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“Jacob’s” EVIL is Coming to Blu-ray! Order Here!

In the Texas smalltown of Melvin Falls, a dark history engulfs the Kell family. Edith Kell and her two children have lived in ostracized notoriety for years amongst their neighbors as Edith’s husband, obsessed with restoring a suddently inherited house immersed in haunted opine, walked into the town crowded bar and started violently killing patrons before being shot dead by the local sheriff. Years later, Edith’s son Jacob is now a quiet, large, and lumbering young man with a death stare that’s akin to looking into the abyss, but Jacob’s underlining rage and psychopathic tendencies are comforted by his younger sister, Sissy, when tensions rise between his mother and her boyfriend, the abusive town drunk Otis. When Otis inadvertently kills Sissy, Jacob’s bloody rampage is unleashed and the townspeople, led by a capital punitive sheriff, form a posse to bring down the vengeful Jacob, if they even can, in another Kell family massacre.

Larry Wade Carrell writes-and-directs the dysfunction family and rural community horror “Jacob,” released over a decade ago in 2012. The film is Carrell’s debut solo directorial that earned the filmmaker best Indie Fantasy-Horror, Best Young Actress, and Best Music Score at the WorldFest Houston before embarking into more recent horror of the last decade with “She Rises,” “Girl Next,” and “The Quantum Devil” that run the subgenre gamut with supernatural terror, trafficking abductions, and evil on a whole other plane of existence. Carrell’s humble backwoods basket case thriller has broad stroke inklings of a supernatural catalyst. Filmed in and around Richmond, Texas, “Jacob” is the last feature from Odyssee Pictures and the first for Javaline 98 Productions, produced on a low budget by Carrell, Odyssee Picture’s Stacy Davidson and Jeremy Sumrall (“Domain of the Damned,” “Sweatshop”), William B. Davis, Catherine and Frederick Rushford, James Martinelli, and Chuck Norfolk (“Conjoined”).

Like most indie features, multiple hats are being worn in front of and behind the camera. Not only does director Larry Wade Carrell write the script, he also dons the twin brother roles of drunkard abuser Otis and the gentile deputy Billy. Edited so the two characters are never fully faced in a scene together, Carrell manages to pull off contrast personalities by portraying, essentially, the epitome of bad versus good with the no-good delinquent and intoxicated aggressor Otis up against the mild-mannered solicitous nature of Billy, a deputy. While Carrell may be the core of the story playing two characters, he’s written a narrative that has to battle out against the titular character Jacob, played by Dylan Horne, and the venerated genre name of Michael Biehn (“Terminator”), in what can be considered as the worst impersonation of a whoopie-exclaiming Podunk, literally with the character yelling whoopie when learning of inheriting a house. Aside from Biehn’s cringy performance, the acting is generally positive and compelling. Carrell goes beyond the bar in melodramatics but manages to keep grounded by much of dynamic interactions supplied by scrupulous actors with Krystn Caldwell (“Psychic Experiment”) as Edith Kell, the staying in victim of abuse, Leo D. Wheeler (“Domain of the Damned”) as the manbun sheriff with a firm but gentle approach, and Grace Powell (“Hell of a Night”) as Jacob’s soothing little sister Sissy. Horne, in the Jacob role, is voiceless throughout but imparts Jacob’s ogre-esque killer from inside out but is still overshadowed by Carrell’s double-edge role that takes away from his menancing run through the simpleminded townsfolk. Dustin Lane (“The Darq’), Travis Hester, Sandy Ray (“Hairmetal Shotgun Zombie Massacre: The Movie”), Shane Stewart, Karen Schlag (“Domain of the Dead”), Nick W. Nicholson (“Pickaxe”), and Deke Garner (“The Void”) rounds out the “Jacob” cast.

