Anything for Jackson (2020) User Reviews

Simple But Creepy

[Athanatos173 · 7/10 · 7 December 2020]

The horror gendre has been one of my favorites for my entire life, yet the production of good movies in said gendre has been lacking, to put it mildly, in recent memory.

The horror movies that are effective, for myself at least, are those which don't rely on jump scares and actually endeavour to creep you out, thereby instilling a lasting emotion when thinking about the film.

Anything for Jackson, although not outstanding per se, does a fairly decent job of being creepy.

The acting is fairly good, and though I admit I do have a soft spot for Julian Richings who plays Dr. Henry Walsh, the entire cast does a competent job. The writing was up to snuff as well, taking a very basic premise and fleshing it out, and the make up and effects department did a great job.

I would recommend Anything for Jackson for a decent 90 minute watch.

Watch This One

[arfdawg-1 · 7/10 · 4 December 2020]

This is a nifty original horror flick that will keep your interest. It's really good.

Not complicated. Just really good performances and direction. SCript too.

Don't miss it.

With all the derivitive garbage out there, this was one refreshing movie.

Excellent Occult Horror

[SusieSalmonLikeTheFish · 7/10 · 1 June 2021]

This slow-burning horror, following a kind but determined satanist couple and their self-defeating desire to bring back their deceased grandson, is the kind of film that begs a second viewing. I didn't appreciate it the first time I saw it, but the second time around, the strong acting skills, special effects and underlying tragedy of the story won me over. Anything For Jackson somehow evokes an outpour of empathy for this couple of kidnappers, as it becomes more apparent the gravity of the losses they faced, and the lengths they went to in order to overcome them. Fans of Supernatural, Roxy Hunter and Hard Core Logo will instantly recognize Julian Richings as Henry, and Sheila McCarthy works very well with him in the role of satanist grandmother Audrey. Up-and-coming actor Josh Cruddas is memorable as the narcissistic satanist bum, Ian, a childish but obsessively devoted helper to the protagonists, and Yannick Bisson and Lanette Ware compliment every scene they're in. As a dark comedy and occult horror, Anything For Jackson works strangely well. While not perfect, and at times campy, it's a well-made and quite unforgettable story worth checking out.

Above average horror in the style of Hereditary

[omendata · 6/10 · 7 January 2021]

Starts off really well and has some really quite disturbing, inventive and shocking moments with good performances from all involved.

Unfortunately it cannot sustain the level of suspense and horror and the ending sadly just wastes the entirety of what came before with a disappointing denouement but still an above average 6 hatchets out of 10 from me on this one!

A Fresh Spin On A Classic Concept

[CinemaClown · 3 August 2021]

A fresh spin on a classic concept, Anything for Jackson follows an elderly couple who kidnap a pregnant woman with the sole intention of putting their deceased grandson's spirit into her unborn child. A wicked yet amusing premise, the film manages to get some mileage out of its reverse exorcism idea only to drop the ball in the final act to finish on an underwhelming note.

Directed by Justin G. Dyck, the film is a major step-up & a massive departure for its director when compared to his family-friendly filmography. Crafted with care & handled with finesse, the story is gripping from the get-go, brims with a disquieting chill, and packs some effective scares, thanks to the foreboding ambience & ghostly interventions that occur throughout its runtime.

What inherits the picture its uncanny strength however is the excellent performances from its leading duo. Sheila McCarthy & Julian Richings are fantastic in their Satan-worshipping roles and even add a parental touch to their otherwise despicable characters. The supporting cast fail to match the brilliance of the leads and are serviceable at best. As for the finale, it fails to deliver the desired goods.

Overall, Anything for Jackson is a fun & fiendish delight that manages to be both hilarious & thrilling and makes for a polished piece of work for a film shot on a low-budget. Certainly an impressive entry in a directorial career that's jam-packed with feel-good Christmas specials, this supernatural horror about loss, grief, remorse & satanism has its merits and will surprise many with its refreshing take on the subgenre.

Damn

[rhcplolla2012 · 6/10 · 7 December 2020]

A pretty fun and wild experience, slightly spoiled by a underwhelming conclusion/ending.

Silly ending

[leonidasoriginal · 6/10 · 25 December 2020]

Low budget, not all bad, actually interesting horror movie with silly ending. Movie makers should realy stop trying to be smart at the end of movies. Just make the damn ending. Really. Just do it

Great start, falls apart in the 3rd act

[mathieu_felten · 5/10 · 1 August 2022]

Great start, falls apart in the 3rd act. It becomes completely different, as the tone, the "monsters", everything is just really messy.

