Jakob's Wife

This film starts as a serious movie, then takes a turn to semi comedy that never really works. It's an attempt at a Fright Night type of movie, but the trudges along , but not really at a slow pace, but one that keeps your curiosity on the hook just long enough. Your lead (master) vampire should be menacing and frightful, this one however, was not, so the overall punch is lost. It was more like a life coach in a bald cap. The editing is odd at times which doesn't help matters. It's one of those films that leaves you squinting at the screen in confusion at times, thinking, huh? Barbara Crampton carried the film and it was great seeing her again.

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

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.

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.

When I sat down to watch the 2021 horror movie "Jakob's Wife" from writers Kathy Charles, Mark Steensland and Travis Stevens, I wasn't sure what I was in for here. Well, aside from it being a horror movie and it was something with vampires, from the movie's cover/poster.

But of course, I opted to sit down and watch "Jakob's Wife" given the fact that it was a horror movie that I hadn't already seen, plus it also had horror icon Barbara Crampton on the cast list. And I have always enjoyed her movies since back in the 1980s when seeing her in "Re-Animator", "From Beyond" and other such classic horror movies.

The storyline told in "Jakob's Wife" was actually good, and it provided a nice, new approach to the vampire genre. So the writers definitely managed to churn out something that broke the usual stereotypical formula that is often used in vampire movies. And it was a storyline that proved entertaining and enjoyable from beginning till end, and the pacing of the movie was nicely constructed.

The special effects were good, and it certainly was nice to see that writers Kathy Charles, Mark Steensland and Travis Stevens took a Nosferatu approach to the appearance of the vampires in the movie.

"Jakob's Wife" does have a good ensemble of actors and actresses, with the likes of Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden. It was also nice to see Bonnie Aarons in the role of The Master, as she really portrayed that character rather well.

If you enjoy vampire movies then "Jakob's Wife" is certainly well worth giving a chance. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie from director Travis Stevens.

My rating of "Jakob's Wife" lands on a six out of ten stars.