One of the best genre items of the nineties, this 1994 New Zealand import is that rarity of rarities: a truly original horror film. A brother and sister are split up as young children and forced to grow up among abusive families, until one of them develops psychic powers…and that’s all in the first twenty minutes. Whatever else this film might be, boring it most certainly is not. It’s also made with great skill and contains solid performances from the entire cast. Why aren’t more horror movies this good?
…a truly original horror film.
The New Zealand horror movie industry was kicked off by DEATH WARMED UP and MR. WRONG (both 1984), and continued with Peter Jackson’s BAD TASTE (1987), MEET THE FEEBLES (1989) and BRAIN DEAD/DEAD-ALIVE (1992), which may explain why JACK BE NIMBLE didn’t get the attention it deserved. By 1994 the Kiwi scare scene seemed rather old-hat.
The production’s lone “star” was the late trans actor Alexis Arquette (1969-2016), of the prestigious Arquette acting clan, who still identified as male when this film was made (and also LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN and PULP FICTION, her other major film credits). She does brilliant work as half of the film’s central brother-sister duo (with the most convincing New Zealand accent I’ve ever heard an American attempt). Her screen sister, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy (of AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE and THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY), is even better. Other standout work comes from the late Bruno Lawrence (1941-95), one of New Zealand’s top actors, as Kennedy’s abusive boyfriend.
Predictably, this top-notch film was released straight-to-video in the US, complete with the inevitable lurid (and in this case misleading) box art. It did, however, manage to accrue a (small) cult following. It’s now available on several streaming platforms, and well worth seeking out.
Dora (Smuts-Kennedy) has psychic powers. They lead her to her long-lost brother Jack (Arquette), and the two set off in search of their biological parents, who abandoned Dora and Jack when they were infants. Jack grew up in an abusive family and has emerged a bitter and angry (and, frankly, not very likeable) adult. Dora and Jack’s quest is an eventful one in which more than a few old wounds are re-opened, while following in their path are four psychotic sisters, the remaining survivors of Jack’s adopted family.
But let’s not ignore the story’s many other elements, which include a hypnosis machine, psychosis and even a hint of incest. In addition, the drama evoked by Dora and Jack’s reckoning with their traumatic past feels genuine enough to invite speculation that writer-director Garth Maxwell (whose subsequent credits have been mostly in television) might have been an abandoned child himself. But Maxwell always keeps the narrative lively and the pacing kinetic, never losing sight of the fact that this is, first and foremost, an entertainment.
Maxwell always keeps the narrative lively and the pacing kinetic, never losing sight of the fact that this is, first and foremost, an entertainment.
While the jam-packed proceedings occasionally seem unwieldy, Maxwell never allows things to become too complicated or obscure. It’s clear he was following no set rules, either in his storytelling or his direction, which is good—even better, he managed to pull this without-a-net approach off, as JACK BE NIMBLE is never less than compelling. Of course, Maxwell also includes a fair amount of sleazy violence, but most of it occurs at the beginning and (particularly) at the end.
Vital Statistics
JACK BE NIMBLE
Essential Productions/Triboro Entertainment Group
Director: Garth Maxwell
Producers: Jonathan Dowling, Kelly Rodgers
Screenwriters: Garth Maxwell, Rex Pilgrim
Cinematography: Don Duncan
Editor: John Gilbert
Cast: Alexis Arquette, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, Bruno Lawrence, Tony Barry, Elizabeth Hawthrone, Brenda SImmons, Gilbert Goldie, Patricia Phillips, Paul Minifie, Sam Smith, Hannah Jessop, Kristen Seth, Amber Woolston, Tracey Brown, Wendy Adams, Nina Lopez