You end up finishing the movie with no real conclusion.

It could have been good but I left disappointed.

Unexpectedly very good

[mjsreg · 8/10 · 3 December 2020]

Considering the low quality of a lot of horror output recently I wasn't expecting much from this movie. But what a surprise.

The story is well written and tight, nicely paced, and with plenty of intrigue so you never really know where it is going.

The characters are superbly portrayed by the entire cast.

If you want to see a good horror movie that doesn't involve teens screaming in some remote location - this is a movie to watch.

Well-worth a watch...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 3 December 2020]

"Anything for Jackson" turned out to be a rather pleasantly surprisingly good horror movie. I was genuinely entertained by what writer Keith Cooper and director Justin G. Dyck delivered with this 2020 movie.

The storyline in "Anything for Jackson" actually proved to be one that blended elements of a handful of older classic horror movies together, while actually maintaining its own plot. And I will say that I definitely liked the story told here, and it made for a wholesome horror experience.

Now, it should be said that "Anything for Jackson" is not a horror movie in the sense of jump scares and attempts to thrill the audience with gory effects and brutality. No, "Anything for Jackson" is more of a subtle horror movie that slowly creeps in under your skin and sticks with you, as it is a story that resonates with many different elements; such as the bonds of a family, the love between two people, the willingness to make sacrifices, supernatural elements, religious elements, etc. There was an abundance of things here that made for an enjoyable plot.

While the story told in "Anything for Jackson" is somewhat disturbing and creepy, there is also something profoundly beautiful about it at the same time. It is truly something rather unique that writer Keith Cooper managed to conjured up here. And there is just the right amount of absurdity to the storyline as well, to spruce it up with just a hint of dark, twisted humor.

The acting in "Anything for Jackson" was just spot on, and I will say that lead actor Julian Richings (playing Henry Walsh) and lead actress Sheila McCarthy (playing Audrey Walsh) were phenomenal in the roles, and they were so well-cast for this particular movie. I was struggling a bit with the character portrayed by actor Josh Cruddas, as he was just a spoof and so hard to take serious.

"Anything for Jackson" is a horror movie that is well-worth the time and effort to sit down and watch. And I can warmly recommend that you do so, if you find yourself given the opportunity, especially if you enjoy horror movies that transcends the usual gore and in-your-face-scares.

My rating of "Anything for Jackson" is a well-deserved six out of ten stars.

Pretty Good!

[onebengalcat · 5/10 · 6 December 2020]

I wasn't expecting much going into this. Turned out to be a decent watch. The acting decent. The plot was good. The ending was okay. Could have been a lot better.

This is what horor movies should be

[bojan-bozovic87 · 8/10 · 10 March 2021]

It's been 2 days since I watched Anything for Jackson and I still cant get it out of my head... It's really good movie. Ill try to explain in few lines why I consider it to be a good movie.

1) Its different - In so much copy-paste ideas and remakes, i finally had the opportunity to watch something original, something different. Anything for Jackson suprised me couple of times during the movie and I really liked that. This movie was not predictable and its soo good!

2) Its low budget movie - I'm really starting to enjoy low budget movies more than high budget movies and that is actually not so good because it means that high budget movies lacks of original story and new ideas. Low budget movies today are more focused on depth of story and that is, for me, most important part of movie. In Anything for Jackson you will maybe see some cheap effects in some scenes but they are created with soul and that gives them something that most of high budget movies dont have today. I really enjoyed every scene of this movie.

3) Good acting and music - Acting is, besides story line, probably most important part of the movie and in this movie acting is great! I really liked main characters and by my opinion side characters were pretty good too. For me music is very important part of every movie and I really enjoyed in music and sound affects in Anything for Jackson so it's one more plus for this movie.

If you are horror movie fan and you are interested in cult stories than you definitely should check this movie, I believe you'll enjoy it!

Very well crafted horror!

[tchitouniaram · 7/10 · 6 December 2020]

Very well crafted horror! Unexpectedly original and unusual film.Acting is stellar! Highly recommended!

Tries but doesn't do it fully.

[jmbovan-47-160173 · 5/10 · 13 December 2020]

Well crafted movie, but it stalls ultimately leaving the viewer with a sense of "okay". Nothing wrong with the production or acting; story line is a bit shy of having much plot other than the reverse exorcism. Fine, and a good try, but overall meh.

