Horror legend Barbara Crampton finally lands a lead role in her home genre with Jakob’s Wife, a slice-of-life vampire story from Girl on the Third Floor director Travis Stevens. Co-written by Mark Steensland, Kathy Charles and Stevens, Jakob’s Wife casts Crampton as Anne Fedder, the church mouse wife of the town preacher (Larry Fessenden).
Anne spends her days doing housework, cooking breakfast for her husband, lifelessly following along to exercise tapes, and tending to their front lawn. Round and round it goes, with little to break up the monotony of daily life. That is, until a young parishioner (Nyisha Bell) mysteriously disappears and an old flame of Anne’s returns to town. She agrees to meet the latter (Robert Rusler) at a diner to reminisce, their casual and flirty rapport hinting at the freer, happier woman Anne used to be before she was “Jakob’s wife”. Their journey down memory lane eventually takes them back to an old, abandoned mill on the outskirts of town that the pair would sneak out to for romantic rendezvous. All is going well – until a crateful of feral rats decide Tom looks like a filling lunch, and a dark figure engulfs Anne.
Jakob’s Wife turns in an entertaining commentary (if at times a little on-the-nose) on the disillusionment of women in their late-middle-age, their desexualisation, and the long-term impact of traditional gender roles on women’s psyche. Undoubtedly seeing much of her own story in Anne’s, Crampton gives an excellent and charming performance as the meek housewife turned undead femme fatale, as she embraces her newfound power and sexuality.
The honeymoon period proves fairly short however, and as the body count rises and the police close in, Anne is forced to choose between her marriage with Jakob and The Master’s (The Nun’s Bonnie Aarons) offer of a new life. Though its straightforward plot and comic tone sometimes come at odds with its higher-minded social commentary, Jakob’s Wife is an enjoyably old-school vampire flick that gives Crampton her chance to shine as a leading woman.
Jakob’s Wife releases in US cinemas, Digital and VOD on April 16th.
