Anything For Jackson (2020)

a review by Evan Landon

There is a lot to be said about Canadian horror.

For decades, the maple leaf country has been at the forefront of the genre, making its statements with such titles as Black Christmas, The Changeling, My Bloody Valentine, The Gate, Ginger Snaps, and anything to everything David Cronenberg or his kids have ever made. That is too many to name in one review, but you catch the drift.

Enter the longtime writer/director team of Keith Cooper and Justin G. Dyck, who have delivered on such horror classics as A Puppy For Christmas, My Dad Is Scrooge, A Very Country Christmas, Christmas With A Prince: Becoming Royal, Christmas In Paris, Christmas In The Rockies, and many other holiday classics. Needless to say, this pair were well-versed enough to tackle their first supernatural horror film.

The movie starts out fairly reasonably, as the elderly couple of Henry & Audrey are attempting to use dark magic to bring back the soul of their grandson, Jackson, and shove it into the fetus of a pregnant lady who may or may not know how she got that way, but definitely wants to keep it. What ensues is a number of different escapades to thwart their progress, such as: a guy who really wants to plow their driveway, a detective who is looking for the missing pregnant girl, a bald ginger who frequents their local satanic mass, and a whole host of angry ghosts and ghouls ready to cross the rubicon and terrorize the living.

For the most part, I really enjoyed Anything For Jackson because of its premise and overall execution. You can easily tell that a lot of care and attention went into every scene of the story that is shot by very competent, experienced filmmakers. The acting by the grandparents, played respectfully by Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings, is a perfect cross between diabolical and pathetic that adds an overall dreary atmosphere that coalesces throughout the film. You kind of end up rooting for them, in some sick way. Konstantina Mantelos is adequate as the pregnant mother and enough time has passed for her to have been in many more projects, but I suppose this one flew way too far under the radar for major production companies to take notice.

My only gripe would be certain aspects of the story that I had to rewind to make sure did not elude me from the very first scene. Like how is the girl kidnapped at the very beginning, why some of the lesser characters are purposefully offing themselves, and what is the background or reason for some of the unwanted spirits. A great story can only take you so far, but not conveying certain aspects of it clearly can sink that boat pretty quickly.

A pretty funny anecdote about how Cooper and Dyck came up with the premise for Anything For Jackson is when they were pitching ideas to their company execs and were asked if they had any ideas for a horror film. They lied and said they did. In the car ride home, Cooper & Dyck came up with what they called a “backwards exorcism” that focused more on the ones that are usually the victims, like elderly grandparents. Turns out these two are insane satanists trying to shove the soul of their beloved grandson into an unsuspecting prego chica.

I love this movie for how it is done and everything pays off. It is very dark, but also comedic, which is fantastic.

3.5 Out Of 5