Jackals is yes, another home invasion film, with some influences from You’re Next. The movie, however, offers up some interesting scenarios to make the film stand a bit higher than the countless other horror films like it.
Jackals follows the Powell family, who have hired ex-military and cult expert Jimmy Levine (Stephen Dorff) to kidnap their son, Justin and deprogram him and get rid of all that wacky cult business floating around in his head. Unfortunately, they didn’t do a great job covering their tracks, and the cult shows up to the family cottage where Justin is being held, and all hell breaks loose.
That’s pretty much the entire plot of Jackals, so yes, it doesn’t do much new or original. Still, director Kevin Greutert takes the somewhat over exhausted story device and goes all out with some pretty neat gore and a few thrilling moments of intense action.
The film does fall apart near the ending, where too much is happening at once and before you know it, the credits roll, and you are left wondering where the heck is the rest of the film. It’s a pretty lame ending that leaves the viewer dissatisfied.
Scream Factory has released Jackals on a standard Blu-ray package, with a few interviews with the cast and crew which reeks of Press Kit, a couple of trailers and finally an audio commentary with Director Kevin Greutert and Writer Jared Rivet. Not jammed pack, but not empty either.
Ever since Night of the Living Dead, films have been doing the home invasion scenario with both success and failure, and Jackals manages to provide enough thrilling moments to satisfy plenty of horror fans. It might not end up being hugely successful, but it will be a crowd pleaser for many.