Customer Reviews

Jack-O

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

When I saw the front box of this movie, I thought, Gee, this looks like that it might be a well budgeted, frightening movie with good effects! Don't let the front box fool you. Instead we have a Z-grade hokey, badly acted comedy-horror film. You may want to see it for B-movie scream queen Linnea Quigley(Her first appearance in the film is in a nude shower scene), and some cameos and special guest appearances by some other stars such as John Carradine and another B-movie scream queen in Quigley's range Brinke Stevens.

Jack-O (Steve Latshaw, 1995)

Seriously, someone ripped off Pumpkinhead? Think about the silliness inherent in that concept. And then browse IMDB and find out that Fred Olen Ray was involved. Ah, now suddenly everything makes sense. Ray is a maestro of mediocrity, a Caligari of crap, a sorcerer of... well, okay, you get the idea. In any case, anecdotal evidence has it that Ray had a couple of unrelated film clips of John Carradine and Cameron Mitchell, and dared screenwriter Brad Linaweaver (The Brain Leeches) to come up with a story that used them both. This was the result. Patrick Moran (Vampire Trailer Park) was brought in to do a bit of script doctoring, and roped in his pal Steve Latshaw, who'd also directed VTP. The end result is... well. Um.

So, yeah, sorcerer dies back in the day and curses the town, blah blah blah, then he rises again on Halloween night, having taken on the personality of a much better monster from a much better monster movie, and sets about killing people. (There's a weak storyline given as to why he does so, but it is entirely inconsistent with his actions.) Yeah, that's basically it.

Let's face it, if you're watching Jack-O, you're watching it because you've heard that both Brinke Stevens and Linnea Quigley are in it. This is true. There are also some other hot horror babes involved (Helen Keeling [who has never been seen on screen again, for reasons that will become obvious when you watch the movie], Maddisen Krown, Rachel Carter, and a couple of others with bit parts). And if that's enough for you, then by all means, have at it. But be prepared, because this movie is a dog and a half, and the special effects on the half-dog have something to do with strawberry jam. *

This movie has been a yearly classic in my house since it's release. It's so amazingly bad that one, with the proper mindset, can love it as piece of accidental cinematic gold. I was amased when I saw this on an upcoming DVD release schedule. Needless to say I snapped it up as soon as it was released. Each of the characters are so unlikeable and irritating, one almost thinks it was done on purpose. All of the acting is exceptionally bad, with each actor (???) having something particular that makes them stand out in their own bad way. Poor Vivian, the woman that comes from nowhere to attempt to save the day, has this nagging problem with her mouth that makes her appear as if she's being grossed out on a regular basis. Mom has these EXTRA large eyes that open beyond belief at any opportunity. The ultimate worst is Sean, the little boy who's Pumpkin Man's target. This boy is so deadpan and bored looking that you get the impression that his real father, the films director, forced him to be in this flick. That, or the boy just has zero personality. He delivers lines like "no", while he's being buried by Jack-O, and "Leave my mom and dad alone", with the most bored tone that you expect a yawn to follow. Hysterical in it's blatant badness. The few death scenes appear to incorporate dummies made in a childrens art class. Another example of a really bad scene: After meeting Sean, Vivian is outside his home talking with his parents. Sean goes in the house, falls down and has a vision of Jack-O. Moments later Vivian picks him up and, while looking at mom, states that Sean had a bad dream. OK, 3 in the afternoon, the boy goes in the house for 20 seconds but still has time to fall asleep, in the middle of the floor, and have a bad dream with no one acknowledging it as odd? O....K..?? There's really no need to explain the plot. That's not even of interest to someone that can appreciate this movie. It's purely the cheap badness of it all. I'm still waiting for the sequel!!

Jack-O is the kind of horror flick thats fun to rent an laugh at. It had a good concept and i agree that i Dimmension Films got a hold of it. It just might have been scary-somewhat. Still, I rented it and I enjoyed for the simple fact that it was so chessy. i like the idea of the pumpkinman.

This is that kind of movie that is pretty bad, special effects wise, acting wise,etc. I think if they would have had a scarier monster, and a bigger budget this movie could have been awesome. I mean the director cast his son in the lead role, and the deaths were very fake looking( a girl gets her throat slit and the blood squirts for over a mile,can we say squirt gun?). The acting wasn't the best, I mean the kid's being buried alive and all he says (very flatly like he's reading) no. If they would have sold this to Dimension Films and have Kevin Williamson get a hold of it, this movie would have been great.

This was director Steve Latshaw's triumph of a film. This movie has it all: gore, blood, breasts, psycho pumpkin killers. Need I say more? The acting is terrific, especially the sexy Linnea Quigley, and the Fonzy Award winning Tom Ferda. The toaster scene alone is worth the rental. Pat Moran works double duty as the screenwriter and the Jack-O himself!! This one was much better that Latshaw's last film "Dark Universe".. A must see!!!

