Grief and the determination to make amends for their own form the basis for an elderly couple’s desire to kidnap an innocent young mother-to-be in the new Shudder horror offering ANYTHING FOR JACKSON.
Audrey and Henry Walsh (Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings) kidnap single mother-to-be Shannon Becker (Konstantina Mantelos) with a view of using her impending pregnancy as part of a ritual to bring back their dead grandson Jackson (Daxton William Lund), whom Shannon claims she can see from her handcuffed status quo in the soundproof room that she has been contained in.
The Walshes are part of a local Satanic Cult who worship the dark lords and Audrey appears to have picked up a few worthwhile tips from the ritual bible that the group has lent to her, which should enable them to complete the essentials.
However this objective, coupled with their own desire to get their beloved young’un back, is beginning to reveal to them that the very ritual designed to give back what they most covet has turned their haven into a very different place of worship for other dark spirits that are manifesting themselves in all corners of each room….
Director Justin G.Dyck, working from a script by Keith Cooper, has created a very efficient scare-fest that works on implication and suggestion alongside some very standard forms and themes in the genre, with echoes of classic 1970s and 80s horror as a key influence.
It’s quite a stimulating and refreshing take on the old devil deal ritual motifs in films like ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN, with the Walshes misunderstanding the instructions and getting in deep over their head (or headless situation!), with neat little jump moments and physical gore underplayed for the right effect (a bathroom scene is one such example)
It is a horror treat to behold in that way and at a time when some of the current horror films do try to fall back on familiar shock tactics in an overly familiar setting, it is nice to have a film that tries to do something different in the same genre.