Anything except let him go.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 7/10 · 8 September 2021]

'Anything For Jackson (2020)' follows a bereaved couple who kidnap a heavily pregnant woman in order to perform a 'reverse exorcism' and put the spirit of their dead grandson into the body of her unborn child. It's a killer premise and the set-up is handled impeccably. That's primarily because the two perpetrators of this heinous act are actually the picture's protagonists. They're Satanists who are willing to make a selfish deal with the devil no matter the cost, but they aren't portrayed as callous and cackling villains. They're presented as quite the opposite, actually; they seem like your average, neighbourly old couple. Their understandable motivations help to keep you engaged with the plot, especially since their actions are always what drive it, and their relatively agreeable nature makes the movie much more distinct than it otherwise may have been. The kidnapped woman isn't given quite as much attention as her captors, but she is developed just enough that you come to truly care for her by the flick's end. No matter how sympathetically the central couple are presented, you're always on the pregnant lady's side because of the inherently unjust nature of her treatment; just because someone's nice doesn't mean they aren't doing a bad thing. The picture is well made throughout, with crisp cinematography, believable performances and some really effective scare sequences. Though the middle act is slightly more generic than the first, it's here that the movie's frights really come into the fray. There's some horrific stuff here and it's all really well done. It isn't terrifying, but it's unsettling enough. One of the more major complaints I have is that the ending feels, ever so slightly, like a let-down. It isn't bad, of course, but it kind of feels like the filmmakers weren't sure how to bring their creation to a close and so decided to throw everything at the wall in a 'haunted house' sort of way. Still, like I said, it isn't bad. It features unique visuals and is, for the most part, genuinely unpredictable. Overall, the film is a really good entry into its genre. It does some often seen things in a rarely seen way, which makes it all the easier to recommend. If you're a fan of horror, you should give this a go. 7/10.

Not bad, but it looks like the creators were afraid to make the most out of the story

[kuarinofu · 6/10 · 23 May 2021]

A simple but decent story, great casting, a couple of rather scary and tense scenes made Anything for Jackson an enjoyable low-budget horror.

It's dry, which contributes to a better, more realistic experience. In addition, the creators threw in enough black humor in the film, some scenes are intentionally made funny, but some are so unknowingly.

Unfortunately, towards the end, when the film really starts to shine, as if shying away from or limiting themselves, the creators quickly wrap up the story with an ambiguous ending that doesn't really work.

This film can still be recommended for at least a single viewing, especially for genre fans.

So close...

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 30 January 2021]

Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) and Henry (Julian Richings) didn't start out as Satanists*. But once their grandson Jackson dies, well, their lives have changed. They want him back no matter what it takes, no matter who gets hurt, even if their first rule is that the pregnant woman they have taken, Becker, is not to be harmed.

There's no way this can end well for anyone.

Director Justin G. Dyck has somehow already figured out what older horror makers have gleaned, but at a much earlier age. He's directing plenty of holiday movies like Christmas In the Rockies and Christmas Wedding Planner, movies that are full of innocence and joy, while also making a movie where a kindly older couple bakes cookies when they aren't bringing animals back from the dead. I'd blame writer Keith Cooper for being a bad influence, but he's also written several similar films like A Very Country Wedding (with Dyck directed) and My Dad Is Scrooge.

The closer the couple at the heart of this film gets to a reverse exorcism - putting Jackson's soul into the place of an infant's consciousness - the more people die in increasingly horrific, if not comedic ways. They also have a circle of black magic users, whose leader Ian may not have their best interests in mind. Imagine that.

This film seems like The House of the Devil, if we emphasized more with the Ulman's than with Samantha. Sadly, where that movie picks up steam and blows you away with its ending, this one wildly shifts tone in the last few minutes and closes with an ambiguous ending that felt less like closure and more like filmmakers wondering how to finish things.

Imagine if Rosemary's Baby didn't end the way it did after all that build.

That's why this is a pretty good movie - struggling for great - but the end just felt like a ton of monsters being thrown at the viewer and the focus being pulled from who we care about to someone who hasn't been the protagonist. It's hard to care about someone more than the people we've been told to care about, you know?

That said, this remains heads and shoulders above most of what passed for horror in 2020. I definitely think its worth a watch.

*By this, we mean the kind of Satanists that this movie claims are Satanists. We all know The Church of Satan has nothing to do with this kind of thing, but would possibly appreciate the dark choices and black humor of this movie.

good buildup bad end

[Nostrama · 4/10 · 25 December 2020]

Tbh, it went so good all the way through, building up and up and made me wonder what kinda end would come, would she escape, would some spirit posses her at the last second but bleh, she escapes, sees a spitir, roll credits... huge letdown

This movie gave me nightmares

[manuelasaez · 8/10 · 6 December 2020]

I didn't expect much from the trailer, although it made the movie look intriguing enough. But I was really not prepared for how utterly disturbing this movie ended up being. I mean, it starts off with a shock, and then tappers down to be somewhat of a sad tale of a sweet old couple that is caught up in something wickedly serious. But man, once things start to happen, it just doesn't let up! Every time you put your guard down, something new and disturbing rears its hideous head and it gets worse and worse as the movie goes on. But that ending....that's what got to me. It was so subtle, yet so incredibly creepy, that the same night I watched the movie I had horrible nightmares that didn't let me get a wink of sleep.

