Jakob's Wife - Movie Review

Jacob's wife was directed by Travis Stevens the director of Girl On The

Third Floor and stars Barbara Crampton.

As a woman trapped in a pretty boring

Marriage with a minister played by Larry

Fezenden she feels like her life has

Been shrinking over the past 30 years.

But encountering the master

Brings her a new sense of power and an

Appetite to live.

Bolder however the change comes with a

Heavy body count.

Barbara Crampton is a genre legend. She's

Been in great horror films since the

1980s

And she has been given a

Lead role here

And given a huge opportunity to flex her

Comedic muscles as well as her dramatic

Ones.

She's easily the best part of the movie.

This is a script that she championed for

Many years.

She read it a few years back and tried

To get it made for a long time.

She and Larry Fezenden play off each

Other really well because

At the core of the movie it's it's sort

Of about a relationship that's crumbling

To older people who just don't really

Feel the passion anymore and one of them

The husband doesn't really notice just

How much his wife is suffering, how much

She feels like? Her life isn't worth

Anything. She's really under his thumb

And he doesn't even really notice it's

One of those relationships where

You can't really call him abusive but

He's

Just not really there he doesn't

Understand just how much she needs

And he's pretty okay with constantly

Talking over her, interrupting her all

The time. So in a moment of relative

Weakness when she encounters an actual

Vampire

She sees an opportunity to take hold of

Her life. This is something a

Lot of directors do lately in writers is

That they've

Basically taken something that is

Essentially a domestic

Dispute of some kind. A film in which

Characters just

Aren't getting along whether their

Boyfriend girlfriend or married or

Whatever and introduce a genre element. In fact

That's how you really do the best horror

Movies.

The best horror movies are dramas

That were compelling stories

And you can maybe make a whole movie out

Of it but you're introducing a genre

Element to it whether it's a vampire or

A ghost or a possession or some kind of

Thing. Jacob's wife does that very well but

It also wisely understands how funny it

Could be to see a couple that's been

Married for a long time

Suddenly feel like they have to stake

People through the heart because the

Wife is craving blood And Larry

Phezenden in particular does a really

Great job with the humor in the movie.

Sometimes the comedic tone shifts don't always

Feel natural. There are scenes that feel very serious

And kind of important and suddenly

There's a joke

And it doesn't always work.  Sometimes

It's so jarring that it actually does

Work and you get the laugh because you

Just weren't expecting it in a scene like

This and it's pretty much impossible to

Not notice. How cool it is that two older actors are

Getting the showcase in a horror movie

Where Hollywood is so dominated with

20-somethings in these movies. It's

Awesome to see these seasoned pros

Staking vampires through the heart and

Sucking the blood off of a torn off head

That being said not everything about the

Movie worked sometimes as

Those tonal shifts weren't as polished as they could be and

The genre stuff that the characters. Do you know

Sneaking into an old place where there's rats and

Maybe two wooden crates?

It feels like they're limited a little

Bit by their budget here and trying to

Figure out exactly what they want

To have on screen and there were a few

Performances from some supporting

Characters that weren't quite there. Yet

Just not quite up to speed yet but for

The most part you really enjoy Jacob's

Wife because of the commentary that it

Presented about how a woman in marriage for so many

Years can feel trapped and see an opportunity to really

Flourish and take hold of a life that she never had

Before. The film is smart and that

This married couple

Don't immediately solve all of their

Problems nor does one of them just

Immediately end their relationship they

Both feel like well.

We're at an age where we kind of have to

Figure this out we can't just like

Move on with like what are we going to do

About this and so that was interesting

Because it forced the husband to come to terms with how he

Treated her in the past a lot of times. In

Movies where they have messages like

This whoever was being wrong is is killed or

Is immediately out of the picture. This

Movie says no try to fix it, make an attempt at fixing

It.