RLJ Entertainment / Released 7/20/21
Jakob’s Wife puts a very funny, original spin on the vampire comedy and provides a terrific vehicle for horror icon Barbara Crampton who, like her character, never seems to age. (I’m not the first reviewer to jokingly suggest she might just be a vampire in real life.)
In this film, she plays Anne Fedder, who’s more or less happily married to small-town pastor Jakob (fellow horror icon Larry Fessenden).
Although… when an old flame comes to town, she meets him for a drink and then a make-out session at an abandoned barn.
Enter a vampire, who turns Anne into a fellow bloodsucker.
The newly evil Anne starts dressing much sexier and when your star is Barbara Crampton — who, at 62, is Sharon Stone levels of hotness and glamour — that’s a lot of preacher’s wife to contend with.
She tries to keep her bloody new lifestyle under wraps, but that can’t last forever.
It’s what the film does with her new sense of empowerment and the way her husband reacts that really sets this film apart for your average horror comedy.
The local townspeople, especially the sheriff, are reluctant to believe a vampire (or two or three) is now in their midst.
Now Jakob is beginning to look like a serial killer: How on earth can this situation be resolved?
Not with the usual scenarios, happily.
If you’re not familiar with them, Crampton and Fessenden previously co-starred in You’re Next and We Are Still Here, while Crampton’s many credits include Body Double, Chopping Mall, From Beyond and Re-Animator.
Travis Stevens previously directed horror film The Girl On The Third Floor, but, based on this outing, horror comedy seems to be his strongest suit.
Extras include a featurette and deleted scenes.
Don’t miss it.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