Highly recommended!!!!

It is creepy but Hereditary made horror film makers believe that an ambiguous ending is a must

[gedikreverdi · 7/10 · 15 January 2021]

The grandfather is a doctor and e along with his wife abduct one of his patients who's pregnant. They wanted to use her to bring their dead grandson back. They thought everything as they made it look like she went missing after a date with a man online, the camera in the room she's shackled down to the bed and the very old satanic book. They were also a part of the satanic church who get together near the library in town. After summoning the Satan, they started seeing a lot of ghosts including their daughter who appeared in a ghost costume asking trick or treat. When she approached her mother and got taller and taller was very creepy and it reminded me a scene from "It Follows". Then the gardener guy who helps them with snow killed him self in the snow machine. The grandfather got rid of his body and the police officer lady called him to talk about the missing patient of his. She insisted to come over his house. When he arrived, his wife was arrested and on the ground with handcuffs and she shot herself in the head. Ian who's one of the members of the church help them when they told him they found the very old book. It was funny when she was reading a satanic book in his mothers basement and she calls his name asking if he won't really eat anything. When he showed up at the ceremony with blood in a container I immediately figured out he killed his mom and it was correct. The pregnant woman got one of his hands out of the handcuffs and with a broken glass she threatened them to kill the grandmother. And they unshackled her. And Ian killed the grandmother saying a mother is a mother. A ghost took Ian because he disturbed the blood and sand line without noticing it (they were supposed to protect them from ghosts like in the skeleton key) and the pregnant woman got out while the Satan was rising from the body of the grandfather. She took the car and in the middle of the road was Satan standing and she looked at her belly and that was it. The ambiguous ending has become very trendy after people loved hereditary and now everyone thinks such an ending makes a horror film super cool. It was at times a really creepy movie but the ending could have been a lot better. And the scariest part of the movie where the grandfather was in bed and mistaken a ghost in the bathroom with his wife and she was cutting her mouth and gums and pulling her teeth out with dental floss.

It's a 5 because it's half good them wth happened?

[schlagzeugplayer · 5/10 · 10 April 2021]

The beginning was really good, creepy grandparents always a good start along w old book and the a abudction of Aydrey, very pregnant. You see here it all sounds great. Plus the satanic cult all good. Creepy Ian the dark weird guy, good. Its all coming together then it becomes a mess and the story sort of goes.

Just superb

[Devils_advocake · 8/10 · 21 January 2021]

Quite low budget but really enjoyable horror. The protagonist is a bit wishy washy but that's more than made up by other characters especially Josh Cruddas who was born for his role in this film. Exceptionally good fun!

Falls apart towards the end

[HorrorEnjoyer · 6/10 · 15 January 2021]

Movie starts really well - decent acting, great atmospheric horror, creepy imagery, however it completely falls apart towards the end, turning into cringey horror comedy at the last act, which completely ruins the mood and ultimately spoils the entire experience.

Awful mess.

[Ivanrosario247 · 1/10 · 27 December 2020]

Heard this was decent and rating looked promising. What i got was an absolute mess of a film. It plays like a comedy throughout and the moments of (horror) jump in and out with laughable timing. It feels as though there was a good film underneath smothered by an awful script and amateur directing. Not for me.

The magic works with this one

[danthepoetman · 6/10 · 17 June 2022]

Small budget flick, but not bad at all. Quite entertaining from one end to the other. Very good pace with a good script, good dialogues, very well shot and edited.

The actors are all real pros and not once do you get unhooked for a badly played line or a ridiculous mimic, to then wonder what is wrong with the picture... The ending is a tiny tiny bit disappointing, but horror so often ignores how to buckle it up that in the end, so to speak, this one isn't annoying. You had fun and you won't deny yourself the pleasure.

The photography is particularly good in this huge, magnificent, 3 if not 4 floors house (if it really was shot in there - and if it wasn't, well, it means it's even better than I thought). The camera is taking you diving or climbing with amazing high and low-angle shots all over. It won't become a horror classic, but it is certainly worth the time to sit and watch with popcorn. I enjoyed it thoroughly.