Exorcism and possession-based horror has been going strong for the better part of the last decade, spurred on by the success of cult classics like Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and Insidious. As a result of the mass production of such a specific sub-genre, films of this ilk get very formulaic very fast: an unsuspecting family accidentally invites an evil presence and has to remove it to survive. It’s a basic and easy to replicate set-up, guaranteeing a few good scares.
Anything for Jackson, part of Shudder’s Christmas counterprogramming this holiday season, is a little beyond rudimentary demonic fare. This is the genre debut of both director Justin G. Dyck and writer Keith Cooper, whose repertoire is entirely Hallmark Christmas movies. Its poster and promotional materials garnered it the description of an “anti-Nativity scene”. It’s another horror film focused on loss through supernatural means and it does so effectively. Julian Richings and Sheila McCarthy’s performances as a bereaved husband and wife turned novice Satanists are complex and Dyck chooses to minimize traditional scares in favor of atmospheric dread. Yet, despite its attempts to obviously break form, Anything for Jackson almost feels like a Hereditary clone rather than its own film.
From its first scene, Anything for Jackson reads as “elevated horror”: the establishing shots of the snow-covered, dollhouse-style setting and the haunting loop of the “Daisy Bell” nursery rhyme on record help set the classy yet off-putting atmosphere. Dr. Henry Walsh (Julian Richings) and his wife Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) have an equally saccharine yet deviant presentation: they’re every part the distinguished older couple until they drag a howling pregnant woman through their front door. Becker (Konstantina Mantalos) carries the Walsh’s new vessel for the spirit of their deceased grandson Jackson and thus becomes collateral in their amateur rituals. When the couple misreads the intended incantation, the three become haunted by an increasingly malicious presence. The revelation of the depth of the familial grief comes after the accidental hauntings begin. As the number and frequency of spirits rise, the motives for the Walsh’s involvement with Satanism do too. The film questions if the spirits are actually there or if they’re simply manifestations of guilt-ridden grandparents.
The film falls apart when the Walsh family becomes upstaged by the more practiced Satanist Ian (Josh Cruddas). Ian’s presence is called upon when the spirits begin acting out, which means the last half hour diverts away from both the already established dynamic of the Walsh’s, Becker, and the entire tone of the first hour. Gone is the dark humor established between the sitcom style premise of “an elderly couple with a secret you just wouldn’t believe!” as well as the tension from the isolated setting and the carefully crafted spirit reveals. Ian’s presence switches the focus from an intimate, character-driven slow burn into a whiplash of a final act. The shift in pace wouldn’t have been so bad, but coupled with Ian’s wildly underdeveloped wannabe cult leader persona shifting to center stage, it creates a less than satisfactory ending that even an admittedly cool final creature can’t save.
Anything for Jackson starts out as a strong Hereditary-inspired deliberately paced family drama. It blends building tensions expertly with the development of strong characters, giving Richings and McCarthy — who usually end up in secondary roles — a chance to command the screen. However, the unexpected switch in focus during the finale is a wrong turn for the film that certainly puts a damper on the effectiveness of the film overall. For a decade saturated with slow burn demonic dramas, Anything for Jackson isn’t anything new but it’s a fun watch nonetheless.
