'Jackals' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an slightly intriguing but very derivative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Jackals' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is next to nothing to recommend and it is the complete opposite of what the deceptive title promises.

Lets start with the sole positive. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky.

Unfortunately, it is not done justice by the rather direct to video schlocky way it's shot and edited, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel paper thin, disjointed and over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the uniformly lumbering and histrionic acting, Steven Dorff is poorly used and it looked like he knew it.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling, with lots of clichés and no depth whatsoever, while the pace goes to a standstill very quickly and drags on forever, never recovering. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Would not have minded the lack of originality (the film is extremely derivative and in a dumbed and watered down way) if the story and atmosphere were at least alright in execution, in reality they were both dreadfully done.

A lot of 'Jackals' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending makes the film finish on an incomplete and confused whimper, in fact it is not really an ending at all.

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the psychological elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, irredeemably awful. 1/10 Bethany Cox

JACKALS is a low budget 'home invasion' type thriller that fails to ignite the screen. Instead it's a dark and dreary production that feels more than a little like a rip-off of THE STRANGERS complete with cult members wearing scare masks and gathering outside a family home to terrorise the occupants. Some promise comes from having a captive cult member inside and the interrogation he undergoes, but too often this descends into tedious 'torture porn' territory, never elevating above gutter level. Two middle-aged stars of yesteryear, Stephen Dorff and Debora Kara Unger, are present in the cast list.

Jackals reminded me of the film The Room that was depicted in the film The Disaster Artist. Laughable for all the wrong reasons. I actually did laugh several times and had to remind myself that this is a low budget horror thriller!

Set in 1983, Justin has been abducted from his sinister cult by his own family and a cult deprogrammer (Stephen Dorff.)

To deprogram Justin, he is whisked off to a remote cabin in the woods. However the murderous cult members turn up wanting Justin back. Now being somewhere remote sounds like a bad idea.

Let's face it, the family has no chance, they are heavily outnumbered and Dorff puts in a day's work for the pay cheque.