It’s great to see that actress Barbara Crampton, a longtime horror movie icon (having graced RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND, CASTLE FREAK and many other films), is still active. She stars in and produced the indie horror fest JAKOB’S WIFE (2021), whose genre credentials are furthered by the presence of filmmaker/sometime actor Larry Fessenden (of guerilla horror classics like HABIT and WENDIGO). This film won’t be remembered as the best work of either Crampton or Fessenden, but it is memorable.
Crampton plays Anne, the devoted but unsatisfied wife of Jakob, a rural minister played by Fessenden. Crampton is empathetic and seductive, and the film overall an excellent showcase for her talents. That’s to be expected, but Fessenden nearly matches hers in a performance that’s far more layered and complex than the one-dimensional repressed pastor depiction one might expect.
It seems there’s a dangerous feminine something loose. Anne confronts it during a night out with a male acquaintance with whom she nearly commits adultery. The fact that Anne’s encounter with “the Master” occurs at this precise point is significant, as upon emerging—with two gaping wounds in her neck—she takes to rebelling against the puritanical male-centered reality in which she’s been mired. She also develops an insatiable craving for blood and, perhaps most shocking of all, decides she prefers this new reality to her previous one. Jakob does his best to be a supportive husband, but also becomes determined to track down the Master and put a stop to the whole mess.
The film is intelligent and well visualized, at least for its first half. Director Travis Stevens, a prolific horror movie producer (whose credits include A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE, JODOROWSKY’S DUNE and STARRY EYES) and director (of 2019’s GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR), evinces enormous panache in his handling of the actors and technical elements, but is far less successful in terms of storytelling or thematic consistency.
JAKOB’S WIFE actually plays like many of Fessenden’s self-directed movies in its uneasy mixture of nuance and excess. Skillfully made though it is, the film grows increasingly excessive as it advances, with FRIGHT NIGHT-esque blasts of over-the-top gore and a tone that becomes quite parodic. Some viewers may view that as a weakness, and others a major point of interest. Myself, I feel the film could have been much better. I still recommend it, though, if for no other reason than to see Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden give what may well be remembered as the performances of their lives.
Vital Statistics
JAKOB’S WIFE
Alliance Media Partners/Eyevox Entertainment
Director: Travis Stevens
Producers: Barbara Crampton, Bob Portal, Inderpal Singh, Travis Stevens
Screenplay: Mark Steensland, Kathy Charles, Travis Stevens
Cinematography: David Matthews
Editing: Aaron Crozier, Travis Stevens
Cast: Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, Nyisha Bell, Sarah Lind, Mark Kelly, Robert Rusler, Jay DeVon Johnson, Phil Brooks, Omar Salazar, Angelie Denizard, Bonnie Aarons