DVD Review: Jake’s Closet (2008) ** 1/2
Anthony DeMarco in Jake’s ClosetÂ
Like the recent Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In, writer/director Shelli Ryan’s feature debut Jake’s Closet takes a segment of the horror genre, in this case zombies, and uses it to explore the traumas of childhood. While not as literary or effective as the terrific Tomas Alfredson film, it takes an engagingly personal approach by telling the story through the eyes of a 6-year-old.
After a nicely dreamy opening sequence, we’re introduced to Jake who should be enjoying a lazy summertime, playing outside and catching bugs and otherwise doing what boys do when they don’t have a care in the world. However, when he stumbles upon a rotting, disemboweled rabbit, it’s a Lynchian cue that all is not well in Jake’s world.
It turns out Jake’s parents are divorcing and life is full of tension and turmoil. Oh, and there’s also a zombie living in his closet. Is it a real zombie or is Jake simply channeling the fears of a world he doesn’t understand into something more tangible? Since the story is told from Jake’s perspective (with the camera frequently placed at a 6-year-old’s eye level), the line between what is real and what is imagined remains fuzzy.
Filmed on DV and stocked with a cast of actors who may be familiar to TV viewers, Jake’s Closet has kind of a TV movie quality. Ryan has a knack for getting into the mind of a little boy and taking advantage of a little boy’s irrational fears, but the results are likely to only be scary to other little boys. This is an uneasy fusion between horror and family drama with occasional doses of odd humor thrown in. Ultimately, the tone is uneven and not completely satisfying.
On the other hand, Anthony De Marco who plays Jake is a likeable kid, the cinematography is solid and Ryan has some clever ideas. Overall it’s pretty slickly mounted despite some amateurish acting and dialogue and its heart is definitely in the right place.
In the end, Jake’s Closet gets just enough right that I was left wishing it had been better. As a stand-alone feature it doesn’t quite succeed. However, if the horror elements were ramped up and the running time trimmed back to about an hour, it would’ve made a nice entry in a cable horror anthology series.
Jake’s Closet premieres today on DVD, just in time for Halloween. Netflix has it and it’s also available on iTunes.
Jake’s Closet. USA 2008. Written and directed by Shelli Ryan. Cinematography by Tom Hejda. Original music by Jeremy Delmarter. Edited by D.H. Buda and Joel Watson. Starring Anthony De Marco, Brooke Bloom and Sean Bridgers. 1 hour 32 minutes. Not rated by the MPAA. 2.5 stars (out of 5)
Filed under: DVD
Tags: Anthony De Marco, Brooke Bloom, D.H. Buda, Jake's Closet, Jeremy Delmarter, Joel Watson, Sean Bridgers, Shelli Ryan, Tom Hejda
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This DVD film reminds me of “Goosebumps,” with some psychological insights. Surely my kids would appreciate it. I’ll have to rent it at Blockbuster if I want to get in a pre-Halloween viewing, otherwise wait until netflix and after Friday. Anyway, nice little DVD review–a change of pace for you.