Jakob's Wife

A solid and surprisingly unique take on a vampire movie. A 60-something wife of a pastor has a very vanilla life of subservience and meekness. Her husband talks over her, and doesn’t seem to see her except as a cook and companion. When she gets bitten by a vampire, her world changes; she becomes confident, decisive, outspoken, and alive. And, you know, thirsts for blood. The movie is at its best when it explores the themes of suppressed identity and feminine strength (although there’s a flaw to that too). Barbara Crampton does a magnificent job as Anne, first as the stifled housewife who is so unimportant and overlooked, she isn’t even named in the title of the movie, and then as a woman who now has the power to address all the burning hungers within. There’s a lot of quiet moments in the first act where you can see her seething to break free of the routine, but when she so much as thinks about it, she represses herself out of it. After her transformation, she’s a whole different woman, and the change in portrayal is awesome to behold. Larry Fessenden does a great job as Jakob, at first oblivious, then bemused, then angry, and finally begrudgingly accepting of this new woman and new paradigm. This is really an actor’s movie, believe it or not, and Crampton and Fassenden will hold on to your eyeballs for dear life. That being said, it’s not perfect. The gore effects in this are too much for the story they’re telling. It’s right out of Kill Bill, and it causes the movie to lose sight of itself. And when you find out the head vampire’s motives, it almost paints Anne’s mental awakening in a negative light, and that’s a little uncomfortable. But it doesn’t detract from a movie with great atmosphere, a good score, good directing, and some great acting. I’d put off watching this for a while, and I’m glad I finally got off my duff and did it. I’m not a big vampire movie fan, but this was worth watching. Hooptober 2022 movie #5/31