"Anything for Jackson" a poignant bereavement tale but also a sinister horror show

Anything for Jackson (2020)

“Anything for Jackson” could have been cheerful holiday fare about grandparents reuniting with their grandson, seeing as how Canadian director Justin G. Dyck holds over thirty directing credits behind Hallmark Christmas movies. Writer Keith Cooper (who has also written his fair share of Dyck’s holiday fluff) flips the script, though, by making the grandparents Satanists who strive to perform a “reverse exorcism.” How's that for shaking things up? “Anything for Jackson” is an insane, disturbing wintry occult-horror tale about bereavement, and yet its sinister aura is offset by an unanticipated poignancy and a sly, pitch-black sense of humor throughout.

Seemingly kind couple Dr. Henry (Julian Richards) and Audrey Walsh (Sheila McCarthy) have made a deal — a deal with the devil. One morning, they abduct Henry’s pregnant patient Shannon (Konstantina Mantelos) and chain her to the bed of a soundproofed upstairs bedroom in their house. Their intentions? Invoking the spirit of their precious grandson Jackson, who died in a car accident, into Shannon’s unborn baby as a vessel. The couple still tries to keep up appearances, like Henry going to work at his local practice and both of them attending their church-like club of devil worshippers. When an investigation into Shannon’s disappearance begins, the Walshes’ plan snowballs and goes off the rails with visitors that are both living and dead.

Bookended by the ironically lighthearted beddy-bye ditties “Daisy Bell” and “I Have a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue,” “Anything for Jackson” is just as unforeseen in the narrative path it takes. A static shot of Audrey dutifully serving Henry his breakfast opens the film, as if this were any other morning. Then the tone of the scene changes and escalates quickly, as the camera rests on their door and catches the couple going outside to bring in their whimpering prisoner. There’s something more deceptively creepy about a film revolving around older characters who give off the impression that they wouldn’t harm a fly, and it helps that Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings are note-perfect as the Walshes. Here are two character actors, who have tirelessly worked and together have close to 400 credits to their respective names, receiving the lead roles they deserve. Their Devil-worshipping and kidnapping aside, McCarthy and Richings bring such a lovely bond to Audrey and Henry. McCarthy, in particular, makes Audrey seem like such a sweet, hospitable lady who has her and her husband’s plan all figured out. When Audrey sits with the gagged and tied Shannon, she assures her that they have exhausted every option because “no one has more time than a grieving family.” In a way, we do want the Walshes to reunite with their grandson, but without anyone getting hurt, of course. 

Rooted in grief and making one feel the emotional weight of losing a loved one, “Anything for Jackson” is also a jolting horror show. Director Justin G. Dyck has a nasty imagination when it comes to executing shocking bursts of violence, whether it’s death by snowblower or the investigation by Detective Bellows (Lanette Ware) taking an unexpected turn after an already-unexpected turn that becomes darkly amusing in its repetition (sounds vague, but you'll understand after you jump every time). There’s one scare involving a ghostly trick-or-treater who keeps haunting Audrey around the house, and the final payoff borrows a creepy moment from “It Follows.” Other creep-outs involve a flossing woman and a head-bagged, contorting body, played by contortion extraordinaire Troy James (who already lives in viewers’ nightmares as Pretzel Jack from TV’s “Channel Zero: The Dream Door”). Dyck whiffs the ending a bit, but until then, “Anything for Jackson” proves his sensibilities are a better fit for Shudder than Hallmark. 

Grade: B

Shudder is releasing “Anything for Jackson” (97 min.) to their streaming service on December 3, 2020.