -- as of this writing, of course -- makes Jakob's Wife a pretty tempting impulse buy. It's still a tough recommendation sight unseen, unless you're a huge fan of the cast or loved the director's previous film, Girl on the Third Floor.