“Jacob” is one of those horror-thrillers that wears the trope suit of a large, quiet, countryside hulk with little intelligence but makes up for with strength and goes on a killing spree when a cataclysmic moment, usually spurred by external elements like peer bullying or the death of significant person, in this case the death of his sister, Sissy, breaks Jacob’s dammed violent tendencies and what ensues is a deluge of body mangling carnage in a big ole heap of misunderstanding as the Melvin Falls residents believe, with prior judgement and without a doubt, Jacob finally snapped and murdered his sweet baby sister, though far from the truth. However, the reason for Jacob’s turn to madness is a little more complex than just dead sister vindictiveness. In this case, less is more would have suited Carrell’s film more aptly as Carrell adds in a supernatural element with Jacob’s father inheriting a supposed haunted house. As the father attends to the house rehab, a montage of him finding a book and able to read and be beguiled by the demon scripture inside causes him to slowly become obsessed and insane while fixing their newfound home which then leads to the bar massacre Jacob witnesses. Jacob also comes in contact with his father’s spilled blood that night and that presumably passes whatever supernatural forces the father was affected by to his son, an evident metaphorical theme of hereditary genes gone wild through blood lineage that’s also demonstrated within Sissy who mentions hearing the house’s callings to her but she was not tainted by the touch of her father’s blood with her being inside mother’s womb. There’s a lot to digest and decipher but not properly arranged or the demonic mainspring is sorely underplayed to really nail the occult supernaturality on its head.

The Unrated, Director’s Cut of Larry Wade Carrell’s “Jacob” lands onto Blu-ray from Carrell’s current release company Crazed House and distributor MVDVisual. The AVC encoded, 1080p, BD50 and presented in a widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Picture quality is a bit all over the place and its likely not from the compression codec but rather stylistic choices for flashbacks for a narrative that goes into a flashback while already inside a flashback, creating multiple tonal layers to distinguish the vying eras. Carrell really gets his hands into a sepia and desaturated grading that sucks the color out in a fit leaning toward overexposure taking with it much of the finer detail points. Combined with digital stock, the gritty tone Carrell goes for often loses the battle to an ultra-sheen effect. The English LPCM 5.1 surround sound plays to the rigors of the dialogue. The loquacious script, delivered on point by the actors, goes unobstructed with a prominent dialogue layer underscored by its Iain Kelso score that evokes a slightly better grittier tone Carrell attempts to achieve with the film’s appearance. Range is limited to just what’s in frame and within the nucleus bubble and that often goes together with eliminating much of the depth when all the centered focus objects are making all the noise in the room and scene, diegetic speaking. English subtitles are available. The director’s cut has special features that include two commentaries with one including writer-director Larry Wade Carrell and the other including Stacy Davidson, a behind-the-scenes documentary The Journey of Jacob that has retrospective cast and crew interviews as well as raw footage and film footage of the film’s from alpha to omega, an interview at the “Jacob” Canadian premiere hosted by Yell Magazine, actors screen test, extended and deleted scenes with Carrell commentary, a storyboard comparison with Carrell commentary, and the theatrical trailer. There is no stinger scene post credit. The cover art screams low-budget and photoshop but is an adequate shoe that fits the rural horror and lumbering maniac concept. “Jacob” comes in a standard Blu-ray Amaray for its region free, 92-minute feature presentation.

Last Rites: “Jacob’s” a good first effort in the big chair for filmmaker Larry Wade Carrell with solid acting, interesting characters, and palpable bloodshed. Where the weaknesses lie is with the story’s inability to connect the demonic, haunted house, ghost story, or whatever supernatural force may be to the essence of backwater calamity and dysfunctional family lineage.

“Jacob’s” EVIL is Coming to Blu-ray! Order Here!

