Jackals lacks suspense, thrills, scares and every other redeeming factor you can think of. I had set my expectations super low. As it turns out I had not put them low enough.
I know a lot of you might have been hoping this would be somewhat similar to You're Next or The Purge. Well, forget about it. The only thing Jackals has in common with these films is that the villains wear creepy masks and that they have no problem killing people. In Jackals one of the villains is caught and brought to a cabin. Why that is I won't spoil but I have to say that it was an interesting angle and a lot could have been done with it had this film been in more capable hands. Director Kevin Greutert certainly doesn't know how to make a proper horror film. I would not have mind at all if he had copied The Purge and all those other house invasion movies. At least then I would have gotten something out of it. Now you get absolutely nothing. None of what occurs in the film is creepy or scary. It is very clear who these Jackals are. No attempt is made to make them truly mysterious and menacing. Not once are you doubting whether they are real or not. What if we just were made to believe these are people in masks but turn out to be something else. I can come up with several scenario's where the audience will be surprised and misdirected. But Jackals doesn't play around and keeps things too serious and straightforward. What is the point of a horror film like this if you are not even going to explore the craziness and go over the top? All this time I was hoping for this brilliant twist to happen that was related to the opening scene somehow. Guess what? There is no brilliant or even stupid twist. The film just ends. Without giving you anything worthwhile. Only the realization that you have wasted your precious time. The cast were adequate and did what they could to make everything believable. Problem is that they are let down by the writing and the incompetence of the director. Stephen Dorff is nothing but a glorified cameo and he easily was the most interesting character in the whole damn movie. Why have him in the movie at all? If the intention was to make the predicament the main characters are in to be dire, they have failed miserably.
In short: Jackals should not be watched ever. It's a gigantic waste of your time and simply is devoid of any fun. Pointless and stupid!
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