vacantskies00 Imagine your child has decided to identify with a cult. Not just any hippy, love is the answer, group of petal pushers. This one is calculated, large in numbers, and not prone to losing members. The history of Jackals screenplay was written early in the torture porn industry created by Saw, Hostel, and Wolf Creek. Years later, the script was finally realized, ironically, by Saw editor and director Kevin Greutart. Let the games begin.First of all, the Halloween influenced opening is solid and grabs you from the get go. Silent, yet violent and revealing. Soon after, an off-road kidnapping takes place; all the while mirroring a small family unit taking solace in a cabin. Colliding head on, the plot takes shape. The kidnapping is that of said families estranged son/boyfriend/brother in an attempt to deprogram him from the cult he fell in to. Credit to Stephen Dorff as the military deprogrammer, getting lean and mean while still staying sympathetic to the family. Soon, as expected, the cult come knocking at the door; wanting a sheep from their flock back home. Enter the home invasion aspect of the film. Outside, the cult wants their member back. Inside, the family refuses to give up their own. Had this film been made when it was meant to be, it would have been released theatrically along side Saw IV and Hostel 2. Jackals does feel a bit dated, however, there is a lot of heart injected into each of the characters. Good and bad. So much so, that a sequel wouldn't be out of line. It's rare to find a DTV film that asks you: How far will you go to save a member of your family; even if it costs you the remainder of the rest of them.

smcastleton Ooooh scary... Unfortunately, this is the sort of juvenile tripe you get from certain indie film producers. Yes, you can say that it's just another fictional cult horror flick. But unlike most of it's genre, there is no justification in the end. It sends the message that evil can and will triumph. Which is disturbing and exactly what the producer wants to convey to bring in revenue from like-minded people. The fact that Kevin Greutert and his associates actually spent money to produce this horrid film, displays the kind of moral decay that is prevalent amongst some in todays society. And that is even more disturbing than the film itself.

jrervin-04054 Watched this after the movie was hyped a bit on a few online horror forums and ended up being fairly disappointed.Admittedly, I'm not big on home invasion flicks as it is so take that into consideration.There doesn't seem to be any reason for the 80s setting outside of an excuse not to have cellphones. The home, clothing and style could easily be modern. The only 80s style with the filming is the grain, and the story seems more late 90s-early 00s than anything.The acting is pretty solid but the cult member brother goes a bit too far into the crazy scale and ends up coming off a bit silly.The cult members that attack look cool, but seem a bit to similar to the You're Next and Strangers villains, and it was a little frustrating to not get any detail about the cult at all, making the story seem a bit, useless maybe? They're also given little to no personality. But that seems fine with the huge personalities of the family members.The camera work on the beginning is really dark and shoddy, but the rest of the film is shot very well. The editing is good, but was this cut down significantly? With the lack of a good ending (the one present is really abrupt and does nothing for the story) and the weird edition of Matteo that's never really properly explained it seems like maybe this was chopped up a bit too much.The effects were good, of simple and not super unique. I did like the burning hands.Stephen Dorff was a nice surprise and I liked his character above the others, which turned out to be unfortunate. Props on getting him though.All in all, it certainly isn't terrible it's just not really my speed, as it's more of an action over substance home invasion which isn't really my thing, as I said before.

Flow I'm really sorry about Jackals but man what a letdown it turned out to be. I was hoping for something more like You're Next or The Void, but far from it. Typical The Strangers kind of movie, when you hope to see something good, some action, some natural decisions, instead, bore fest.Can't believe it ended just like that, a conclusion that made the run time of the movie completely useless, with nothing to show whatsoever. Really little to offer and even less to make you feel about it, you get no sympathy for the characters, no desire to see what happens next, who's next, you're just in for the ride cause you pressed Play.All in all, Jackals is definitely a No. Pass!Cheers!