Newly hired UCLA astronomy professor James Pond becomes mixed up with peculiar behaving individuals when his car breaks down in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Held hostage in a small house, James reluctantly follows orders from an automaton man named Gilligan involved with a unusual plan for James to reproduce with the lovely Mary Ann. James’ ensnarement feel like a gag at first until he awakes bound to a bed and strapped with a shock collar; the once thought innocent fling with Mary Ann has taken a turn for the worse when he the realization that the whole human race could be in jeopardy. James becomes captivated by Mary Ann’s innocence, naivety, and beauty making his attempts to escape more difficult without her, but if he decides to stay, a ominous question mark will determine his fate.

“Flytrap” is a micro sci-fi thriller production written-directed by 1995’s “The Mangler” screenwriter Stephen David Brooks and stars television series “Salem” Jeremy Crutchley as Jimmy Pond, Austrian born Ina-Alice Kopp as Mary Ann in ambivalence, and Jonah Blechman as the emotionless Gilligan. From the get-go, “Flytrap” slowly builds a momentum, but never really gains the full steam while revolving around Jimmy Pond’s detainee state. Ambiguity plagues the story with many unanswered questions, leaving more for the audiences’ imagination rather than to the exposition and that begs the question whether everything that did happen to the astronomer happened in reality or in just in his mind? For example, the voice in the air condition duct stays anonymous until, maybe or maybe not, the end and, perhaps instead, that was all just Jimmy’s subconscious informing him of his rational side opposed to what his heart desires such as, for instance, Mary Ann is not who she seems. Is Jimmy that much wrapped up in his paranoia?

If you didn’t notice from the film’s synopsis, references from “Gilligan’s Island” are abundantly staged throughout, especially with the character names. Jason Duplissea has a minor role as the Skipper for only a brief moment and we never see Duplissea grace the screen with his presence again. Besides, Duplissea didn’t resemble his television show namesake as the others. Other pop culture references, such as Alfred Hitchcock, MTV’s Punk’d, and various others, are mentioned but the conveying of these felt as if the film didn’t have a single original thought starting with their characters, especially with the hip English astronomer and his vast knowledge of American and British pop culture. Yes, Jimmy Pond was struggling to humanize his captors, who supposedly hail from the planet Venus, with bad dancing, some romance, and an unquenchable yearning to be free, but the intention comes across technically clunky, delivered with no substantial soul. Other technicalities fair far better with great lighting to create an inauspicious atmosphere. Combine that with some solid performances from Jeremy Crutchley, Ina-Alice Kopp, and a frightening mechanical Jonah Blechman and the situation turns hopelessly weird.

Aside from Jason Duplissea making little less than a cameo, other characters quickly pop in and pop out of the story. Billy “Sly” Williams involvement lacked girth when his character Rondell sits rather very patiently through the weekend, waiting for Jimmy to call or pickup his cell. There’s no motivation other than sit and wait and call the police where the inept police department uses a machine instructs to leave a message of a crime being committed. When Rondell finally has the opportunity to do big things in order to assist Jimmy, another moment is zapped away without a trace. Like Williams, Jonathan Erickson Eisley’s Azarias had a brief scene shunted even more quickly away once introduced chained tightly bound in the house’s basement and at that precise moment, a window of opportunity cracks open to help clear up the baffling enigmas giving much puzzlement to Venus’s plan to take over or destroy mankind. Given his incarceration, we can assume Azarias is Jimmy’s equal, a previous captive with a failed outcome. Omit Williams and Eisley roles and the Brooks’s film prospers into comprehension that much more.

“Flytrap” is a festival winner – “Best Non-European Indie Feature at the European Independent Film Festival in France, Best Low Budget Feature at Worldfest Houston, Special Jury Prize at the Chelsea Film Festival as well as Best Feature, Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Blechman) and Best Ensemble at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival” – but falls to captivate and entertain even if chocked full of shadowy undertones of paranoia and loneliness. Pond, Jimmy Pond – a Bond reference “Flytrap” also made – needed more development to sauté an emotionally motley character until he’s well burnt to an cracked crisp. There will be no critiques on the audio and video as the disc provided was a screener. Check this psychological sci-fi thriller on digital HD through Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, and iTunes.