Jackals (2017) Directed by Kevin Greutert
It is hard to come up with anything new and original nowadays, especially when it comes down to horror, but I feel that in this case the movie did a pretty decent job coming across as something fresh, even while the movie in its core still has very little original to offer.
It is basically a combination of different ingredients and that is the foremost reason why I enjoyed watching it. In a way it is a slasher, but also with plenty of paranoia elements and other thriller ingredients. It makes the movie arguably also better as a thriller than a horror flick, but that of course is not a complaint. It means that the movie at least is being effective as something.
The movie is pretty short and mostly set at just one location, but all of this means that the movie also is a fast going one, that also still has plenty to offer story- and character-wise. It is definitely not as standard and formulaic all as you would expect it to be, though again, the movie also doesn't really offer any true surprises. It merely is an OK and entertaining enough movie, but sometimes that is all you need after a long day of hard work, or when you are feeling bored at night.
Thing I definitely didn't like about this movie as its visual approach. It is yet again one of those dark looking movies without much color in it. It does even make it hard to tell what is going on at times but what is even worse is that it goes at the expense of its gore. This still is a pretty gory and action filled movie, but I only did wish that I would have been able to see more of it. It is definitely too dark for its own good, which is something a lot of genre movies nowadays suffer from. It still remains a well made movie though. It at least isn't looking like a bad low-budget production, even though it of course did in fact got made on a very low budget.
The movie also has a pretty surprising cast with actors such as Deborah Kara Unger and Stephen Dorff involved. Not that they truly impress, but it does give the movie some more weight and credibility in a sense.
Not a great movie by any means, but definitely a good and entertaining enough one to consider it to be above average and a watchable one.
6/10
Watch trailer
It is basically a combination of different ingredients and that is the foremost reason why I enjoyed watching it. In a way it is a slasher, but also with plenty of paranoia elements and other thriller ingredients. It makes the movie arguably also better as a thriller than a horror flick, but that of course is not a complaint. It means that the movie at least is being effective as something.
The movie is pretty short and mostly set at just one location, but all of this means that the movie also is a fast going one, that also still has plenty to offer story- and character-wise. It is definitely not as standard and formulaic all as you would expect it to be, though again, the movie also doesn't really offer any true surprises. It merely is an OK and entertaining enough movie, but sometimes that is all you need after a long day of hard work, or when you are feeling bored at night.
Thing I definitely didn't like about this movie as its visual approach. It is yet again one of those dark looking movies without much color in it. It does even make it hard to tell what is going on at times but what is even worse is that it goes at the expense of its gore. This still is a pretty gory and action filled movie, but I only did wish that I would have been able to see more of it. It is definitely too dark for its own good, which is something a lot of genre movies nowadays suffer from. It still remains a well made movie though. It at least isn't looking like a bad low-budget production, even though it of course did in fact got made on a very low budget.
The movie also has a pretty surprising cast with actors such as Deborah Kara Unger and Stephen Dorff involved. Not that they truly impress, but it does give the movie some more weight and credibility in a sense.
Not a great movie by any means, but definitely a good and entertaining enough one to consider it to be above average and a watchable one.
6/10
Watch trailer
