Did I miss something? This unusual movie can boast a fine performance by Anthony DeMarco, playing a 6 year old (he is probably older) whose parents are about to separate and probably divorce. The film is mostly about how their fighting and anger affect him, and the first half of the story is interesting, as Jake, the boy, develops a fear of a zombie he believes is in his closet, based on a suggestion planted by an older playmate whose mother is a friend of Jake's mom. It seemed clear to me that this was not really a horror film, as the zombie was in his mind. But the problem with the film is that I think it was implying that his parents problems were the cause of this fear. Yet I think many children have this or similar fears that have nothing to do with their parents relationships. Then when Jake appears to slay the zombie, I am not sure what this was supposed to signify. His parents are unchanged in their attitudes, and the movie appears to reach no resolution for anyone. As such, for me it just seemed to say that some women use their children to get at their exes, which isn't exactly a surprise. The script needed to be less extreme in how excessive the women's reprimands of Jake sounded. It often wasn't believable. So is he over his fear? I don't mind some ambiguity but this film feels as if it ended with no conclusion other than it is cruel how some parents hurt their kids psychologically when their marriage is crumbling. Not exactly a major revelation. I believe there was the potential for a fine film here, but it fell well short of its ambitions.
16 Reviews
Depressing Divorce Device
vephurst-7210730 January 2023
This film kept popping up in my recommendations and I finally gave it a shot. Really wish I hadn't. It's not bad by any means. The acting is satisfactory, the writing is neither remarkable nor terrible. But the adults, particularly the mom & friend, killed me every time the poor boy is subjected to their grown up divorce. I don't want to watch a movie where a child is being psychologically torture the entire time. Jake should have taken his chances with the closet! Maybe, this can serve as a PSA if one or two divorcing couples watch this movie and recognize themselves and what they do to their child. That would be it's the most redeeming quality by far. I'd say it's more than WATCHABLE and less than ENTERTAINING. I give Jake's Closet a SLIGHTLY ENTERTAINING rate. Watch if you have nothing better to do.
A different kind of movie
GnarfleTheGarthok25 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I just watched 'Jake's Closet' today and was surprised this movie was not what I was expecting. Netflix labeled this one as a horror movie, but it is anything but a horror movie. However, I kept watching this one because the family turmoil was angering. And, if you are emotionally charged from the movie, they are doing something right. I doubt that this movie will ever be considered a classic. But, it should be required viewing for quite a few people out there today. Thinking about divorce? Going through a divorce or recently divorced? Watch this movie! Anger management issues? Watch this movie! Ever had an inkling of a thought that you were a bad parent? Watch this movie! Have a low IQ and children? Watch this movie!
Everything you hate about indie films
nick94415 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Cliché-ridden story of an impending divorce - or is it? - through the eyes of a 6 year-old child. Corny dialogue, cardboard characters, stock situations, a red herring zombie sub-plot and, worst of all, absolutely no payoff, either emotionally or dramatically.
Does no-one teach creative writing any more? The true sign of a weak storyteller - when you cannot create any kind of satisfying denouement - just end the story. I'm compelled to ask, "what made you think this was a story worth telling in the first place!?"
Good, but wasted, debut by child actor Anthony De Marco - the rest of the cast was, at best, forgettable. And they wonder why no-one watches indie films! This is ninety minutes of my life I will never get back.
Does no-one teach creative writing any more? The true sign of a weak storyteller - when you cannot create any kind of satisfying denouement - just end the story. I'm compelled to ask, "what made you think this was a story worth telling in the first place!?"
Good, but wasted, debut by child actor Anthony De Marco - the rest of the cast was, at best, forgettable. And they wonder why no-one watches indie films! This is ninety minutes of my life I will never get back.
Don't waste your time watching this movie!
smileyfaces1691 January 2013
The description of this movie was the most interesting part of this movie, in fact, it is the only writing that is well done. The rest of the movie left me watching the clock to see when it would be done, and hoping that it may get better before the end. It didn't! The suggestion of a cliff hanger at the end, is nothing more than a lie. In a nut shell, this movie is about a couple going through a bitter divorce, with issues of alienation of affection. As a result, the child becomes focused on attacking the zombie that he believes, lives in his house. In the end, he is being chased by a zombie that, guess what... doesn't exist! Yawn! I couldn't sleep and this movie is the cure for insomnia!
Riveting horror? Anything at all original? I think not.
bob_meg15 March 2011
I'm more terrified at the rave reviews I'm seeing for Jake's Closet, a middling indie film that offers virtually nothing new, interesting, or suspenseful.
Was this film trying to communicate the horrors that dysfunctional families and divorce puts kids through? If that's the case, it could have done so without the really bad (and I mean excruciatingly bad) guy dressed as a zombie. Was it trying to recreate childhood fears and traumas? If so, it's about as scary as a bowl of corn flakes (thanks mostly to aforementioned zombie).
You never expect the acting to be off-the-charts spectacular in films with budgets like this, but it's pretty abysmal here. Of course, no help is given from the script which portrays everyone as either insensitive, stupid, or both. As far as the kid playing Jake, well...I've seen better performances but it wasn't the worst I've seen either.
This smacks more of a failed senior U of C film doodle than a serious film. Nice kernel of an idea, but execution that is pedestrian at best, laughable at its worst.
Was this film trying to communicate the horrors that dysfunctional families and divorce puts kids through? If that's the case, it could have done so without the really bad (and I mean excruciatingly bad) guy dressed as a zombie. Was it trying to recreate childhood fears and traumas? If so, it's about as scary as a bowl of corn flakes (thanks mostly to aforementioned zombie).
You never expect the acting to be off-the-charts spectacular in films with budgets like this, but it's pretty abysmal here. Of course, no help is given from the script which portrays everyone as either insensitive, stupid, or both. As far as the kid playing Jake, well...I've seen better performances but it wasn't the worst I've seen either.
This smacks more of a failed senior U of C film doodle than a serious film. Nice kernel of an idea, but execution that is pedestrian at best, laughable at its worst.
Drama or Horror? This movie has lost it!
spyroskonst11 November 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Basically there's a family where a little boy (Jake) thinks there's a zombie in his closet & his parents are fighting all the time.
This movie is slower than a soap opera... and suddenly, Jake decides to become Rambo and kill the zombie.
OK, first of all when you're going to make a film you must Decide if its a thriller or a drama! As a drama the movie is watchable. Parents are divorcing & arguing like in real life. And then we have Jake with his closet which totally ruins all the film! I expected to see a BOOGEYMAN similar movie, and instead i watched a drama with some meaningless thriller spots.
3 out of 10 just for the well playing parents & descent dialogs. As for the shots with Jake: just ignore them.
This movie is slower than a soap opera... and suddenly, Jake decides to become Rambo and kill the zombie.
OK, first of all when you're going to make a film you must Decide if its a thriller or a drama! As a drama the movie is watchable. Parents are divorcing & arguing like in real life. And then we have Jake with his closet which totally ruins all the film! I expected to see a BOOGEYMAN similar movie, and instead i watched a drama with some meaningless thriller spots.
3 out of 10 just for the well playing parents & descent dialogs. As for the shots with Jake: just ignore them.
Domestic drama with fantasy underpinnings; echoes of ET
george.schmidt22 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Every child experiences trauma growing up and every child's active imagination has gotten the best of them, but for Jake (Anthony De Marco of the forthcoming Clint Eastwood film CHANGELING - who resembles Henry Thomas circa 1982) the combination may prove deadly.
A lonely six year old whose imagination kicks into high gear when he is crestfallen to learn his quarrelling parents Peter (Sean Bridgers, late of "DEADWOOD") and Jules (Brooke Bloom, "CBS: Miami") suddenly decide to divorce, leaving him to his own devices and unleashing a new tenant a zombie in his closet.
Jake actually gets this seed planted while playing with neighborhood friend Dillon (Matthew Josten) who provides him with a print out off the internet of FAQ re: zombies. Jake is so convinced that one is out to get him and his family he begins to hatch a plan of action to protect them before it's too late.
Indie newcomer Shelli Ryan who wrote and directed blends domestic drama with underlings of horror but the former (smartly) outweighs the latter, with a decent story buoyed by fine acting(De Marco is the rare breed of child actor where he is a CHILD and not 'acting' - all his nuances are very evident of the awkward, shy, introverted child that many can relate too (I certainly can). Bridgers makes his cheating husband empathetic in the realization he really loves his son while Bloom has the more difficult job of building sympathy as the somewhat lackadaisical mother who is quick to emotions over rationality it doesn't help when Dillon's mother Ruth (Monette Magrath, who resembles Laura Dern) is constantly feeding her implied information driving a wedge between Jake and his dad. Magrath also has a tough task to make her manipulative character relatively likable but she proves to in a revealing scene that I won't go into detail but shows why she is the way she is (and more importantly how she has also affected her own child).
The fillmmaker's subjective camera is also well employed (many angles shown form Jake's POV at waist-level or somewhat skewed; i.e. the upside down shot of Peter carrying his son in the same position while having some fun in the backyard), and the editing is relatively flawless.
Ryan based the screenplay on personal experiences growing up and also witnessing first hand account of a friend going through the same situation and how the affects of adult relationships can be harmful if inflicting their fears, anger and stress onto their children. Here the film is very successful in getting its theme across.
However the horror underpinnings are a little disjointed to say the least but the homage to George A. Romero's zombie films are shown lovingly by Ryan (Jake's mom is asleep in front of the TV as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD unspools, causing his own belief of the undead to be in their home). The metaphor of a monster acting as surrogate to domestic abuse may be a bit heavy-handed but again, the child's fear of a thing under his bed is universal.
A lonely six year old whose imagination kicks into high gear when he is crestfallen to learn his quarrelling parents Peter (Sean Bridgers, late of "DEADWOOD") and Jules (Brooke Bloom, "CBS: Miami") suddenly decide to divorce, leaving him to his own devices and unleashing a new tenant a zombie in his closet.
Jake actually gets this seed planted while playing with neighborhood friend Dillon (Matthew Josten) who provides him with a print out off the internet of FAQ re: zombies. Jake is so convinced that one is out to get him and his family he begins to hatch a plan of action to protect them before it's too late.
Indie newcomer Shelli Ryan who wrote and directed blends domestic drama with underlings of horror but the former (smartly) outweighs the latter, with a decent story buoyed by fine acting(De Marco is the rare breed of child actor where he is a CHILD and not 'acting' - all his nuances are very evident of the awkward, shy, introverted child that many can relate too (I certainly can). Bridgers makes his cheating husband empathetic in the realization he really loves his son while Bloom has the more difficult job of building sympathy as the somewhat lackadaisical mother who is quick to emotions over rationality it doesn't help when Dillon's mother Ruth (Monette Magrath, who resembles Laura Dern) is constantly feeding her implied information driving a wedge between Jake and his dad. Magrath also has a tough task to make her manipulative character relatively likable but she proves to in a revealing scene that I won't go into detail but shows why she is the way she is (and more importantly how she has also affected her own child).
The fillmmaker's subjective camera is also well employed (many angles shown form Jake's POV at waist-level or somewhat skewed; i.e. the upside down shot of Peter carrying his son in the same position while having some fun in the backyard), and the editing is relatively flawless.
Ryan based the screenplay on personal experiences growing up and also witnessing first hand account of a friend going through the same situation and how the affects of adult relationships can be harmful if inflicting their fears, anger and stress onto their children. Here the film is very successful in getting its theme across.
However the horror underpinnings are a little disjointed to say the least but the homage to George A. Romero's zombie films are shown lovingly by Ryan (Jake's mom is asleep in front of the TV as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD unspools, causing his own belief of the undead to be in their home). The metaphor of a monster acting as surrogate to domestic abuse may be a bit heavy-handed but again, the child's fear of a thing under his bed is universal.
What's worse? A zombie, or your ex-wife?
vic-2327 November 2008
Answer: despite that fact that this film was written and directed by a woman, your ex is creepier, nastier, and more irrational than any zombie that ever lurched the earth.
The acting in this independent film actually is quite good, despite the less-than-wonderful script. It takes a pretty good actor to deliver an overwritten, clichéd line and make it sound vaguely believable. Young Anthony de Marco, as Jake, puts in a particularly good performance.
Fortunately, the plot of this film is a lot better than the dialog. Try it, especially if you're not a monster fan. This is NOT a horror flick. Even though all the adult females are pretty monstrous, and although all the adult males act as if their brains were eaten in some earlier zombie film, "Jake's Closet" is suitable for mature adults.
The whole, this time, is much better than the sum of its parts.
The acting in this independent film actually is quite good, despite the less-than-wonderful script. It takes a pretty good actor to deliver an overwritten, clichéd line and make it sound vaguely believable. Young Anthony de Marco, as Jake, puts in a particularly good performance.
Fortunately, the plot of this film is a lot better than the dialog. Try it, especially if you're not a monster fan. This is NOT a horror flick. Even though all the adult females are pretty monstrous, and although all the adult males act as if their brains were eaten in some earlier zombie film, "Jake's Closet" is suitable for mature adults.
The whole, this time, is much better than the sum of its parts.
Riveting Psychological Horror
mjwasserman31 August 2008
Anyone who has experienced the terrors of divorce will empathize with this indie film's protagonist, a scared little boy who believes a zombie is hiding in his closet. Is Jake (a mesmerizing Anthony DeMarco) simply "transferring" the trauma of two bickering parents to an understandable image? Or could the creature be real? Writer/director Shelli Ryan neatly balances both possibilities and keeps the audience guessing. Her choice of using one setting - a suburban house - adds to the feeling of desperation and claustrophobia.
Brooke Bloom and Peter Sean Bridgers are highly convincing as the angry, but loving parents. However it is the creepy minor characters, Mrs. Bender(Barbara Gruen), an unhinged babysitter and Sam Stone (Ben Bode), a sleazy Real estate agent that linger in the mind. Jake's Closet is a darkly inspired portrait of childhood as a special kind of Hell.
Brooke Bloom and Peter Sean Bridgers are highly convincing as the angry, but loving parents. However it is the creepy minor characters, Mrs. Bender(Barbara Gruen), an unhinged babysitter and Sam Stone (Ben Bode), a sleazy Real estate agent that linger in the mind. Jake's Closet is a darkly inspired portrait of childhood as a special kind of Hell.
Like a Modern Day Pan's Labyrinth
OliviaPobe29 August 2008
Jake's Closet has the emotional power of Kramer vs. Kramer combined with the imagination of Pan's Labyrinth. Even the beginning special effect seems to give a nod to Pan's Labyrinth. But this is a story that takes place in modern times, not in a war sixty years ago and in that way it has even more resonance today. Jake's Closet is about a boy, an only child, practically alone on summer vacation, dealing with his family falling apart. It's a horror movie like The Others and The Sixth Sense, a horror movie for the thinking person. If you're looking for a slasher movie, this won't be your cup of tea but if you're looking for a story that is both touching and suspenseful with good acting, this is the movie for you. At the screening I saw, I swear there was one moment where the entire audience screamed. I highly recommend catching this film.
Heartwarming and Fun
Leellen29 August 2008
I would say that this film gives an insight to the trauma that a young mind can face when a family is split by divorce or other disaster. I would highly recommend this film especially to parents or individuals planning to have a family.
I found the characters to be appealing and highly sympathetic from a multitude of dimensions.
The scary monster although probably not scary to most adults, has a very real hint of what the overactive imagination of a child who is facing unknown terrors might create.
I found the film to be delightful!
I found the characters to be appealing and highly sympathetic from a multitude of dimensions.
The scary monster although probably not scary to most adults, has a very real hint of what the overactive imagination of a child who is facing unknown terrors might create.
I found the film to be delightful!
Great Movie
shinedownonme31 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this at "Dances with Films", and it was awesome. I really felt for Jake. Talk about adding insult to injury! Not only are your parents getting divorced, but there's a monster after you.
It was both heartfelt and scary -- there were several moments where the audience screamed in genuine fright. It kind of reminded me of a Japanese horror film, except that the story was actually good.
And that's what separated "Jake's Closet" from the usual indy film pabulum -- an excellent script with compelling characters. Also, by mixing elements of the horror film with family drama, the movie gets the best out of both genres, and avoids the clichés of both.
If it's not coming out in theaters, definitely get the DVD.
It was both heartfelt and scary -- there were several moments where the audience screamed in genuine fright. It kind of reminded me of a Japanese horror film, except that the story was actually good.
And that's what separated "Jake's Closet" from the usual indy film pabulum -- an excellent script with compelling characters. Also, by mixing elements of the horror film with family drama, the movie gets the best out of both genres, and avoids the clichés of both.
If it's not coming out in theaters, definitely get the DVD.
A touching tale that will help you lose weight while you watch!
tractor772 September 2008
Just kidding about the weight loss thing; well, you might lose weight you never know. Anyway, what can I say, I love this film. It has that same sense of youth and innocence found in films like Stand By Me and The Goonies. Jake's Closet illustrates the beauty of life's simple things and how often we overlook them. The film reminds us what it's like to see the world through children's eyes and all the magic, mystery, and horror they perceive. Jake's Closet presents a tale uniquely human in its compassion that anyone who's had a childhood can both relate to and fall in love with. Watch it with friends; watch it with loved ones; build a fort - wine optional.
Great Independent Movie!
memmert104 September 2008
I'd never seen an independent movie and I was really impressed by the writing, acting and cinematography of Jake's Closet.
The emotions were very real and intense showing, through a child's eyes, the harsh impact of divorce.
A definite see!
I'd never seen an independent movie and I was really impressed by the writing, acting and cinematography of Jake's Closet.
The emotions were very real and intense showing, through a child's eyes, the harsh impact of divorce.
A definite see!
The emotions were very real and intense showing, through a child's eyes, the harsh impact of divorce.
A definite see!
I'd never seen an independent movie and I was really impressed by the writing, acting and cinematography of Jake's Closet.
The emotions were very real and intense showing, through a child's eyes, the harsh impact of divorce.
A definite see!
A very realistic portrait of a broken family
dymcguffin29 August 2008
A very realistic portrait of a broken family and the effect it has on the kid caught in between. As a child of divorced parents I was totally relating to events in the film. Also - a really cool zombie twist which I thought was VERY ORIGINAL. I'm tired of the same old stuff in movies. A very realistic portrait of a broken family and the effect it has on the kid caught in between. As a child of divorced parents I was totally relating to events in the film. Also - a really cool zombie twist which I thought was VERY ORIGINAL. I'm tired of the same old stuff in movies. A very realistic portrait of a broken family and the effect it has on the kid caught in between. As a child of divorced parents I was totally relating to events in the film. Also - a really cool zombie twist which I thought was VERY ORIGINAL. I'm tired of the same old stuff in movies.
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