Ok you can't expect high quality acting and special effects from a B movie....this movie is fun and cheesy which was meant to be,funny not scary. It is ver creative unlike the stupid Horror movies of today,apparently people who like saw,and hostel and other stupid movies like that should stay away from this movie.Invite freinds make popcorn and eat junk and perpare to have fun while watching this movie.It is a cult classic This movie defintely deserves a place in any horror fan collection who appreciate B Movies.Please do not take this movie seriously or else that will take the joy out of it....Great Halloween Film..............

Well if you've seen Jack-O on display either in the store, or on the net hoping it will be a Halloween treat, think again. Jack-O-Lantern is a side note in time at best.

The film centers around the Kelly's, who have a history which Brings Jack-O out hunting them Halloween night. Five generations ago Mr. Kelly and a neighbor kill an evil magician because he had murdered some of the townsfolk. When the magician dies however, he vows revenge on the Kelly's and anyone else who is close to them. Thus 90 years later a trio of drunk college students accidentally bring Jack-O to life by knocking over the wood cross seal which held the magicain at bay. (important to note that the magician and Jack-O are not the same person. Jack-O is a demon who is doing the magicain's bidding)

Jack-O goes through the neighborhood with a sickle slashing down some of the neighbors but is mainly after the Kellly's. Particularly Sean Kelly (about 10-12 years old) Since he is the fifith generation and is the only one who can kill Jack-O. Well the movie progresses through some lame acting and disappointing special effecs until Sean and his father impale Jack-O on a new wooden cross which sends him back to hell.

Jack-O could have been a cool movie as you can tell from the plot, but he problem with it was most likely the budget. All the acting is poor. Except for one or two actors who wern't even main characters. There is absolutely no scares in this film. I swear the Goosebumps series for kids in the 90's had much scarier episodes. And Jack-o himself was a walking pumkin. Could have been scary, but not the way this director shot the film. The gore was lame and the death scene of choice usually involved Jack-O in a slashing motion, cutting to a scene of the actor clutching his neck. Also, the movie dosn't follow it's own rules. By this I mean Jack-O takes a couple of side trips to cut down people who have nothing to do with the Kelly's when they are supposed to be his target.

The special features include and audio comentary, trailer, some behind the scenes footage (again lame didn't help the DVD at all) and a featurette of another film by the same director Gator Babes. Apparently the film was never finished and so they put what they had on the disc with Jack-O. Gator Babes! Need I say more!

Trust me, if you want a cool fright flick around Halloween don't choose Jack-O. It dosn't deliver on any level. THis is the 10th anniversy edition I noticed too. Well for a 94 film, this movie really is below par. I've warned you, so buy at your own risk. My advice is that they take out some of the lame gore, and the two naked lady scenes, and make this a kids flick. Kids are the only ones who might get scared watching this film. But they have Goosebumps to watch, so why bother.

If you are looking for the worst possible movie you can find, you must rent Jack-o! My friends and i began a tradition to get together every other weekend, and rent the cheesiest horror flick we could find. One day, we rented Jack-o. This movie is a splendid mix of horrible acting, dispicable writing, and effects that left me laughing histarically in my seat. This movie is beyond bad. It is absolutely histarical. The start of the movie was just fantastic. In no more than the first 5 minitues, we paused the movie to see the shaddows of the crew in the lower left hand corner of the screen. We knew we were in for a treat as soon as we saw that. The acting was pitiful. This movie had it all. A woman's eyes too large for her own good and a lifeless child actor who borringly states "no" with no emphasis at all left me cracking up. The effects were just as pathetic. The death scenes were very cheesy. At one time, after a death, the movie cuts to a rock, and "blood" is just thrown against it. In another scene, a man is decapitated. His head rolls off and his body is left there twitching, while it is still in the standing position. I don't even want to get into the plot. For one, I didn't even understand it. But the movie was just so awful, that it was hillarious. I loved it frankly. My friends and I continue to watch cheesy horrors every other weekend, but Jack-o is at the top of our list of favorites!

A family's curse brings back the spirit of Jack-O, The Pumpkin Man, who returns to drag more souls back with him to hell. The producing credit for Fred Olen Ray should be a clear indicator of what fans can expect in the scenes to follow. JACK-O is the poor man's PUMPKINHEAD, and a literal one at that, considering the character's name and the jack-o-lantern that adorns his head. It is hard to tell which of the performances were intentionally terrible and which were just terrible, but in either case, the acting in the picture is remarkably bad and played entirely straight. JACK-O somehow manages cameos from genre greats Cameron Mitchell, John Carradine, and Linnea Quigley, each of whom are given throwaway roles for what little money they must have been paid. Even with his cheap latex mask and scarecrow costume, Jack-O's silent, jagged grimace is sufficiently creepy when contrasted against the choking smoke from the fog machines. Though it poses some of the lamest low-budget FX, there are a few bloody gags to satiate the hardcore gore fan. JACK-O is just another tiresome, derivative Slasher with all of the makings of a bad B-movie.

-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies