Jackals -- My take on the movie with spoilers!

Would you save someone's life if it meant risking your own?

You'll be asking yourself this question at several points in the movie because over here, it's not about saving some random person, but a family member.
That's when the decision-making process becomes complicated.

Jackals is a terrifying movie, one that is quite reminiscent of You're next.

The movie begins with a very disturbing scene that at first glance seems to be a robbery but quickly turns into murder and that too a deliberate one.
When the jackal mask appears on screen, that's when you realize the lengths these mad people will go.

The scene cuts to a family in a cabin, all awaiting the return of the son. Curiosity is quickly sated when two young men are shown driving a van. They are immediately accosted by two masked men who subdue them and one of the men is kidnapped. This guy is apparently the son that the family is waiting for.
We are then briefed on the happenings.
The son had joined a cult after getting his girlfriend pregnant. Apparently, he is misled by the cult leader who promises him family love. He needs it as his parents separated.
He has a brother too, who is obnoxious. The girlfriend has given birth to a baby girl. The other man in the house is the ex-marine who has become a deprogrammer. A few hits and the brainwashed son is still not cured. He gives an ominous warning...everyone was going to die. THEY were coming for him.
Turns out "they" is the cult he joined and their dress code includes a jackal mask.
And one of their tenets is what, kill your family? Ugh.
Anyway, the cult members dispose of the marine guy and surround the house.
If there was ever a more terrifying survival story, this is it.
The minute the strong, muscular deprogrammer dies, I knew this movie wasn't going to have a happy ending.
The family does whatever it could to survive. They are limited by technology... No smartphones in the 1980s.
The landline is cut and civilization is a mile or so from their cabin. The brother tries to make a run for it, almost succeeds when he hides under the trucks, but the cult members are smart and everywhere. He's captured and the family has to make the distressing choice. Either watch their son burn or the family hand over their brainwashed son.
The girlfriend stops the family from handing over the father to her newborn, stating that once they have him back, they will kill him. She has to save her baby.
The mother, can't watch her son being tortured outside, so she walks out and there is silence at first.
The cult members aren't going to laud her courage. The father goes out to save his wife and is stabbed multiple times. The wife gets her throat cut. The brother watches his parents die in front of him and succumbs to his injuries.
The girlfriend pleads her boyfriend and asks him to protect his newborn daughter. He decides to go out and talk to his leader but the girlfriend must make a run for it.
She does, rushing through the forest to the neighbor’s house a mile away.
The brainwashed son meanwhile, displays his loyalty to his leader. The girlfriend is on the side of the road, waving her hands and trying to grab the attention of a driver on the lonely road when right behind her is a masked man...
Yes, horrifying and deeply disturbing. The movie will have you on the edge of the seats and praying for the family makes it out alive and those deranged cult members get their comeuppance.
Unfortunately, we must be disappointed and watch the evil win this round.
What I did like was that there wasn't a hysterical woman causing an obstacle. For once, everyone was working together to protect their family. Everyone was ready to make a sacrifice.
Toward the end, you too find yourself cheering for this family and begging the mother to save her sane son rather than the one watching his family as if they mean nothing to him. Yes, in your mind you've already punched him hard for abandoning his family who is going great lengths to save him.
But I suppose not everyone can be saved. You can save yourself though.
A nice, taut thriller that will send chills down your spine.



  2. The movie is a bit tricky with a complex "Life" based concept.


  3. May I please have a million dollars if I watch it? NO THANK YOU. Evil wins this round, LOL, I knew it by the middle of the second scene! How OLD is that getting and why won't reviewers like this admit it's old and was in fact EXHAUSTED EARLY by a tiny handful of universally, but SECRETLY, you'd think, despised movies? Answer: because held under even a dim light, this tired old thing wouldn't be worth reviewing. And where does a reviewer go then?

  4. P.S. Nice site! I like it a lot. :o)

  5. Who was the family in the opening scene that git killed and who was the intruder?

    1. Just a random family the jackals had killed

  6. I think the movie was great until the ending and then it sucked because I didn't know if the girl made it or if her crazy boyfriend was serious about not hurting them and taking the baby the ending just sucked


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