Director: Jack Peter Mundy
Year: 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: The Legend of Jack and Jill
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Hoping to cope with their life, a group of friends decides to visit a special site in the woods where they can bond and reconnect with their friendship again, but when they stumble upon the legend of a pair of homicidal siblings haunting the grounds killing anyone who enters must fight to stay alive.
Review:
On the whole, there’s quite a lot to enjoy with this one. One of the best qualities on display here is the film’s rather strong usage of the central nursery rhyme to provide a launching pad for the story to unfold. The initial backstory of the pair, here given the extra incentive of them being born from a homicidal mental asylum escapee who wandered into the hills and was never seen again despite the horde of missing persons’ cases that are reported in the same area, serves as the perfect accompaniment to the group of friends who come along looking for their chance to seek closure. Looking to use the trip as a way to put their unresolved feelings to the test while attempting to carry out a return to past glories, complete with recapturing their former interests and relationships while also looking into a friend who’s in the area, generates the kind of solid and workable storyline at the center of the film.
As well, there’s also quite a lot to like with the group coming into contact with the murderous siblings when they start to become hunted by the duo. The opening scene featuring the reporter coming into contact with them sets up an intriguing and somewhat suspenseful stalking sequence, much like the later ambush they pull on the sisters looking for the missing woman which sets up the later tactic we see they pull off. When they start to target the main group as they wander through the woods, the repeated tactics and suspenseful stalkings go along nicely with their behavioral tics involving the bonding they do with each other or the scenes where it looks like they are keeping them hostage before viciously killing them that enhances the brutality quite nicely. It all leads into the solid finale where the family chasing them through the woods and the nearby structures feature some decent stalking scenes and some vicious kills that provide quite a lot to enjoy with this.
There are some drawbacks to be had here. The main factor to be had against it is the somewhat sluggish and slow-burn pace that takes place here. This one goes on way too long with the endless scenes of the group trying to figure out what their purpose for the trip is as it takes a series of turns through the various relationship signs and what’s going on there that it takes quite a while before anything horrific starts to happen. That isn’t bad to see play out but when there are multiple attempts to get with the proper couple because they’re discussing who’s supposed to be attracted to whom it takes away from the stalking and ends up stretching out the running time as well. As well, with the misguided finale that tries to build an emotional resonance off of the titular nursery rhyme but instead just rushes through everything without that connection, there are some slight drawbacks employed here.
Overview: ***.5/5
A highly enjoyable adaptation of the story, there’s quite a lot to like with this one that is more than enough to overcome the few minor drawbacks on display. Those who are intrigued about it, appreciate this kind of indie effort, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here while those who don’t enjoy any of those factors should heed extreme caution here.
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