Anything For Jackson

Grief over losing a loved one is a tremendously powerful thing.  In director Justin G. Dyck’s Anything For Jackson, we see just how far bereaved grandparents Henry (Julian Richings) and Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) are willing to go to get their beloved grandson, Jackson back. The answer is far. VERY far.

Anything For Jackson is a film that likes to juxtapose the seemingly normal with the horrific.  The opening scene shows Audrey and Henry quietly and sweetly going about their morning routine. She is making him breakfast, he is preparing to go into the office, and they are having cute banter over whether one of Henry’s pant legs is shorter than the other. Suddenly Henry, upon walking out the front door, declares “She’s here”. Audrey mentions that “she” is early and the couple rush outside. Shortly they return with a screaming, struggling woman. They beat her over the head, pull her into the home’s elevator, and head up into the recesses of the house. Color me intrigued.

Turns out Henry Walsh is an OBGYN and the “she” that they just kidnapped is one of his pregnant patients, Shannon Becker (Konstantina Mantelos). Their grief over losing Jackson and his mother in a car crash led them to join the occult to discover a way to bring Jackson back to them. Audrey and Henry believe that Shannon’s unborn child is a vessel into which Jackson can return.

Shannon is bound and initially gagged in a bed set in what is to be Jackson’s bedroom. She is awakened by a child’s hand touching her face. Interestingly, Shannon can see the ghost of Jackson.  He seems friendly and happy to see her. When the Walsh’s discover that Shannon can see Jackson, they take it as a sign that everything will work out just fine. I took it as a sign that things were very wrong in that house even prior to any ritual being performed.

To keep up with their normal routine and not seem suspicious, Audrey and Henry attend their regularly scheduled satanic cult meeting, hilariously held in the local community center/library.  On the way into the meeting, they are approached by Ian (Josh Cruddas), who asks them if they found they book they were looking for. Hmmm. They lie and say no, no luck finding said book. Also, something seems…..off with Ian. The meeting is filled with occult horror tropes, and it seems like Ian is the only one taking things very seriously. Well, him and the Walsh’s. More on that later.

The ritual is held, resulting in a lot of blood, and summoning a demon who resembles a plague doctor. Things get intense, but after all settles down, Audrey is one hundred percent convinced that Jackson is now Shannon’s unborn child. Henry seems less convinced but placates Audrey by agreeing with her. Audrey seems more desperate for their plan to work, and more hopeful that it will. She is, and the reason why is revealed later in the film.

After the ritual, Audrey, Henry, and Shannon begin to see some truly terrifying ghosts. The contorting ghost that initially appears to Shannon is pure nightmare fuel.  Realizing that something went very wrong, the couple reach out to Ian for help.  They reveal to Ian that they did indeed get the book that he was inquiring about and ask him to translate portions. After hearing what they did, he explained they only performed half of the ritual.  They invited not specifically Jackson, but all spirits in purgatory who are looking for a vessel in which to return to the living. He agrees to help them complete the ritual, for a price.

Ian shows up the next morning to complete the ritual, and things go very wrong, very quickly. Not surprisingly, he has a very different agenda than the Walsh’s. I will not spoil the plot details, but the final act of the film is very fast paced, and more than slightly hard to follow.  I did find it ultimately satisfying though. It will certainly leave viewers with differing theories as to what it meant.   

Anything For Jackson is well-shot; the bleak snowy backdrop certainly adds to the increasingly foreboding feel to the film. The lead performances are also extremely strong, although Ian had a few too many “angry young man who listens to metal and worships Satan” cliches for my taste.  The film also does a nice job with revealing the backstory with flashbacks interspersed throughout. The theme of love, loss, and family trauma is tapped into, but never explored too deeply. That is not to the film’s detriment though.

I initially had many issues with the choices the Walsh’s made (ie. why in the world would they choose to abduct Shannon on the same day she had an appointment at Henry’s office), but then realized that these choices made sense. After all, these are grieving grandparents, not criminal masterminds. However, I did find certain elements of the plot to be far too convenient. Shannon just happens to walk right past the Walsh’s home every morning at the exact same time. Anyone who comes close to discovering their scheme commits curse-induced suicide.

Overall, Anything For Jackson is quite an effective film that blends the occult and haunted house horror subgenres. I enjoyed it more upon reflection than I did immediately after viewing.  Some of the scene transitions were clunky, and some plot devices too unbelievable, but I do overall recommend watching. The performances, overall tone, and some genuinely frightening ghosts will appeal to most horror fans.