Jakob's Wife

A fun dark romance, one of the better Shudder films, Love lust, gore small budget done well I have seen much worse.

This is a fun little film with some of both Crampton's and Fessenden's finest acting. It mixes a few genres into the horror. And the thing seems like a slice-of-life about a married couple that has to deal with a supernatural outbreak on top of their other issues. It goes in a few weird directions. I liked it.

This is one of those movies where I'm glad a friend showed it to our group and I was completely blind about it. Obviously if you've seen the poster here, you're clued in on what the subject matter is, but it's interesting that the movie isn't super blatant about it. The first third of the movie is kind of a tense paranormal thriller, and it gives you plenty of room to make up your own assumptions about what's going on.

Then the reveal hits -- and the tone of the whole movie shifts to something a little more tongue-in-cheek, complete with Evil Dead amounts of blood spray. Something that initially appears buttoned-up and serious turns out to be pretty fun, all told. Some of the more complex effects look a little cheap, but the movie doesn't take itself too seriously in the end, so it's fitting with the spirit of things.

I thought it was pretty good, and I liked the fact the Minister was more than just a walking stereotype. Always gotta have a little dimensionality to your characters, and the range of his character fits with the range of the movie itself.

Barbara Crampton chews every bit of scenery in this film and takes us on a journey from repressed housewife to liberated vampire vixen. I thoroughly enjoyed the indie vibe, old school special effects, stellar cast, and nods to Salem's Lot. It felt like a labor of love and Barbara Crampton really gave it her all in every frame she was in. Jakob's Wife has a lot of heart and is a great little film that will provide you with laughs, gore, and plenty of Barbara slaying the screen.

And succeeds in almost combining an otherwise dull vampire tale with a story of feminine liberation from marital woes. Crampton, one of the last legitimate scream queens, goes for the the gold. The core problem remains that horror films are supposed to provide thrills in otherwise dull lives. Today reality provides all the horror anyone can stand.