JAKOB'S WIFE (2021)
Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 120 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Travis Stevens
Cast: Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, Robert Russler, Nyisha Bell
Director Travis Stevens follow-up to The Girl on the Third Floor is the small-town bloodsucker Jakob's Wife (2021), starring 80's horror icon Barbara Crampton, From Beyond) as Ann, the mousey, submissive wife of church minister Jakob (Larry Fessenden, Habit). After 30 years of small-town married life Ann is bored with her stagnant routine and craves something more.
Later a town revitalization meeting reconnects her with a old flame named Tom (Robert Rusler, Vamp) seems to be just what she needs, but while flirting with the idea of an affair while exploring an abandoned mill with him they are attacked by ‘The Master’ (Bonnie Aarons), a bloodsucking Nosferatu queen, who shakes things up a bit more than she had initially desired. Returning home with newly minted bite marks on her neck Ann is now imbued with increasingly youthful looks, increased strength, a stronger will, and a thirst for the groovy red stuff. These changes put her minister husband's faith to the test as he attempts to free her from the control of The Master by hunting it down and killing it, while also serving as his wife's minion to sate her cravings, now the submissive to her, which I thought was a nice twist.
Director Travis Stevens follow-up to The Girl on the Third Floor is the small-town bloodsucker Jakob's Wife (2021), starring 80's horror icon Barbara Crampton, From Beyond) as Ann, the mousey, submissive wife of church minister Jakob (Larry Fessenden, Habit). After 30 years of small-town married life Ann is bored with her stagnant routine and craves something more.
Later a town revitalization meeting reconnects her with a old flame named Tom (Robert Rusler, Vamp) seems to be just what she needs, but while flirting with the idea of an affair while exploring an abandoned mill with him they are attacked by ‘The Master’ (Bonnie Aarons), a bloodsucking Nosferatu queen, who shakes things up a bit more than she had initially desired. Returning home with newly minted bite marks on her neck Ann is now imbued with increasingly youthful looks, increased strength, a stronger will, and a thirst for the groovy red stuff. These changes put her minister husband's faith to the test as he attempts to free her from the control of The Master by hunting it down and killing it, while also serving as his wife's minion to sate her cravings, now the submissive to her, which I thought was a nice twist.
The tale of small-town vampirism smacks a bit of Salem's lot with a Nosferatu/Max Schreck-looking vampire, a bald, mottled gray/blue-skinned, rat-toothed ancient evil that is slowly taking a foot hold in the small dilapidated town. Ann has a taste for blood, but with the help of her crucifix swinging husband, attempts to keep the carnage to a minimum by drinking cow's blood, but she does take out a curious neighbor. As she turns further into a bloodsucker she develops a light sensitivity and then has a horrific run-in with a teeth-whitening UV-light at the dentist's office.
The flick is well-executed with an offbeat sense of humor that could be described as Salem's Lot by way of The Dead Don't Die (2019), it takes a bit to get up to speed and develop a tone at the beginning, but once it gets it's footing it's a fun ride sprinkled with some splashy gore and torrents of blood, though the tone still teeters between serious traditional vamp flick and something goofier. I dig the Nosferatu with a gender twist look of The Master, and of her red-eyed rat-toothed minion, played with fervor by Nyisha Bell. Aesthetically it's got a great small town look to it, not sure where it was shot but it brought to mind the village communities I grew up around in Upstate NY, which definitely helped pull me into the story.
Audio/Video: Jakob's Wife (2021) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Acorn Media International in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1). The digitally shot films gets a presentation with some nice detail in the close-ups, solid color reproduction and adequate black levels. The sole audio option on the disc is an uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, offering a solid, well-balanced presentation that spreads the score into the surrounds as well as some nice atmospheric and action-based sound design.
Extras include 14-minutes of deleted scenes and a brief 5-minute making of featurette. The single-disc release arrives an an oversized keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- The Making of Jakob’s Wife (5 min)
- Deleted Scenes (14 min)
Jakob's Wife (2021) is a solid small town vampire tale starring horror icons Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden, it didn't set my world on fire or turn the sub-genre on it's head but it was thoroughly entertaining and well-done.
Screenshots from the Acorn Media Blu-ray:
