HORROR MOVIE REVIEW: JACK GOES HOME


It’s day sixteen of my HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE where I have to see a horror movie a day during the month of October and write a short review for each one.

Once in a while watching a lot of independent films your stumble on a hidden gem, such a gem is JACK GOES HOME, from a first time director Thomas Dekker. Just like the title suggest, a young man Jack returns home from LA for his father's funeral, to discover some shocking truths about his early childhood and his parents. With his mother being alive, she is the only one he can ask questions. How far will he go to get the answers, and how far would his mother go to cover up the terrible truth?

JACK GOES HOME is best described as "intriguing". Just like the protagonist, we want to know the answers to the secrets, and we get them eventually, but the ending will make us question ourselves. What was true? Was anything?

JACK GOES HOME is a kind of a movie that give you all the answers. But at the same time offers you none. It is a dark tale of family secrets and betrayals and the way one learns how to live with them. It is populated by live, well fleshed out characters, and Rory Culkin gives it his everything and more. The movie is a solid and focused piece, but once again, it could do with a shorter running time.

I would have given this film a perfect score just for its originality and for an interesting approach to a film about dealing with grief, but an ambiguous ending ruined it a little bit for me. This is an original piece of cinema that deserves your attention.

SCORE OUT OF 5:

SCARY SCORE: 👻👻👻👻
GORE SCORE: 🗡🗡🗡
FUN SCORE: 🎃🎃🎃 🎃

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